Home Visit Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Home Visit Activity - Essay Example The mother is 25 years old named Jane. My friend recommended me to interview her for this task. In the planning process of this activity, I called a week in advance to see if she was willing to be interviewed. She agreed to the visit and we decided to carry out the activity on February 1 at 9 am. Although the time was set as per her consent I made a call before visiting her to make sure that the time is still suitable for her. The visit I visited Jane on the specified time. The visit started with a pleasant greeting to her and the baby. I went to wash my hands before holding the baby to give the impression of hygiene importance. To make the atmosphere friendly and light I introduced myself concisely and gave her a hand sanitizer as a gift for visitors. As per the phone conversation I expected a friendly but shy lady. However, Jane felt comfortable with me discussing her problems and circumstances. The purpose of the visit was to explore the facts which may be causing the baby girl to lose weight. The mother clearly stated that the baby was not gaining weight despite of her struggles and visits to different local doctors. The place where she lived was a small underdeveloped area with less educated and poor people surrounding it. She told about the frequent changes in medications in order to resolve this issue.

Ultradian Rhythms Essay Example for Free

Ultradian Rhythms Essay Ultradian rhythms are bodily rhythms that last less than 24 hours. The most obvious ultradian rhythm is the different stages of sleep, existing within the ciradian rhythm of the sleep-wake cycle. Sleep is dived into cycles, each lasting about 90 minutes. During these cycles, we will experience 5 different stages of sleep- the first four being characterized as non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM), and the last stage being characterized as rapid eye movement sleep (REM). When human beings are awake, the electrical activity in their brain usually takes the form of fast, erratic brain waves. These waves are known as beta waves. During stage 1 of sleep, the brains electrical activity begins to change, with the brain waves becoming more slow and regular. This demonstrates that the persons mind is beginning to relax, and these waves are known as alpha waves. The presence of alpha waves in the brain can usually be used to indicate that the onset of sleep has occurred, and that the person is no longer awake. As well as a change in electrical activity, the persons core body temperature will also drop and their heart-beat slow down. As the sleeper goes into Stage 2 of sleep, their brain waves become even slower and a greater amplitude. These are called theta waves. This shows that the brain is becoming increasingly more relaxed. During this stage of sleep, it is common to experience sudden bursts of brain activity: known as K complexes and sleep spindles. Stages 1 and 2 of sleep are commonly referred to as being as being light sleep. This means that people in these stages of sleep can be easily awoken by external factors such as noise. Stages 3 and 4 of sleep are characterized by even slower brain waves, known as delta waves. Stages 3 and 4 are often referred to as being slow-wave sleep (SWS)- and sleep during this time is far more deep than in the previous two stages. However, the sleeper has not reached a state of unconsciousness, and can still be woken up by certain external factors (eg. Parents being woek nby the sound of their baby crying). These are the stages of sleep where most of the bodies physiological repair work occurs. It can also be associated with biochemical changes, such as the release of growth hormone taking place during this time. In these first four stages of NREM sleep, dreams have been shown to be unlikely to occur. During a study by Dement and Klietman, in which participants were woken up when their brain waves indicated certain stages of sleep, it was shown that only around 7% of participants had reported having dreams when their brain activity had indicated the stages of NREM sleep. Stage 5 of sleep, the final stage in the sleep cycle before it repeats, is known as REM sleep. This the stage of sleep where brain activity is most like that of the awake brain. It is also the stage of sleep where most dreams are likely to occur.

Point of view Tell-Tale Heart Essay -- essays research papers

Essay #1: â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†. Poe writes â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony. "True!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?" "...Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.† As you can see this man is clearly mad, because this story is told in the first person it helps you understand the character even better, because we are seeing what exactly is happening to him moment by moment. It helps us understand what is going on in his head because we are getting to know him through out the story. The repetition in this story is phenomenal. He uses is constantly adding to the... Point of view "Tell-Tale Heart" Essay -- essays research papers Essay #1: â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†. Poe writes â€Å"The Tell Tale Heart† from the perspective of the murderer of the old man. When an author creates a situation where the central character tells his own account, the overall impact of the story is heightened. The narrator, in this story, adds to the overall effect of horror by continually stressing to the reader that he or she is not mad, and tries to convince us of that fact by how carefully this brutal crime was planned and executed. The point of view helps communicate that the theme is madness to the audience because from the beginning the narrator uses repetition, onomatopoeias, similes, hyperboles, metaphors and irony. "True!--nervous--very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses--not destroyed--not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad?" "...Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me.† As you can see this man is clearly mad, because this story is told in the first person it helps you understand the character even better, because we are seeing what exactly is happening to him moment by moment. It helps us understand what is going on in his head because we are getting to know him through out the story. The repetition in this story is phenomenal. He uses is constantly adding to the...

Economic and Social Factors that Affected the Slavery of the South Essay

Slavery had been one of the most controversial and important issues in the history of the United States. The distinction between the whites and the African American slaves could be rooted way back in the past events of the country even when the United States was still under the British rule. Because of this, the turn of events in the country is also related with slavery. The changes in the social and economic factors of the country greatly influenced the situation of slavery in the south. The desire for independence by the Americans has been the primary motivating factor that droved the social changes in the country. However, slavery was regarded as the biggest irony in America’s battle for freedom because their existence is a clear proof that the idea of liberty is more of a privilege rather than an inherent and equal right for all. This is proven by the fact that during the revolution, slavery was already considered as part of the old institution in America. Slavery was present in every colony and became the basis for the economy and social structure from Maryland southward. At the very least, 40 percent of Virginia’s population and at even higher numbers in Georgia and South Carolina had been slaves (Foner 230). Being the case, slavery created a huge impact in the south because their source of living and there very lifestyle have been dependent upon the work that slaves give. This is also the reason that the initiatives to abolish slavery greatly threatened the south. In 1840s, the expansion to the west played an important role as it moved slavery in the center of American politics. The depression that started in 1837 paved the way for the large migration of settlers in further west. The years between 1840 and 1845, about 5,000 emigrants traveled the 2,000 mile journey by wagon train to Oregon. The settlement of some Americans in Oregon perpetuated the southern attitude of patronizing slaves since some of them brought their slaves with them. Nevertheless, the settlement in Oregon is not the main reason for the emergence of the issue of slavery; rather the nation’s acquisition of Mexico caused it. The primary part of Mexico that was settled by a substantial number of Americans was Texas. This could be attributed from the fact that the Mexican government allowed Moses Austin, a farmer born in Connecticut, to permit the Americans to colonize it. In 1820, Austin received a large land grant, which he sells in small portions to Americans settlers. The issue of slavery arises because Mexico already abolished slavery. In April 1836, Sam Houston and his forces defeated the army of Santa Anna, which brought about the independence of Texas. The interest of the South was triggered by this event because they believed that including Texas in the Union and even dividing it to several states could increase their power in the Congress (Foner 465-466). The Compromise of 1850 was created in order to maintain peace within the Union. This helped the south in the sense that the compromise still allows the slavery and only abolished slave trade. The Compromise also left the white inhabitants in the territories of Mexico to decide whether they will continue with slavery or not. In the same manner, the Fugitive Slave Act also aided the south in capturing run-away slaves without the interference of local authorities. Southern leaders support measures that sent federal agents to states in the north in order to capture fugitives. It is also regarded that the Fugitive Slave Act is an example of how the government abided by the interests of the south (Foner 477-479). However, the Fugitive Slave Act also made many people especially from the North realize that this kind of law infringes upon the rights of the citizens as well as of the state. Being the case, this started the changes in the concept of state’s right. The leadership of Stephen A. Douglas helped the states to resolve its dispute regarding the issue of slavery. He hoped to solve the dispute among the northerners and southerners in Congress by applying the principle of popular sovereignty. Sovereignty would allow the local settlers of every state to vote whether they are in favor of slavery or not instead of the Congress. Douglas deemed that popular sovereignty symbolizes the idea of local self-government and it also created a middle ground between the North and South (Foner 479-480). The discussions above show that the underlying concern of the southern sector is to protect their interests. They were very keen in acquiring the necessary power in Congress in order for them to prevent the abolition of slavery, wherein they are greatly dependent upon in terms of their means of income and the overall development of their agricultural sector. Because of this, they are very vigilant of the social and economic changes that are happening in the country in order to make sure that their stakes and interests are safeguarded. Work Cited Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty: An American History. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007.

Financial Careers Essay

What does the job involve? Well, it’s very varied, but basically fund-raisers organise special events like concerts and fun runs, ask governments for money, try to get support from local companies and organisations. Most major charities have fund-raising departments, which employ teams of workers. Some of these people do office work — others organise publicity, visit companies or arrange special events. Sounds interesting? Tycoon. A wealthy and powerful person in business or industry. If you are the independent, creative type, why not start your own business? Lots of people do these days. Some aren’t successful, of course, but plenty are —j and if you do succeed, the rewards of being your own boss can be. enormous. To become a business tycoon you need to have an original idea; be practical, reliable and well-organised; understand the business world; keep control of your finances. After that it’s all a question of hard work and luck, but then that’s the key to success in any job. Financial journalist. Financial journalists work in three main areas — newspapers, radio and television. Their job is to understand what’s happening in the financial world and explain it as quickly and accurately as possible. Economic journalists don’t just report today’s news, though. They need the ability to predict future events, too. â€Å"Will interest rates rise or fall? Will the stock market go up or down? And what about trade†¦ are exports going to increase or decrease? † To become a financial journalist you train as a general reporter first. Then you specialise in finance and economics. And when you’ve done that? Well, if you are lucky you’ll get a job in the media. One word of warning, though — financial journalism is a very competitive career. In Britain, for example, there are only 2,000 jobs available. Auctioneer. Two of the best-known auction houses in the world are Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The auctioneer who works there regularly sells famous paintings worth millions of pounds. But you’d be wrong to think that auctioneers just sell Rembrandts and Van Goghs. It’s much more varied career than that. Some auctioneers sell farm animals, for example. Others sell houses, antique furniture or even rock and roll ‘memorabilia’ (i. e. guitars, cars, clothes etc. , which ones belonged to pop stars). And what does it take to be a good auctioneer? Well, three qualities are absolutely essential — a calm personality, a quick mind and (last but not least) a strong voice. Dealer. Dealers work for companies which buy and sell foreign currencies, commodities like oil or steel. They work in large, noisy, rooms, called dealing rooms and do most of their business over the phone and on computer screens. The majority of them are under 35. The majority of them also earn very big salaries because their work involves huge amounts of pressure and responsibility. You don’t need a degree to be a dealer. What you do need, though, is talent, energy, confidence and ambition.

Patrick Henry on Freedom essays

Patrick Henry on Freedom essays On March 23rd 1775, Patrick Henry, known to many as a great patriot, gave his speech on freedom at the Virginia Convention. After making it to the podium, he started off explaining that he was going to be brutally honest and he hoped that no one would take offense to his arguments. Henry advanced his argument by employing two important literary devices, allusion and syntax and structure, to create an emotional appeal to his audience in order to start a revolution. Henry was straight forward in his speech. In paragraph one, lines six and seven he states, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve. This statement meant that he will argue all of the opinions he has towards the British rule without any worries on how others might feel from what he says. In lines 27-28, Henry is metaphorically calling experience a lamp, he is saying that experience will show or light the way for the future. There is a Biblical allusion here to the scripture which says that Gods word (which is truth) is a lamp unto thy feet and a light unto thy path. This is an appeal to authority (God and the Bible) and an appeal to beliefs because it shows him as a spiritual person. Henry uses symbolism and allusion to underscore the English governments wrong doing against the colonists. He expresses symbolism from the bible to emphasize that the British have violated every colonists civil rights and that they should take action. As suggested in lines 33-34; when Henry states it will prove a snare to your feet, Henry is referring to the House in England and the British ministry being a snare for their feet. Then Henry uses mythical allusion by referencing to Homers Odyssey in lines 19-20, listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. He is metaphorically comparing how the British are saying things to the colonists which are pro...

Cross Cultural Perspectives essays

Cross Cultural Perspectives essays Assignment in Cross Cultural Perspectives As a result of possessing two very different cultural backgrounds (German, Uruguayan) we have chosen to select the most crucial points of cultural clashes between European and South American cultures and analyze both, the practical and theoretical issues which are involved. Due to the strict word limit, just three concepts are discussed in detail. - The concept of cultural complexity - And as a cultural characteristic the issue of time The Kolbenschmidt AG, a German supplier for the automotive industry owns a subsidiary in Uruguay named Santa Rosa Auto Motores. Mr. Hedden, the General Manager from Kolbenschmidt is not satisfied with the recent sales figures from Santa Rosa in Uruguay. He decides to send Dr. Lser, a very experienced and trusted sales manager with excellent Spanish skills to Uruguay, in order to replace the current sales manager. Seeing it as a challenge, Dr. Lser accepts the job despite the fact of having no previous experience in the South American market. Mr. Hernandez, Santa Rosas local general manager agrees to Mr. Heddens plan after a fierce discussion regarding the introduction of a foreign manager in the completely Uruguayan staffed company. At his first day in office he finds Mr. Hernandez absent due to heavy bronchitis and therefore introduces himself directly to his 10 subordinates. He is surprised that all employees introduce themselves with their first name. Due to his superior rank he decides, as usual in Germany to stick to his last name and title. He realizes that the atmosphere is tense but he is sure that this will improve during the first couple of weeks. He decides to ask the key account salesman Cesar Rodriguez to come in his office to discuss market trends and sales forecasts but finds him on the phone. Dr. Lser: Cesar, please come and see me in my office and bring the newest sales forecast! Cesar...

Definition and Examples of Mass Nouns in English

Definition and Examples of Mass Nouns in English A mass noun is a  noun (such as advice, bread, knowledge, luck, and work) that names things that, when used in English, cannot usually be counted. A mass noun (also known as a noncount noun) is generally used only in the singular. Many abstract nouns are uncountable, but not all uncountable nouns are abstract. The contrasting term is known as a  count noun. Examples and Observations Fun does not have a size.(Bart Simpson in The Simpsons, 2001)Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.(Albert Einstein)Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.(Eugene ONeill)After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.(Aldous Huxley)I seek constantly to improve my manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.(Og Mandino) Double Duty: Count Nouns and Mass Nouns James R. Hurford, Grammar: A Students Guide Some nouns can serve as both count and mass nouns. The noun war is an example. In war is ghastly, war is a mass noun, whereas in the wars between Rome and Carthage were ruinous, war is used as a count noun. Unusual Plurals R.L. Trask,  Mind the Gaffe! English nouns denoting things that cannot be counted, such as wine, coffee, and intelligence, do not easily form plurals in their central senses. Some of them, however, can be pluralized when they have transferred senses, such as varieties (Rhone wines), measures (four coffees), or embodiments (alien intelligences). You should not overuse such unusual plurals, however, since they can easily become pretentious, as they do in those silly signs announcing  ice creams and hair stylings. Distinctions Between Count Nouns and Mass Nouns Edward J. Wisniewski, On Using Count Nouns, Mass Nouns, and Pluralia Tantum: What Counts? Is there a conceptual basis for the grammatical distinction between count nouns and mass nouns? One answer is that this grammatical distinction is, to a very large degree, semantically opaque and unprincipled... In general, people learn which nouns are typically used as count nouns and which are typically used as mass nouns without any understanding of why these differences in syntax occur. Another answer is that the grammatical distinction between count and mass nouns is to a very large degree conceptually based. That is when speakers use count nouns to refer to things they implicitly have something in mind that they are trying to communicate that is common across all uses of count nouns. A similar view applies to the use of mass nouns. A third answer and the one that I propose is that the count-mass noun distinction is to a very large degree conceptually based, but there are exceptions. Some exceptions do not seem to have a clear explanation, but others may occur because of competi ng communicative functions of language. The Lighter Side of Mass Nouns Robin Sloan, Mr. Penumbras 24-Hour Bookstore Hi there, I say. Let me ask you a question. She giggles and nods. How would you find a needle in a haystack? The first-grader pauses, pensive, tugging on the green yarn around her neck. Shes really thinking this over. Tiny gears are turning; shes twisting her fingers together, pondering. Its cute. Finally, she looks up and says gravely, I would ask the hays to find it. Then she makes a quiet banshee whine and bounces away on one foot... Its so simple. Of course, of course. The first-grader is right. Its easy to find a needle in a haystack! Ask the hays to find it! Sources Hurford, James R. Grammar: A Students Guide. Cambridge University Press, November 25, 1994. Sloan, Robin. Mr. Penumbras 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel. Paperback, Picador, September 24, 2013. Trask, R. L. Mind the Gaffe!: A Troubleshooters Guide to English Style and Usage. Harper Perennial, November 21, 2006. Wisniewski, Edward J. On Using Count Nouns, Mass Nouns, and Pluralia Tantum: What Counts? Things and Stuff: Mass Terms and Generics (New Directions in Cognitive Science), Oxford University Press, 2010.

Philo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philo - Essay Example Narrative experience could be built on actual life circumstances and situations that have taken place over a period of time or these could be mythical in nature, which would mean that the person has heard some legends from different people or read the same somewhere and then tried to relate them with his own life (Bottum 2008). At times, it is also possible that these mythical experiences are true, which goes to suggest that people have faith in the authenticity of fables and stories that have been on the rounds since a long time. This indeed is a very fulfilling experience for the people who want to seek the best of both worlds, i.e. the real world as well as the one which is indeed based on myth and lacks sound logic. Moving on, the narrative abilities of a person help him to comprehend the real meaning of human life and this facilitates him in his quest to learn quite a number of things all this while. These different experiences therefore are very satisfying for him as he tries to relate the real experiences with the mythic ones, where the latter are just the stories that he has heard over a period of time and have little or no bearing on his life in essence (Author Unknown 2004). What is even more interesting is the fact that narrative and mythic experiences are based on the state of mind of a person, i.e. the exact situation under which he has listened to the fable which indeed is a part of the mythic experience or the real life story that he has been a part of, known as an actual narrative. In essence, in the time and age of today, it is of paramount significance if an individual tries his best to experience life’s different shades so that he could extract happiness, joy and delight from what is on offer in front of him. It would be a pity to suggest that those people, who do not like to narrate what is happening in front of them or with them, usually do not experience life completely and this means that they are missing out on a number of things in

Midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Midterm - Essay Example Muslim piracy was also reduced, and economic activities revived along the western Mediterranean coast of the Christians (Crouzet 9-12). In addition, the western and central Europe was free from invasions by the nomads from central Asia that were dangerous to the survival of Europe's economy. Between the years 1236-1242, the Mongols raid of Europe brought destructions to economies in Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, Silesia and most parts of the Balkans. In 1242, the Mongols extended eastwards and conquered China (Crouzet 9-12). The other factor that affected the European economy was the rise of feudalism, which was subsequently followed by feudal anarchy. There were frequent wars among the rivalry feudal leaders in Europe, which caused the destruction of European economy. Between the years 950-970, many fortifications were constructed to enhance the security of kingdoms under feudal leaders. Within the same years, the church contributed a lot to the safety of Europe through their peace move ments (Crouzet 9-12). Another factor that was crucial to the development of European economy was the rapid growth of the population since the thirteen century. This was caused by improvements in technology and increased agricultural productivity. The population growth acted as a crucial factor in spurring the commercial and urban revolutions in the 18th centuries. The population increase had considerable influence in Northern Europe. The population growth caused changes in the prices of commodities, which lead to the development of institutions for innovations (Crouzet 9-102). #2 The population of Europe increased tremendously between the years 1000-2000 because the rate fertility was higher than that of mortality. This resulted net population growth, in Europe. Population increased constantly and would only reduce drastically incase of catastrophes such as disease epidemics. The invasions on Europe had also ceased, and security prevailed in most regions of Europe. Also, between the 8th and 14th centuries, European epidemics had decreased and a warm climate prevailed in Europe, particularly the Alps region. The favorable climate improved agriculture activities, which led to better nutrition and improved standards of living (Crouzet 9-12). In the Carolingian times, the western Christendom developed values and a model of its population. In the whole of Europe, polygamy, the use of contraceptives, abortion, desertion of children and infanticide were abolished. The church supported monogamous marriage and enforced strict rules on polygamous marriage. The nuclear family in most nations grew stronger and became dominant with the exception of the Slavic people. The system of monogamous family encouraged acceptance of children and procreation. This system also regulated procreation before marriage. The effects were increased fertility rates and reduced death rates. However, the rate of infanticides and Juvenile mortality remained high though out Europe (Crouzet 9-12). The historical records show that the population in Europe increased from 1.1-1.2 million between years 1066-1086, 3.4-4.5 million people in 1340. However, France, Europe had a population of 15 million people in 950. In 1300, the population in Europe doubled. The population continued to increased but never exploded like that in third world countries in the late 20th century. The population in E

The Epistmology of Conspiracy Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Epistmology of Conspiracy Theories - Essay Example What exists about such events is only fantasizing of what might have been the cause. There are various such conspiracies in the world. The first one concerns the source of Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. People speculate that it was a product of Soviet or American biological warfare and that it was released either with or without the knowledge of the scientist who made it. People were also not aware that such virus existed. The second conspiracy concerns extraterrestrials that frequently visited the earth with the intention of killing cows and human beings. The memories of these individuals and animals are then erased from our memories such that forget them forever (Keeley 6). The third conspiracy explains that there once had a good transport system in Los Angeles city which was made up of street cars. In 1930 to 1940, car manufactures, rubber makers and oil marketers formed a conspiracy group that distracted this transport system. The in tention of the group was to turn the city’s transport system into an automobile type. It, therefore, made large sales by selling such automobiles. The fourth conspiracy is that of â€Å"Trans World Airlines Flight 800.† The plane was accidentally sunk into the sea by a United State navy missile. The government then covered the facts behind this accident by refusing to release the right information to them media. These were just the mere speculations that went around in the public. The sixth most common conspiracy is the most surprising one. The United State is said to record all telephone calls made by people living in Transatlantic. The National Security Agency was the body behind this monitoring and recording (Keeley 8). Their primary intention is still yet to be known. The fifth conspiracy speculates that a small group of Jewish bankers controls the world economy. Other groups that were speculated were the Trilateral Commission and Freemasons. The sixth and the most talked about conspiracy involve the Oklahoma City bombing. It is speculated that a police officer guarding the main entrance of the building had in the previous days killed a person. His friends swore to revenge by throwing a bomb at him. They did so and killed the officer together with an extra 168 people. A clear analysis of the Oklahoma City bombing can reveal some characteristics of a conspiracy theory. After the bombing, news went around that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had been forewarned before it took place, which they denied. A wise person should understand that such speculations or news in the media may be false or true. However, a conspiracy can be identified by a number of characteristics (Keeley 10). First, it offers the clarification of the event in question. The aim of this clarification is to confuse people’s minds and distract them far away from the truth. The second characteristic is that the people behind the bad event are revealed as weak and not capable of doing such an event. They are revealed to have played a helping role. They are seen as setting the main event that caused the disaster. Third, the group that does wrong or harmful event must be small in number. Other larger groups of people whom they are acting for, is largely hidden. Fourth, they cast doubts on an official story that had been earlier released. It, therefore, acts as a cover

The Great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

The Great Gatsby - Essay Example As more and more minorities and women began adding their voices to the literary realm, ideas regarding identity became more confused and ill-defined as it became realized that who we are is often the result of how we interact with others. To understand how this realization of the sociological imagination was expressed, it is helpful to analyze how a master author of the period, F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrayed these ideas in his novel The Great Gatsby. Sociological imagination is the way in which we stratify ourselves within our society and in how we develop our own identity. By linking our own personal experience with the collective understanding of what that represents, we are able to classify ourselves as well as others within specific social groups. It is upon this understanding that we form and understand our own identity. Three aspects of the sociological imagination include class, race and gender. Class is based upon a variety of factors including profession, income levels and educational attainment. People with a great deal of education are often identified as holding higher level professional positions and higher rates of pay than less educated individuals. While class is often considered quite flexible, race and gender remain difficult to change. Race is determined based on physical characteristics, but can also be influenced by ethnic concerns. Generally, ethnicity is considered to refer to a person’s national or igin, language, religion, dietary practices or common historical heritage. Although race is inherited through the genes, ethnicity is the result of socialization from one generation to the next. Gender is a learned identification with a particular biological sex – male or female – while sexuality refers to the way in which people organize their world based on sexual identity. All of these things are used to help shape and compare ourselves with the people around us so that we can determine just what kind of person

Peter Singer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Peter Singer - Essay Example His moral and ethical perception may be off t from those with tender sensibilities but when you look at his doctrines at a bigger picture, Singer’s dogma may be quite rational, though not entirely popular. Singer views euthanasia as valid and acceptable provided that the reason for committing the act is to eliminate pain and suffering, as those in people who have undergone traumatic events that may render them incapacitated and invalid. He further categorized euthanasia as either voluntary, involuntary, and non- voluntary. To Singer, voluntary euthanasia is assisting in the termination of one’s life, if that person willingly consented and expressed his desire to end his life. Involuntary euthanasia on the other hand is ending one’s life without getting consent but the person concerned may have hinted the desire to end his life. Non- voluntary euthanasia is the act of ending one’s life, without that person’s consent, because that person is not deem capable of making a decision, as when the person do not possess the mental faculty and consciousness to make a decision for himself. Abortion, to Singer, is morally acceptable. Singer defines the act as terminating a conceived human being inside the woman’s womb, in the premise that that child itself has not yet lived a human life, has no consciousness, and has no capacity to feel and live as a human being, unlike those that have already been born. Singer reiterates that to be classified as a viable human being, one must be capable of cognition and autonomy. It is with this belief that he concludes that abortion, through his utilitarian view, becomes permissible, if opted by the mother. The controversial philosopher believes that infanticide, the act of killing an innocent child, is allowed, in the instance that that child will be unable to live a normal, rational, and meaningful life. This is in the case wherein the child is born with malformations and congenital anomalies that would later

The Great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

The Great Gatsby - Essay Example As more and more minorities and women began adding their voices to the literary realm, ideas regarding identity became more confused and ill-defined as it became realized that who we are is often the result of how we interact with others. To understand how this realization of the sociological imagination was expressed, it is helpful to analyze how a master author of the period, F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrayed these ideas in his novel The Great Gatsby. Sociological imagination is the way in which we stratify ourselves within our society and in how we develop our own identity. By linking our own personal experience with the collective understanding of what that represents, we are able to classify ourselves as well as others within specific social groups. It is upon this understanding that we form and understand our own identity. Three aspects of the sociological imagination include class, race and gender. Class is based upon a variety of factors including profession, income levels and educational attainment. People with a great deal of education are often identified as holding higher level professional positions and higher rates of pay than less educated individuals. While class is often considered quite flexible, race and gender remain difficult to change. Race is determined based on physical characteristics, but can also be influenced by ethnic concerns. Generally, ethnicity is considered to refer to a person’s national or igin, language, religion, dietary practices or common historical heritage. Although race is inherited through the genes, ethnicity is the result of socialization from one generation to the next. Gender is a learned identification with a particular biological sex – male or female – while sexuality refers to the way in which people organize their world based on sexual identity. All of these things are used to help shape and compare ourselves with the people around us so that we can determine just what kind of person

Compare and contrast US Counter Intelligence to that of a foreign Essay

Compare and contrast US Counter Intelligence to that of a foreign country - Essay Example The difference between the two agencies as per their origin is because in the American backdrop, the agency was formed to protect the country from spies emerging from the Cold War and then the Second World War; whereas in India on the other hand, the point was to control activities by Indian anarchists, formed by the British as early as 1909 in order to regulate and control the country in a better manner. In the United States of America, there is a very thin line between intelligence and law enforcement whereas in India the same principle is not followed. The intelligence agency in India falls under the ambit of two aspects – the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing. In the U.S, as compared to India, much better technological innovations are present which help the country take care of the intelligence needs. The United States is much more capable of finding information as compared to India because of the sole reason that a lot more funding and money has been placed to educate people and train them perfectly to fit the bill. India has trained officials taking care of extracting information and finding out for the benefit of the nation however the country is not as well versed in the same as the United States of America is. Since both agencies hire agents they need to have continuous tests to test the credibility of the agents and to find out whether or not they are well suited to defend the country. Initially in India, the agents were trained by the KGB of Russia however now they have their own training programs which nonetheless are not very effective and thus does not put India at par with the counter intelligence arising from countries like the United States of America. In India and the United States alike, the work done in the agencies is delegated into different departments that take care of different fields like aviation, naval and other such responsibilities. In India the main task of the Intelligence Bureau is to execute tasks re lated to counter intelligence and counter terrorism attacks. After the 9/11 attacks in the United States of America, the country has become much more strong in the sense of countering terrorist attacks unlike in India where proper training and security is still required to protect the nations. In the U.S, the intelligence agency shares relations with foreign intelligence agencies like cooperation from United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, the Canadian Security Intelligence Services and other countries like Australia, Russia, India and even Pakistan. This enables the country to get help from analysts present in all these countries that it has allied itself with during a crisis or an attack in order to get information in a much faster manner. India on the other hand is allied with the United States counter intelligence agency as well as a few other countries like United Kingdom. The most effective instrument of the nation’s power is said to be executed from the R esearch and Wing Analysis and it has been involved in the security of India’s nuclear program. This unit is only answerable to the Prime Minister and not the Parliament of the country for its actions; the United States intelligence agency on the other hand

Course reflection Essay Example for Free

Course reflection Essay I have learned so much during this course that helped me get a better understanding of the writing process. A few of the concepts that helped me the most were keeping an error log, and reading my assignments out loud. The first concept I will address in this discussion is also the most important guidance I have received since starting at Ashford. My instructor, Dr. Wells, advised me in week 1, that I might want to keep an error log. What that is, is writing down the mistakes I make in my assignments, quizzes, and discussions. After writing these errors down, find the correct spelling or the grammatical rule I broke, write the correct answer, and then study and learn from these mistakes. This technique has helped me the most since starting at Ashford. As a writer, I have always been a big proofreader of my work. I would sometimes look over my papers several times before submitting them. Most of the times I would catch 90% of my errors, not all the time though. I learned that reading your paper out loud can also improve your proofreading. Sometimes just looking over a paper isn’t enough. When you hear the writing though, you can hear what others will be hearing. I would catch small errors because the sentence didn’t sound right or it was a run on sentence. These are things I would sometimes miss just reading my paper. Out of all the course materials I have read and studied, I believe 2 of the most valuable were chapters 4-3, Essentials of College Writing, and The Ashford Writing Center. In the Essentials of College Writing, 4-3 The Writing Process, showed me different techniques to use for writing an essay. Some of these ideas were plan, generate ideas, create a rough draft, revise, edit, and proofread and check format. This book taught me the value of making an outline and the importance of planning. It always helps to be prepared and have an idea of what you’re writing before you write it. The Ashford Writing Center has really made a big impact on my writing style. I was having so much trouble with APA formatting and how to insert citations, that I would lose percentage points on my work. After skimming through this text, I found in chapter 7-1 an instructional video that showed me step by step how to use APA format. In the same book, chapter 7-3, Citations and References, this taught me the proper way to insert my citations. There is also a thesis generator in this text in chapter 3-3, this has been one of the biggest helps to me in my writing process. The areas and that I believe have improved the most, and that I will continue to work on are my spelling and punctuation. The error log has helped with my spelling and punctuation but I still sometimes make careless mistakes. Though these areas have improved a lot, I will continue to work on these areas.

Burger King: Business Communication Processes

Burger King: Business Communication Processes The Burger King is international Fast Food chain was founded in 1953 in Jacksonville Florida. At that time the name is insta-burger. The original founders and owners, Kieth J. Kramer and his wifes uncle Matthew Burns, opened their first stores around a piece of equipment known as the Insta-Broiler. After the original company began to falter in 1959, it was purchased by the Miami, Florida franchisees James McLamore and David R. Edgerton who renamed the company Burger King. After independent for eight years, the company expanding around 250 locations in the United States, when they sold it to the Pillsbury Company in 1967. According to my knowledge the Burger King in New Zealand the previous owner was Dennis Jones and Mark Backhaus and they sold out Burger King to Anchorage Capital Partners Australian Company. Anchorage partner Mark Bayliss become chairman of the New Zealand Burger King operation. My objective in this report is discussing communication process in Sylvia park Burger King. The reason behind this to choose this business because I was working in this company for nearly one year and I was watching day by day communication process ,how it is effective and how it is important for business. Business demographics: Business Communication: business communication is the communication between the people in the organization for the purpose of carrying out business activities. It may be oral, verbal, written etc. In Burger King there is different stages where the communication process takes place ,in internally the communication is MEMOS,BUSINESSLETTERS,E-MAILS, MANUALS ,METTINGS, NEWSLETTERS and these communication are very important in business to met main objective. The communication process in management levels are. That means how communication is occurs in different level of management levels that are following. Top level management CEO and other top level management. Top level manager (area manager) and restaurant managers. Restaurant manager and lower level manager. Restaurant manager Assistant manager Salary manager Hourly manager Team leader Crew The communication process in different station in Burger King: Front counter and order making: in this process, the front counter person take the order of customer and after that trough screen the order maker got message to make a customer order. Drive thru person and customer: when a car comes to drive thru the order taker and customer communicate each other via headphone and speaker and mice. Order making (boat) to the fry station: the cooked product is delivering FRY STATION to the boat PHU (PRODUCT HOLDING UNIT) according to the order requirement by verbal communication. For example if there is order of five BK chicken then the boat person told fry station person please down five chicken if other person says yes then boat person says thanks that is compiled communication process. In our Burger King (Sylvia Park) there is screens in each station for example front counter order, drive thru order, boat station, fry station and boiler station. That means how message is passes from one station to other station. Drive thru and order making: in this process, drive thru person take the order of customer and after that trough screen the order maker got message to make a customer order. Burger King menu board is good example of nonverbal communication process because if customer come to place order first see what he/she want after looking menu board he/she decide what is good meal deal. I have one good example to explain the whole communication process in steps Step 1: Front counter person taking order (verbal communication) between the customer and front counter person. Step 2: Enter order in the system .that is encoding electronic machine that message to front counter to the kitchen screen (decode message in read able form), that is non verbal communication. Step 3: Boat person prepare order and send ordered burger on the level. Step 4: After getting burger the packing person packs the order and gives to customer. So for complete communication process there is various steps and how these steps are important in business communication. Burger King goals: Burger King want to individualize each customers order and provide the fastest service possible that the fast food restaurant aim and provide good customer service. Burger Kings policy is to give the customer many choices and to accurately and quickly provide whatever the customer chooses for example our restaurant menu board provide customers graphical communication. Burger Kings procedures are also consistent with their goals. In order to individualize each order they provide customers with many options when ordering. Some options include fries or onion rings, cheese, bacon, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion. The customer can pick any combination of these options that they desire, such as different meals of beef burger, chicken burger and salad burgers. One employee takes the customers order, the customer then moves down the line where another employee is preparing the order. Meanwhile, the original employee is taking another customers order. Customers also get their own drinks while they are waiting for their meal. This makes service much faster in that employees do not have to prepare drinks or provide refills. The climate at Burger King was very pleasant and customer can enjoy their meals by watching television at dining room. The restaurant was very clean and there were no loud noises from the service area. They also provided relaxing music for customers to listen to while dining. Burger King possessed more than adequate communication and leadership. Employees gave the customers feedback on their orders. Each customer received a receipt, which enabled them to double-check their order. The employees also read the order back to the customer before handing them the order. In terms of leadership, a manager does visit to every station and he is taking order and coaching staff in proper way. FOR EXAMPE he is do supervision every station and communicate every team member so everything goes in proper manner. Burger Kings culture and ethics: Burger King culture means how improving ethics in organisation that means moral rights and wrong of any decisions in Burger King. How people behave in organisation for example in our Burger King company had made some rules and regulation so all the staff should follow those rules, and how all the staff behaves with each other and how they behave with customers. By providing staff proper training to maintain company values so that all member of the organisation should learn proper way of work. For example in the Burger King the company setting standard of all food and safety like temperature , holding time of all products, and the culture of Burger King includes standards ,language ,way of behaving, way of communicating, way of dressing . Standards: setting standard of products temperature, holding time and the entire staff member follow these standards. Language: we have different staff form different culture and ethics values but at work place all the staffs speaks only English language. Dressing: company having dress of all staff so that dress communicates any one is working in Burger King. Way of behave: every staff behaves politely and friendly. Management of knowledge resources: According to that concept knowledge management how the knowledge put in practically and how it is good for any organisation. So for this first decide what organisation objective is. For our Burger King the main objective is providing good quality of fast food and good customer service to achieve this objective there are some steps. Manager should have good knowledge of food. Good quality of food Good cooking equipment. Trained all staff in proper way All staff should follow rules in fast food organisation Provide latest technology equipment and sharing that knowledge with staff and how effective it is. To trained staff how to sale more product by suggesting customer, if customer want only whopper burger then suggest him buy meal its cheaper. To share knowledge of new equipment to all staff. Group dynamics: Is the study of groups, and also a general term for group processes. Relevant to the fields of  psychology,  sociology, and  communication studies, a  group  is two or more individuals who are connected to each other by social relationships.  Because they interact and influence each other, groups develop a number of dynamic processes that separate them from a random collection of individuals. These processes include norms, roles, relations, development, need to belong, social influence, and effects on behaviour. There is some barrier Risking: when taking in group how much a person can take risk in communication. Expectations: that means in group what the other people expect from you and how to control your expectations. Avoidance: that means behaviour of a person to do use to avoid, may be that is habit or people can change their behaviour to make more relation with their group. Probing: that means how you explain in group according to the requirement of other member of group. Control: when any one taking in group and other member control you in his way how you feel in that communication. Silence: sometimes it better way to keep silence in group according to the situation. Meeting management: In any business meeting is very important part of communication, and to make meeting run effectively are following points. An effective meeting serves a useful purpose. This means that in it, you achieve a desired outcome. For a meeting to meet this outcome, or objective, you have to be clear about what it is the purpose of meeting. Mostly manager in any organisation call a meeting to discuss something important discussion. Use time wisely: time is a precious resource, and no one wants their time wasted. With the amount of time we all spend in meetings, you owe it to yourself and your team to streamline the meeting as much as possible. So in meeting make agenda, the agenda is what you will refer to in order to keep the meeting running on target and on time. For making agenda some points should be consider. Priorities-what main topic is discuss in meeting. Results-what decisions will be taken. Participants-who are attending the meeting. Sequence-order of discussed topic. Timing-discussion time of topic. Date and Time-when will the meeting take place. Place-where will the meeting take place. Satisfied participants that a sensible process has been followed: Once you have an agenda prepared, you need to circulate it to the participants and get their feedback and input. Once in the meeting, to ensure maximum satisfaction for everyone, there are several things you should keep in mind: If certain people are doing conversation, make a point of asking others for their ideas. At the end of each agenda item, quickly summarize what was said, and ask people to confirm that thats a fair summary. Then make notes regarding follow-up. Note items that require further discussion. Watch body language and make adjustments as necessary. Maybe you need a break, or you need to stop someone from speaking too much. Ensure the meeting stays on topic. List all tasks that are generated at the meeting. Make a note of who is assigned to do what, and by when. At the close of the meeting, quickly summarize next steps and inform everyone that you will be sending out a meeting summary. Stakeholder: The Burger King manages to communicate with all stake holders with who are directly and indirectly linked with the organisation. Management and employees: they also communicate with Burger King their jobs, pay and working hours etc Customers: customers are also communicating with organisation when they buy any product. Supplier: different supplier can communicate with organisation such as bakery supplier, beef and chicken patty supplier, salad suppliers, equipment suppliers all are communicate according to their requirement. Banks: company communicate with banks, directly transfer money to company account by using eftpos (electronic device). Financial organisation: provide finance to an organisation. Government: the government tax policies especially Inland Revenue communicate with organisation to pay tax according to sales of organisation. Trade unions: these unions are communicating with worker of organisation to provide laws and rights of worker. City council: communicate with organisation that business runs according to government standards and providing good quality product. Networks: In our Burger King there various methods of communications such as telephone, fax, internet, E- mail, etc. There are two types of networks LOCAL AREA NETWORKS (LANs): where all the electronic machines are connected with each other and close to each other. WIDE AREA NETWORKS (WANs): where computer communicate with each other via telephone lines or wireless transmission. Some examples of networks in Burger King are: Minder: Thats electronic device which connected with PHU (PRODUCT UNIT HOLDER) calculated which product is expires after a certain limit so the screen of minder communicate with staff which chicken patty is expired. Drive thru system: that electronic device which can communicate between Burger King staff and customers. Internet: communicate managers with head office via emails. Telephone: this is also good source of communication in business. Electronic device to help taking order on front counter and drive thru and that system connecting with main computer in the office. Conclusion: To conclude that the communication process takes place in different level in Burger King, like as verbal, and non-verbal and different sources are used to complete this process step by step and how it is effective in the organisation. In our organisation how people communicate with staff, manager communicates with staff, networks used in organisation.

History Of Cleveland :: essays research papers

Cleveland, Ohio has been in existence for 203 years. There are more than 500,000 people living in Cleveland, yet few know about its past. In this paper, I am going to take you along as I tell you the history of Cleveland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On July 4th 1796 the Connecticut Land Company sent out a search party to find new land. General Moses Cleaveland headed this search party, and on July 22nd of 1796 they found their new land, naming it Cleaveland after the leader of the search party.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The beginning of the population was predominately white. In 1800 the population of Cleaveland was what now would be an unheard of 7. In 10 years however the population grew to 57, 10 years following that increasing by almost %1100! What did 1840 now spell, as â€Å"Cleveland† was the 45th largest city in the nation at 6,071 people. Decade by decade Cleveland grew, becoming more of a populated city then others. Just 40 years after being the 45th largest city in the nation it was the 12th. When the 20th century came around Cleveland was proud to be the 7th largest city in the nation with 381,768 people. Although Cleveland never became the largest city in the nation, the closest they got was 5th with 900,429 people. Interesting enough, even though that was the highest position Cleveland ever got, that wasn’t the highest the population ever was. In 1950 the population was 914,808 which put them in 7th place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With large populations came major events. The first major event for Cleveland is one that now is a regular occurrence. A year after it was founded, the first wedding was held in the settlement of Cleaveland. In 1803 mail service was extended to Cleveland making the town able to communicate with the rest of the nation. In 1810 the first doctor arrived, followed 3 years later by the first courthouse being built. Some things even happened that are still around today, such as the bridge across the Cuyahoga River and Ohio and Erie Canal. Newspapers were established and the Old Stone Church that is still standing was built in 1820. The first street light, which is now seen everywhere, was placed in 1849. In 1866 the Cleveland Police Department was established, which like the street light is still seen today. The first phone company began service in 1880, giving people another way to communicate.

Valuing Wal-Mart

Assessment of Wal-Mart valuation using different methods To test the assumption of a discount rate of 7% as given in the outline of the case, we calculated the required rate of return for the Wal-Mart stock using CAPM . Using rWalMart = Rf + ? WalMart [E(RM) – RF], we find the required rate of return to be 7. 01% and in line with the information given in the case outline. Perpetual dividend growth model: The standard method of calculating a stock price using the perpetual dividend growth model is done by assessing a company’s dividend one year into the future adding the future expected growth rate.The Cardiovascular SystemThe formula is written as: P0 = D1/(Ke ? g), where Ke is the investor required return, D1 is next year’s dividend and g is the expected growth rate of the dividend. The standard method can however be rearranged if the company analyzed is consider in â€Å"steady state†. A steady state implies that the annual return on equity equals the co st of equity capital providing the rational that the dividend payout ratio is the sole determinant of the dividend growth. It requires some complexity to determine if a company has reached steady state.To investigate and analyze if Wal-Mart is in steady state, we would employ the following definition: Steady state value = free cash flow / discount rate . After careful consideration we have reached the conclusion that we find it fair and realistic to label Wal-Mart as such. This is further underlined by the maturity and stable performance of the company, which is illustrated in the stable revenue growth (exhibit 1), stable financial market stock data and relative stable dividend distribution (exhibit 3).Further, we are comfortable using the simplified steady state formula given the foreseeable forecasting period as we are only forecasting the stock price a few years in the future and not conduction long-term multiyear forecasting where the underlying assumptions of the model and the competitive landscape can dramatically change. We find evidence that the forecast period is essential in the selection of method in the INSEAD article â€Å"Selecting an accounting-based Valuation Model† of May 2011. If we were to forecast long-term price levels, we would opt for the conventional formula of P0 = D1/(Ke-g).Given the steady state nature of Wal-Mart we use the adjusted dividend growth model of: P0 = (E1 ? p)/ (Ke ? g), where g = (1-p)*Ke and where E1 is the earnings 1 year into the future and p is the payout ratio or the percentage of earnings paid in dividends. Using this method, P0 = (E1 ? p)/ (Ke – ((1-p)* Ke)), we estimate the stock price to be $58. 56 . For reference and to provide validation to our estimates, we have in addition estimated the stock price using the conventional dividend discount model of P0= (D1/(Ke-g). Using the conventional model we estimate the stock price to be $59. 8. We conclude that the estimated price of the stock is higher t han the current market price of $53. 48 , which means we believe there is unrealized intrinsic value, hence the stock is undervalued and should we be analyzing the stock on this basis only, our recommendation would therefore be buy. Forecasted Dividend for the next 3 years plus future sale of the stock: Instead of valuing the stock with infinite dividend approach, we use a set number of years (3) plus we included the value of selling the stock after the set number of years.The selling of the stock is represented in the model as a terminal value. The terminal value is the value of the company’s expected cash-flow beyond the forecast period. We estimate the terminal value by using the perpetuity method mentioned above and be employing the formula of Terminal Value (TV) = FCFt+1 / WACC . We used the approximation that WACC equals the required rate of return as found using CAPM (7. 01%, appendix 1). This also corresponds with the given discount rate of 7%.As we are asked to find to price by forecasting dividends for the next three years plus the selling of the stock after year three, we have extrapolate our findings from the perpetuity method using the earnings per share with the given earnings per share growth and the required rate of return. By calculating the dividend per share until D=3 and employing: P0 = D1/(1+Ke)^1 + D2/(1+Ke)^2 + D3/(1+Ke)^3+TV/(1+Ke)^3, where TV is the terminal value we calculate the present day intrinsic value of the Wal-Mart stock to be $62. 15 hence the market value is consider low compared to our forecasted value.This method replicates the basic foundation of the Discount Cash flow Model (DCF), which in our opinion is the preferred method in valuation studies. Three-Stage Approach: There are no questions about this approach in the outline of the assignment, so the following comments should be considered â€Å"back of an envelope† considerations. In general the three-stage approach allows us to add complexity to the stand ard dividend discount models by enabling changing growth scenarios throughout the forecasting period: an initial period of higher than normal growth, a transition/consolidation period of declining growth and final a period of stable growth.The main assumptions are that the company on which we conduct the calculation study currently is in extraordinary strong growth phase. The time period with the extraordinary strong growth must be strictly defined and eventually be replaced with the declining growth assumption. Lastly, Capital Expenditures and Depreciation are expected to grow at the same rate as revenues. . Analyzing exhibit 4 we see a theoretical stock price of $120. 37. Using the excel template and by entering the calculated discount rate and the data given in the case, we find the theoretic value to be $95. 68.We recognize the calculated theoretical value is considerable higher than the market value of the Wal-Mart stock, which could provide a strong indication for investing. H owever, we also recognize the weakness of the three-stage model thus we are careful to draw too decisive conclusion. We are especially concerned about the sensitivity and impact on the end theoretical price when making just marginal changes in the input factor. Valuation models in general are sensitive to the input factors, but we believe the extra complexity in the three-stage model amplifies even small forecast errors.We understand that the three-stage model can be very useful for companies approaching the transition phase between growth phase and consolidation, but Wal-Mart does in our opinion not fulfill this characteristic. Thus, leading us to conclude the three-stage model isn’t particularly applicable to valuation studies of Wal-Mart. Price/Earnings multiple approach: The debate on whether to use trailing or projected price/earnings multiple is ongoing. We have found evidence in literature that there is no clear preference on which method to use as both have advantages and disadvantages .We have no strong view or preference generally speaking, but in the case of Wal-Mart we believe there is a case for use trialing data rather than projected data. For reference we have calculated both using P0 = EPS * P/E . We see the range of estimates is very wide, which is due to the sensitivity of the input factors i. e. even small changes in the P/E-data will have significant influence on the estimated value at P0. We prefer to use the P/E multiple to assess how Wal-Mart is perceived and valuated against peers. In addition we use S&P500 as reference index and benchmark.Using the data in exhibit 6, we have identified Wal-mart, Target, The Gap and Costco to be peers. We have concluded this after examining key financial data of all the companies provided in the exhibit. We realize that Wal-Mart is not directly comparable with the peers mentioned given the much larger market capitalization and turn-over, but knowing this a comparability study still adds value in our opinion. Detailed data of the comparison is brought in appendix 5. Looking at the graphical representation we see a clear trend in the peer group of declining P/E-ratios.The trend is confirmed by further lower P/E-projections for the coming year. We are not overly concerned with the declining P/E ratios as it seems to be an industry wide trend and not isolated to Wal-Mart. Hence when assessing relative attractiveness of the grocery industry players, we do not see Wal-Mart having worse financial performance than the peers. As argued in the beginning of this paper in the section when discussing the steady state phase of Wal-Mart, we believe we can make a rough estimation of whether the P/E-ratio reflects a fair value of the stock or not. The method e employ is a rewritten method of the DDM. By arguing steady state we can also defend arguing Wal-Mart to be a zero growth company by assuming the company pays out all of its earnings in dividends. As we know from the data provided, thi s is not entirely reflecting the real scenario, however we still believe it adds value to the overall assessment of the value of the Wal-Mart stock. The rule of thumb argues that the P/E-ratio using the zero growth company assumption is fair when it equals the 1/r, where r is the discount rate meaning when Projected P/E = 1/r the P/E ratio is fair and reflects a fair value of the company.Based on the research in this section we have found no red flags in the financial performance or when analyzing with peers. The historical P/E-ratio of Wal-Mart has been higher than the industry average so the decline over the time period can at first glance look dramatic. However, we believe the declining P/E-ratio is an industry wide tendency and not isolated to Wal-Mart. Further, given the strong P/E-growth in the early part of the data sample the Wal-Mart P/E-ratio is also subject to a strong base effect.When applying the zero growth company fair value estimates, we see the projections made by t he analysts are lower than the 1/r which we for this purpose consider a fair P/E, which can be seen as a supportive factor for the overall valuation of the Wal-Mart stock. Conclusion and recommendation: As indicated in the text above we have the most confidence in the first two methods in the paper. Taking a simple average of our findings we estimate the Wal-Mart stock price – or fair value – to be $60. 16 (58. 56; 59. 78; 62. 5), which is higher than the current stock price of $53. 48 hence we believe the Wal-Mart stock is $6. 68 or 12. 49% undervalued. Further, we find our estimates to be in line with the general analyst consensus target price of $60. 50. Given our findings and research we will recommend Gupta to buy the Wal-Mart stock. However, we recommend Gupta to employ a margin of safety. We recognize that our calculated price estimates have considerable projection risk given the future value is calculated based on estimates.It is out of scope for this paper to evaluate the quality of the projections and forecasts, so we recommend Gupta to be conservative in communicating the price target. We suggest communicating the buy recommendation with an initial price target of $57. 75, which is +8% from the current market price. When the $57. 75 price is achieved we recommend running the models again to get validation on the $60. 16 price target. We recommend this step-by-step approach as margin of safety for projection inaccuracies. Given the time and year of the research done, we find further evidence that employing a margin of safety is a solid strategy.This is especially due to the distressed situation of the financial markets after the collapse of the financial system starting in 2008. Given the unusual market situation any investments in stock or other financial instruments are subject to considerable risk from external factors, hereunder risk appetite, liquidity and macroeconomic developments, which currently are not properly factored in our price estimates. However, we are encouraged to invest in Wal-Mart given the defensive characteristics of the stock compared to the S&P500 benchmark given ?

Channels of Distribution for Insurance Products

Channels of Distribution for Insurance Products PRAKASH PRABHAKAR PATIL DPGD/JL10/0480 Specialization: – Banking, Investment and Insurance Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research Year of submission: – May 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to the following persons who have made the completion of this project possible. I am highly indebted to Wellingkar Institute of Management for this opportunity and constant guidance as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project.I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents & colleagues of HDFC Life Insurance for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in completion of this project. I would like to express my special gratitude and thanks to industry persons for giving me such attention and time. Prakash Patil TABLE OF CONTENTS |Content |Page No | |Introduction – Insurance Market in India – A Quick look 4 | |Dis tribution Channel – Definition & Importance |6 | |Current distribution channels for Insurance products |8 | |Tied (Agency) Channel |9 | |Corporate Agency |13 | |Brokers |14 | |Bancassurance |17 | |Online/ Internet |23 | |Microinsurance |26 | |Worksite Marketing |28 | |Indian Postal Services |30 | |Telemarketing |32 | |KIOSK or Virtual Marketing |33 | |Background |34 | |Methodology |35 | |Problems in Distribution of Insurance products in India |35 | |Conclusions & Recommendations |44 | |Limitations |48 | |Bibliography |49 | INTRODUCTION ? Insurance Market in India – A Quick look Life insurance industry in India has gone through many phases since its start in 1818 with the establishment of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta. In 1829, the Madras Equitable had begun transacting life insurance business in the Madras Presidency. 870 saw the enactment of the British Insurance Act and in the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the Bombay Mutual (1871), O riental (1874) and Empire of India (1897) were started in the Bombay Residency. This era, however, was dominated by foreign insurance offices which did good business in India, namely Albert Life Assurance, Royal Insurance, Liverpool and London Globe Insurance and the Indian offices were up for hard competition from the foreign companies. In 1914, the Government of India started publishing returns of Insurance Companies in India. The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act, 1912 was the first statutory measure to regulate life business.In 1928, the Indian Insurance Companies Act was enacted to enable the Government to collect statistical information about both life and non-life business transacted in India by Indian and foreign insurers including provident insurance societies. In 1938, with a view to protecting the interest of the Insurance public, the earlier legislation was consolidated and amended by the Insurance Act, 1938 with comprehensive provisions for effective control over the activities of insurers. The Insurance Amendment Act of 1950 abolished Principal Agencies. However, there were a large number of insurance companies operating in India by independence and the level of competition was high. There were also allegations of unfair trade practices. Therefore, post independence, Government of India decided to nationalize insurance business.Accordingly in January 1956, nationalization of life insurance was done by formation of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) by absorbing 154 Indian, 16 non-Indian insurers and 75 provident societies. In 1972, general insurance business was also nationalized with effect from 1st January, 1973. 107 insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies, namely National Insurance Company Ltd. , the New India Assurance Company Ltd. , the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd and the United India Insurance Company Ltd. The General Insurance Corporation of India was incorporated as a company in 1971 which commenced its operations in 1st January 1973. There has been considerable time lag between reforms of insurance sector and rest of financial sector.Therefore in 1993, Government of India set up committee chaired by RN Malhotra, former governor of RBI, to propose recommendations for reforms in Insurance sector. Committee submitted its report in 1994 wherein it recommended to open the Insurance Sector for Private and foreign players. Following the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee report, in 1999 the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was constituted as an autonomous body to regulate and develop the insurance industry. The IRDA was incorporated as a statutory body in April, 2000. The key objectives of the IRDA include promotion of competition so as to enhance customer satisfaction through increased consumer choice and lower premiums, while ensuring the financial security of the insurance market.The IRDA opened up the market in August 2000 with the invitation for application for registr ations. Foreign companies were allowed ownership of up to 26%. A number of amendments were brought in various insurance related statutes, viz. , Insurance Act, 1938, LIC Act, 1956 and General Insurance Business Nationalization Act, 1972 (GIBA). The Progress in the overall developments in the insurance sector were swift and more prominent after the establishment of IRDA. The four public sector non-life insurance companies were de-linked from being subsidiary of the General Insurance Company of India. Now they operate independently and compete with each other. With the progress of reforms, Insurance market has been flooded with a number of players.As at end-March 2006, among the life insurers, there were 23 companies in private sector and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was the solitary public sector company. Among non-life insurers, nine companies were in private sector and four companies were in public sector (Annex II). As regarding the present size of the insurance marke t in India, it is stated that India accounts not even one per cent of the global Insurance market. However, studies have pointed out that India’s insurance market is expected to grow rapidly in the next 10 years. The Indian Insurance Industry: A Case Study Let’s understand the rules for formation of Insurance Company in India. ABC is foreign company having diverse business interests, including the arketing and selling of insurance products in the United States of America (USA). It has a strong infrastructure, good customer base and brand equity. ABC has heard that the Indian insurance market has opened up and seeks some information about opportunities there. ABC wants to tie-up with an Indian company (â€Å"XYZ†) by forming a joint venture and wants to know the amount of equity it can hold in an Indian joint venture company and the insurance products it can sell in India. The company has distributable profits in three (3) preceding financial years, prior to the year in which shares with differential rights are to be issued; Further, ABC has a subsidiary in India (the â€Å"ABC Sub†).ABC wants to know whether ABC Sub can enter into a joint venture with XYZ. Observations and Comments The Indian government has recently passed the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority Act, 1999 (the â€Å"IRDA†) whereby amendments have been made to the existing insurance laws prevailing in the country, namely, the Insurance Act, 1938 (the â€Å"Ins Act†), the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 (the â€Å"Life Act†), and the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 (the â€Å"GIB Act†). An authority called the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (the â€Å"Authority†) has been established to regulate the insurance sector. (Section 3 of the IRDA) The Authority, inter alia, will have the power to: Issue applicants a certificate of registration; renew, modify, withdraw, suspend or cancel such re gistration. (Section 14(2)(a) of the IRDA) A certificate of registration will have to be renewed annually. (Section 3A of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) †¢ Prescribe prudential norms such as solvency margins and investment guidelines for insurance companies (Section 14(2)(k) and (l) of the IRDA) †¢ Protect interests of policyholders in matters concerning assignments of policies, nominations by policyholders, insurable interest, settlement of insurance claims, surrender value of policies, and other terms and conditions of contracts of insurance. (Section 14(2)(b) of the IRDA)However, the Indian Government has retained with itself the power to issue directions on questions of policy. (Section 14(2)(b) of the IRDA) The definition of an â€Å"Indian insurance company† has been amended to include â€Å"any insurer being a company- 1. Which is formed and registered under the Companies Act, 1956; 2. In which the aggregate holding of equity shares by a for eign company, either by itself or through its subsidiary companies or its nominees does not exceed twenty-six per cent (26%) of the paid-up capital; and 3. Whose sole purpose is to carry on life insurance business or general insurance business or reinsurance business. (Section 2(7A) of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA)The explanation to this section provides that a â€Å"foreign company† is a company that is not a domestic company. (Section 2(23A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 r/w section 2(7A) of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) The IRDA by amending the Ins Act clearly provides that the aggregate holding of equity shares by a foreign company, either by itself or through its subsidiary companies or nominees should not exceed 26% of the paid-up capital of the insurance company. It has been clarified that the twenty-six per cent (26%) cap applicable to foreign companies will also apply to foreign institutional investors, non-resident Indians and overs eas corporate bodies. Section 2(7A)(b) of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) Thus, a foreign company is now permitted to own upto 26% of the equity in an Indian joint venture company. Therefore, if ABC proposes to form a joint venture with XYZ, ABC's shareholding will be restricted to a minority shareholding of 26% in the joint venture company. It must be noted that the Indian insurance company must be a public limited company. (Section 2C of the Ins Act) Now, let us assume that ABC has a subsidiary company in India (the â€Å"ABC Sub†) in which it owns a fifty-one per cent (51%) equity and decides that ABC Sub should enter into the insurance joint venture with XYZ. This will not be permissible.According to recent informal pronouncements of the Authority, Indian companies that are subsidiaries of overseas companies will not be allowed to tie-up with other Indian companies to do insurance business. The Authority perceives this as violation of the twenty-six per ce nt (26%) equity cap by forming insurance companies. ABC can, however, along with several other foreign companies have a stake in an insurance company operating in India as long as the combined equity stake of all foreign companies does not exceed twenty-six per cent (26%). The Authority will not register any new insurance company carrying on the business of life or general insurance unless it has a minimum paid-up capital of Rs. 100 crores. No composite license for life and non-life business will be granted.For companies in the reinsurance sector, a minimum paid-up capital of Rs. 200 crores is required. (Section 6 of the Ins Act) The foregoing paid-up share capital must be brought into the new company within six (6) months of issue of the license. (Section 6 of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) In addition, every insurer will be required to undertake such percentages of life insurance or general insurance business in the rural or social sector, as specified in the Offi cial Gazette by the Authority in this behalf. (Section 27D of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) Furthermore, a new insurance company will be permitted to invest policyholders' funds only in India. Section 27C of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) Every insurer shall, in respect of its life insurance business, be required to deposit with the Reserve Bank of India, either in cash or in approved securities, a sum equal to one per cent (1%) of its total gross premium written in India, not, however, exceeding Rs. 10 crores. In respect of the general insurance business, this sum will equal three per cent (3%) of its total gross premium written in India, not, however, exceeding Rs. 10 crores. In respect of re-insurance business, this sum will equal Rs. 20 crores. (Section 7(i) of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) It has been provided that an Indian promoter holding more than twenty-six per cent (26%) of the paid-up equity capital of an Indian insura nce company will ave to divest in a phased manner the share capital in excess of twenty-six per cent (26%), after a period of ten (10) years from the date of commencement of business by the Indian insurance company. (Provision to section 6AA of the Ins Act r/w the First Schedule of the IRDA) On the one hand, the Indian government has restricted foreign equity ownership in Indian insurance companies to twenty-six per cent (26%) whereas on the other hand, it wants Indian partners to divest their equity holdings to twenty-six per cent (26%) after ten (10) years. Recently government has been in considering increasing the limit on foreign investments up to 49% from current 26%. Also norms for IPO are expected to be finalized shortly which would enable companies to go public for raising funds.The IRDA has allowed three kinds of insurance brokerage firms to operate in the country, namely, insurance, re-insurance, and composite brokerage firms. The twenty-six per cent (26%) equity cap will apply to such firms too, except that; composite brokers may enjoy a higher equity cap of forty-nine per cent (49%). Company formation consideration †¢ On complying with the registration formalities, ABC and XYZ will have to enter into a shareholders’ agreement. The main issue that arises here is exercise of control in the functioning of the joint venture company. Generally, exercise of control can be at two levels Board of Directors; and Shareholders. †¢ Under the Companies Act, 1956 (the â€Å"Cos.Act†) a company can carry on activities by passing either of two resolutions, special resolutions and ordinary resolutions. Ordinary resolutions can be passed by shareholders having 50% plus one shares with voting rights in the company, whereas special resolutions can be passed only by shareholders having 75% shares with voting rights in the company. A special resolution is, inter alia, required to amend the Memorandum and Articles of Association of a company, to i ssue further shares through a rights issue, to give loans or guarantees to other companies, etc. With a twenty-six per cent (26%) equity stake, ABC will only be in a position to block special resolutions. It will not be able to control the day-to-day functioning of the joint venture company.Additionally, the Authority has prescribed that foreign insurance companies cannot retain Board control in Indian insurance joint venture companies. Therefore, ABC will not be able to appoint majority directors on the joint venture company's Board. Another pertinent point that arises is infusion of funds to the extent of seventy-four per cent (74%) of the equity of the joint venture company by the Indian partner, namely, XYZ. XYZ will have to bring in a minimum amount of 74 cores, if the joint venture company seeks to enter into the business of life or general insurance. Further, in the event of increase of share capital, XYZ will have to pump in an amount equal to its seventy-four per cent (74%) equity stake.This can cause some problems. It should be noted that preference shares cannot be issued by companies carrying on life insurance business (Section 6A(1)(i) of the Ins Act). As such, the joint venture company carrying on life insurance business cannot comply with the capitalization stipulations by issuing preference shares to ABC In such circumstances, the parties can consider entering into a three-way joint venture either with another Indian company or with a bank. The Reserve Bank of India (â€Å"RBI†) has permitted banks to enter into the insurance sector and to invest up to fifty per cent (50%) of their paid-up capital in insurance joint ventures.The liberalization of the Indian insurance sector has open up the sector to private competition. If ABC and XYZ can establish the right amount of trust and take a long-term perspective on the Indian market, their joint venture can be a major success. ? Distribution Channel – Definition & Importance in Indian i nsurance Industry The process of making a product or service available to customer for use or consumption at desired place and time by set of two or more interdependent organizations. It can also be termed as an Intermediary between end consumer and seller or service provider. Intermediaries typically charge a â€Å"mark-up† or â€Å"commission† for participating in the channel.Post nationalization of Insurance companies, tied agents were the primary channels for insurance distribution in the Indian market; the public sector insurance companies have their branches in almost all parts of the country and have attracted local people to become their agents. The agents are from various segments in society and collectively cover the entire spectrum of society. A person who has lived in the locality for many years sells the products of the insurance company with a local branch nearby. This ensures the last mile touch point being closer to the customer. Of course, the profile of the people who acted as agents suggests they may not have been sufficiently knowledgeable about the different products offered, and may not have sold the best possible product to the client. Nonetheless, the customer trusted the agent and company. This arrangement worked adequately in the absence of competition.In terms of ‘Insurance Penetration Ratio’ (defined as ratio of insurance premium to GDP), a key indicator of the spread of insurance coverage and insurance culture, India compares very poorly by international standards. The penetration ratio was less than one per cent in 1990s and it improved to 5. 2% by year ended on March 2009. As against this, as per report from Swiss Re penetration ratio by year ended on March 2009, in respect of some of the developed countries, viz. , UK and South Africa at 12. 90%. In Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong had registered their respective ratio of as high as 16. 8% and 11. 0%. Insurance penetration for the world was placed at 7. 0% w hich was far ahead than that of India. Refer: Table 1) Thus in a country with 1. 21 billion overall population, the penetration ratio indicates that still there is vast majority of population still outside reach of Insurance; especially in rural and semi-urban areas, in the context of the absence of social security schemes. This clearly suggests that there is a vast opportunity to tap in insurance sector by widening the distribution channels. Nearly as old as the banking industry or perhaps even older, insurance as a model of risk management, is centuries old. Though the industry began in a small way, it evolved to become an integral part of the financial services businesses over time.Table 1: International Comparison Of Insurance Penetration, March 2009. Developed Countries |Country |Total |Life |Non-Life | |Australia |6. 40 |3. 40 |3. 00 | |Brazil |3. 10 |1. 60 |1. 50 | |France |10. 30 |7. 20 |3. 10 | |Germany |7. 00 |3. 30 |3. 0 | |Russia |2. 50 |0. 00 |2. 50 | |South Africa |12. 90 |10. 00 |2. 90 | |Switzerland |9. 80 |5. 40 |4. 50 | |United Kingdom |12. 90 |10. 00 |3. 00 | |United States |8. 00 |3. 50 |4. 50 | Asian Countries Country |Total |Life |Non-Life | |Bangladesh |0. 90 |0. 70 |0. 20 | |Hong Kong |11. 00 |9. 60 |1. 40 | |India# |5. 20 |4. 60 |0. 60 | |Japan |9. 90 |7. 80 |2. 10 | |Malaysia |4. 40 |2. 90 |1. 0 | |Pakistan |0. 70 |0. 30 |0. 40 | |PR China |3. 40 |2. 30 |1. 10 | |Singapore |6. 80 |5. 10 |1. 70 | |South Korea |10. 40 |6. 50 |3. 90 | |Sri Lanka |1. 40 |0. 60 |0. 90 | |Taiwan |16. 0 |13. 80 |3. 00 | |Thailand |4. 00 |2. 40 |1. 60 | |World |7. 00 |4. 00 |3. 00 | Source: Swiss Re, Sigma various volumes * Insurance penetration is measured as ratio of premium (in US Dollars) to GDP (in US Dollars) # Data relates to financial year ? Current distribution channels for Insurance products in India:- Traditionally before privatization insurance products were only sold by agents.Strategy also worked due to absence of competition in market. However post privatization, competition got tougher and need for alternate channels of distribution was strongly felt. Currently insurance products are being distributed through following channels: Current distribution of Insurance products in India Insurers ? Tied (Agency) Today's insurance agent has to know which product will appeal to the customer, and also know his competitor's products in the same space to be an effective salesman who can sell his company, the product, and himself to the customer. To the average customer, every new company is the same. Perceptions about the public sector companies are also cemented in his mind.The new companies are looking for educated, aware individuals with marketing flair, an elite group who can be attracted only with high remuneration and the lure of a fashionable job, all of which may not be possible in this business with its price pressures and the complexity of selling insurance. Unable to attract this segment, they have started easing recruitme nt conditions as against the stringent norms they had earlier, thereby diluting the process. While the public sector companies are able to attract agents, they continue to suffer from high attrition rates due to indiscriminate agent appointment. The most successful of these companies tied agents are hardly of the elite variety of salesman.They are still the people from neighborhood — the postman, the schoolteacher, and the shopkeeper — who know the people and are themselves known in the community. The challenge here is the lack of knowledge of the competitive market and the inability to do intelligent comparisons with the competitor's products. Educating and training these agents is a serious challenge for the insurance company. The relevance of this kind of agent continues even today as agents are sought or contacted by families by word of mouth. Insurance companies are advised not to follow the path of FMCG's/credit card companies, believing that a suited and booted customer care consultant or financial consultant will necessarily appeal to the average Indian customer.In this context it might be a rewarding exercise to recruit some older people (who have taken Voluntary Retirement from banks and other financial institutions) to sell some lines of products like pension plans, annuities etc. Gender of agents is another relevant feature in the rural context that makes a difference, especially for the female population. Women to whom the customers can relate –e. g. , nurses, gram sevikas — can target the female segment of the population more effectively. What is applicable for the rural women and children health programs and population control programs is equally applicable for insurance selling also. With this kind of segmentation of intermediaries the challenge for the insurance company lies in training and educating these people to become effective sales persons.But this in no way diminishes the benefits of intermediary segmentatio n. †¢ SWOT Analysis on Agency Channel Strengths:- †¢ Typicality of Indian customers who always favors known and reliable intermediary. †¢ Through agency, personal contact and relationship can be established with the customer. Agents usually enjoy personal credibility with customers. †¢ Agents provide various presales and post sales services to customers. †¢ This channel’s awareness and acceptability is maximum among people. †¢ Cross selling is possible through this channel. †¢ Due to personal contact, it can provide valuable feedback about the need and expectation of consumers. Weakness:- Insurers have to bare higher cost to set up of agency channel network and provide training to personnel †¢ Higher commission rates forces insurers to deduct high charges from policy. †¢ High attrition rate of agents is a serious concern. Due to this, initial investment done on training and educating the agents goes waste. Attrition causes the prob lem of servicing orphan policies. †¢ Agents are generally not tech savvy. Opportunities:- †¢ High net worth individuals who prefer relationship over cost can be tapped. †¢ Technology can be embraced to convert prospect into business. †¢ Commissions structure can be designed in such a way that agents would want to stay active for long term. Threats:- Alternate distribution channels are more preferred by the insurers due to cost effectiveness over agency channel. At present, the number of agents working in life insurance industry is approximately 15 lakhs but a majority of them are dormant which leads to poor activity ratio. Out of the massive agency force approximately only 20% are active. What is need of the hour is not the quantity but the quality. Having some productive and lots of unproductive lot drags down the morale of the community of agents, leads to discontent within the profession and the respect for the profession is downgraded. Over manpower has its c ost to the company in terms of unrecovered or under recovered training cost.Also, opportunity cost in terms of a more productive agent serving in place of a dormant agent can’t be looked over. Over manpower also contributes to mis-selling and refunds. Adequate concept, product and soft skill training is indispensible for professionalizing agency force. IRDA mandates companies to impart 100 hour training to its agents and today most of the companies have in-house training facility. But number of agents attending subsequent product trainings at the time of product launches and other soft skill training sessions gets reduced substantially. It leads to poor knowledge about company’s whole basket of offerings and agents selling only a few products instead of doing a true need-based selling to customers.The concern of the regulator towards growing proportion of linked products in companies’ total percentage of business can also be attributed to biasedness of training programs in favor of linked products. Training becomes all the more important in today’s competitive environment where the agent is not only selling insurance but the company providing insurance. Adequate and quality initial training at the time of licensing is like laying a strong foundation for agents entering the industry and subsequent trainings are like sharpening the agents’ willingness to stay competitive. Agents are off-roll employees of an insurance company and keeping them motivated is a big challenge. Companies run loyalty and engagement programs and sales incentive programs (like short term contests) providing various monetary and non-monetary benefits.They serve well to motivate the agents to perform better, increase interaction of agents with the companies, promote spirit of healthy competition among the agents and to recognize good performing agents, provided these programs are easily understandable, transparent and quick in benefit disbursal. This profe ssion is also not left untouched by Information Technology. Most of the companies have a dedicated agent’s portal but the number of agents accessing them is less than satisfactory. One step forward in making the agents more efficient and professional is to make them more tech-savvy through training and other means. Looking at the regulatory front, a dispute redressal mechanism for the agents should be established by the IRDA. Insurance selling is a tough job.Agents are facing sharp competition from other alternative distribution channels and with so many insurance players in the fray, their job has become all the more difficult. Though the image of an agent has undergone lot of change since the time it was first introduced but still agents face a lot of sales resistance. Insurance companies need to consciously endeavor into dedicated efforts for the image makeover of their agents which will go much beyond calling them advisors or financial consultants instead of agents. Agent s are the true Brand Ambassadors of the company and they deserve a fair treatment from the insurers. In spite of multitude of other distribution channels coming up, tied agency is here to stay because of attitude and typicality of Indian customers.What is needed is a genuine effort in recruitment, training and development of a good agency force critical for growth and survival, knowing that for a long-term business like insurance quality, productivity and ethical values must be deep-rooted fully in the workforce. ? Corporate Agency The corporate agent is an extension of the agent as the insurance agent is an individual and if two agents join together and form a firm or company, it becomes corporate agent. The procedure to become a corporate agent is the same as that of an agent but may have to contribute the share capital of 15 lakh at the discretion of the insurer. Corporate agency channel was the key distribution channel for Insurance. Since IRDA allowed corporate agents into dist ribution of Insurance, it flourished like anything.It has a major advantage of cost affordability over traditional agency channel for insurers. However due to increased complaints of mis-selling and high lapsation of policies sourced through corporate agencies was a growing concern over the time. Majority of the policies were sold as a short term investment option rather than long term security. Customers were kept under dark about various charges of policy and other terms and conditions which makes insurance policy a long term investment option. Also there were instances where same set of individuals have floated different corporate agencies and they even employed people without valid licenses. To overcome these challenges and protect customer interest, IRDA came up with tringent licensing norms for corporate agencies in June 2010 which tighten the license renewal process that made many small corporate agents ineligible as they were not conforming to the new norms. In addition of t his IRDA also recommended regular on-side inspection of corporate agents to control various mal practices that had entered the system. Due to IRDA’s on-side inspection companies wherein same set of individuals have floated different corporate agencies went out of business. In November 2011, IRDA came out with persistency ratio for corporate agents; according to which it would mandatory for corporate agents to retain at least 50% of their clients. These norms with cap on commission have made its viability questionable.Also IRDA proposed a disincentive for lapsation in the form of commission claw back by the insurer, on a proportionate basis. Alternatively, a part of the first year commission should be withheld to be paid based on persistency in later years. These guidelines have ensured the restriction of the agencies which used to sell the insurance policies only for higher first year commission by using malpractices and only those who are willing to do long term and ethical business can survive. ? Brokers Insurance brokers is being totally new distribution channel which can sell the products of all the insurers on all India basis but minimum capital requirement is 50 lakh with proper office infrastructure and manpower.Every Insurance Broker will have to pay annual fees of 0. 5% of his brokerage and insure himself under Professional Indemnity insurance. Broker channel offers several benefits for customers like Choice, expertise and customer servicing. These are elaborated below. Choice:- There are about 50 insurance companies in India and as a result hundreds of different product options which can help customer to choose product exactly as per his need. Unfortunately the benefit of this market diversity never reaches the customers if they purchase insurance through agents. Brokers by definition are not tied to any one insurer and have a bias to present as many options as possible to clients.Also, brokers have a unique advantage as they can combine the l ife, non-life and health insurance requirements of a client. A broker can explain the distinctions of these different product types to a client and pick the most relevant options. This allows brokers to work with relatively smaller companies in a profitable manner. Individual insurers and agents would not have the same economies of scale in serving small clients. Expertise:- Brokers are constantly exposed to people and product offerings of different companies. Brokers participate in training programme conducted by different companies. This puts brokers in a unique position to understand market trends and developments. A good broker will harness this information to create deep market expertise.Such expertise has three main benefits. First, brokers can educate clients about product options and then push insurers hard to develop the appropriate products. The result is a steady improvement in product quality. Second, brokers can express a client's case in a language that insurers unders tand and vice versa. Quite often clients are confused when faced with all the technicalities of insurance. Brokers bridge this gap. Finally, the expertise is vital in effectively managing the client's risk, particularly in volatile times. Customer Servicing:- Because of the privileged customer–broker relationship, the broker has to build customer servicing capability.In fact the ability of a broker to retain a client, quite often depends upon its servicing strengths. No insurer or agent can play this role adequately because of the inherent conflict of interest between the claimant and the insurance company. Benefits to Industry and regulators point of view:- Brokers offer several benefits to the regulator as well. The strong customer focus of a broker is an obvious benefit. Moreover, primarily because of their deep expertise, brokers can be a very effective route to collate consumer feedback on its guidelines and regulations. Brokers go through a rigorous screening process by the regulator. Fly-by-night operators are effectively screened out.Therefore, a robust broking channel will result in fewer customer grievances and mis-selling issues. Last but not the least; brokers are very effective in reducing the cost of distribution. The experience in several countries has been that intermediation costs reduce as the broking channel becomes better established. The IRDA has a significant role to play in strengthening the broker's role in industry. First, it should attract high quality talent and capital in the channel. The quality of the players will be the foremost determinant of the development of the channel. Second, IRDA should look to incentivize focus on pure protection solutions.The low ticket size of pure protection plans and the current commission structure results in small absolute earnings for the channel. In the backdrop of low consumer awareness, the cost of acquiring a customer is high, hence the current compensation does not provide an economic rationale for intermediaries to focus on such pure risk products. Finally, in its developmental role, IRDA can educate customers on the advantages, roles and responsibilities of a broker. Issues faced by Brokers Channel:- The Brokers segment offers a mystifying problem to the insurers. This segment is able to reach out to a wide audience and has gained pace over the decade since liberalization.Hence it is an effective channel to gain market share. But profitability issues remain due to greater costs incurred on this high maintenance channel. Given that the Indian customer, just as customers in the developing world, will not like to pay upfront charges for consulting, the broker too needs to maintain his overheads by placing the policy that makes the most economic sense, rather than one that would benefit the customer the most. That said, brokers segment is a specialized channel that will continue to maintain a reasonable share in the new business premiums. The positives are that bro kers in the urban arena can attract the elite and the upper middle class customer.Brokers represent the customer and will sell the products of more than one company. They seek to determine the best fit for the client and can effectively address the mind block faced by the public about the various companies. This is applicable in the case of life insurance for the high-end and corporate/group segment. In the non-life segment, broking is not entirely new, as reinsurance brokers were arranging exotic covers. For individual customers also, with a wide range of competitive products, the broker can get a good deal. The corporate broking companies will have to play a prominent role. We are still in the early years of the industry's growth in India. The best is yet to come.We expect that over time the market will mature and the broking channel will develop with considerable depth and robustness. ? Bancassurance – Comprehensive medium of Insurance distribution The banking & Insurance industry have charged rapidly in the changing and challenging economic environment through out the globe. In the competitive & open environment each & every one wants to do better than others. And they know that if they are not able to provide better service they won't survive in Industry. Insurance companies are also to be competitive by cutting cost & serving in the better way to customers. Now the time has come to choose and adopt appropriate distribution channel.The Bancassurance is the distribution of insurance products through the bank's distribution channels. It is a phenomenon where in insurance products are offered through the distribution channels of the banking services along with a complete range of banking & investment products & services. In simple term we can say Bancassurance tries to exploit synergies between both the insurance companies & banks. Bankers Perspective:- In the post reforms, the financial sector has more number of players of both domestic and foreign a nd the dividing line between the banks and non-banking financial institutions’ activities had considerably thinned down. Overlapping in one another’s functions/ areas have become more common than exception.The direct upshot of these developments led to intensive competition in the banking sector and which in turn had a strong bearing on the banks’ net interest margin (spread). In fact the emerging scenario is likely to bring down the banks’ spread even thinner. Despite the monstrous size of public sector banks, they too observed decline in their spread. Further, banking system in India was prone to very high NPA’s (Non Performing assets) which was further ruining the burden on banks. Therefore, banks were compelled to be constantly on the look out for stable alternate sources of earnings in the form of non- traditional and fee based sources of incomes and diversification towards new areas such as bancassurance, promises greater scope for further en hancement in earnings with no menace of increase in NPA’s.Persistent endeavor in scouting for new technology, new products/ services/ new avenues, has become necessary for the growth as well as sustainability of banking system. It is in this context possibly, bancassurance could well be an appropriate choice for banks to increase their stable source of income with relatively less investments in the form of new infrastructure. As far as banking sector’s infrastructure is concerned, only a few countries could match with India for having largest banking network in terms of bank branches spreading almost throughout the length and breadth of the country. As on year end on March 2011, no of branches of all banks across India stands at staggering 89622 with growth of 36% since 2010.Out of this large network of branches nearly 62% of branches are located in rural and semi urban areas and the remaining around 38% are in urban and metropolitan areas. Besides the commercial banki ng system, India has large rural credit cooperatives as also urban cooperative banking network. Taken together these institutional set up, the ratio of population served by a bank branch would work out to be far lower. Thus, on the one hand we have a very low insurance penetration and low insurance density as compared with the international standards; on the other hand, India has a widely stretched and well established banking network infrastructure.It is this contrasting situation to absorb the two systems by way of ‘bancassurance strategy’ to reap the benefits of synergy. This is an opportune time for both banking and the insurance sectors to come closer and forge an alliance for the mutual benefit. For, both the regulators, i. e. , RBI and IRDA have already proffered appropriate policy guidelines and set in a congenial environment for such an endeavor. Besides, the Government of India’s unequivocal policy to provide insurance cover to the low income households and the people at large at a minimum cost are also favorable. Table 2: POPULATION GROUP-WISE NUMBER OF BRANCHES OF BANKS IN INDIA YEAR |RURAL |SEMI-URBAN |URBAN |METROPOLITAN |TOTAL | |1970 |3063 |3718 |1744 |1606 |10131 | |1980 |15105 |8122 |5178 |4014 |32419 | |1990 |34791 |11324 |8042 |5595 |59752 | |2000 |32734 |14407 |10052 |8219 |65412 | |2001 |32562 |14597 |10293 |8467 |65919 | |2002 |32380 |14747 |10477 |8586 |66190 | |2003 |32303 |14859 |10693 |8680 |66535 | |2004 |32121 |15091 |11000 |8976 |67188 | |2005 |32082 |15403 |11500 |9370 |68355 | |2006 |30579 |15556 |12032 |11304 |69471 | |2007 |30551 |16361 |12970 |11957 |71839 | |2008 |30914 |17791 |14416 |13038 |76159 | |2009 |31576 |19075 |15479 |13921 |80051 | |2010 |32497 |20707 |16884 |14935 |85023 | |2011 |33495 |22631 |17712 |15784 |89622 | Source: RBI annual report, 2010-11. Note: Data are exclusive of administrative offices.Above all, in India still vast majority of banking operations are conducted manually at the ban k’s branch level with relatively less automation such as ATMs, tele-banking, internet banking, etc. , unlike many developed countries. This stands out as an added advantage for the banks to have direct interface with the customers, to understand their needs/tastes and preferences, etc. , and accordingly customize insurance products. In fact there is also greater scope for innovation of new insurance products in the process. Therefore bancassurance can be a feasible activity and viable source of additional revenue for the banks. Insurers Perspective:-Contemporaneously, with the sweeping financial reforms in the insurance sector and the consequent opening up of this sector, all the private entities plunged almost simultaneously with a very little spacing of time and the entire insurance sector has been exposed to stiff competition. Insurers too have much to gain from bancassurance. The cost of the traditional agency channel is prohibitive with the high risk of agency turnover r anging between 30 to 40% every year, thus making the entire recruiting and training expenses going down the drain. Moreover, the price competition has reduced the profit margins and increased the compensation demands of the successful agents. The incentive pattern has a lot to do in this spiraling of the cost of the agency channel. Bancassurance has come in very handy for winning the middle income market which forms the bulk of the bank customers.With Bancassurance, the cost of opening new insurance branches comes down drastically for the insurer. With an agreement with a bank, all the thousand and more branches of the bank become the extended arms of the insurer. Customer Perspective:- The most immediate advantage for customers is that, in insurance business the question of trust plays a greater role, especially due to the inbuilt requirement of a long term relationship between the insurer and the insured. In India, for decades, customers were used to the monopolistic attitude of p ublic sector insurance companies, despite there were many drawbacks in their dealing, they enjoyed customer confidence, this trend continues even now mainly due to their Government ownership.The customers to move over to private insurance companies that are collaborated with foreign companies which are less known to the Indian public would take little more time. The void between the less known newer private insurance companies and the prospective insured could be comfortably filled by the banks because of their well established and long cherished relationship. Under these circumstances, any new insurance products routed through the bancassurance channel would be well received by the customers. Bancassurance is always a win-win situation for customers. It provides greater convenience by providing all the financial needs under one roof.The customer need not always wait for his insurance agent to come and render service. Whenever the client goes to the bank for his/her other needs like housing loan, overdraft, some draft issuance etc, he can complete his insurance needs too. It’s always easier to deal with one agent for all the financial needs rather than separate agents for every product. For paying renewal premium for policy would also be easier with services like ECS, Billpay or standing Instructions. Reduced distribution cost for insurers will lead to reduced premiums for policies. SWOT Analysis on Bancassurance Strengths:- In a country of more than one billion population, sky is the limit for selling insurance products.There is a vast untapped potential as the life insurance industry just covered around 20 crores of people – the number of policies will be more in view of the multiplicity of the policies per person. Millions of people travel out of India every year for various reasons, necessitating the purchase of Travel insurance and Health insurance. This is besides their need for conventional policies. There are a lot of sunrise industries l ike the IT sector, the hospitality sector, the healthcare portfolio, the education sector, BPOs and the call centers, R & D etc, providing a huge pool of professionals ready to be tapped for their insurance needs. Weakness:- The difference in working style and culture of the banks and insurance sector needs greater appreciation.Insurance is a ‘business of solicitation’ unlike a typical banking service, it requires great drive to ‘sell/ market the insurance products. It should, however, be recognized that ‘bancassurance’ is not simply about selling insurance but about changing the mindset of a bank. Moreover, in India since the majority of the banking sector is in public sector and which has been widely disparaged for the lethargic attitude and poor quality of customer service, it needs to refurbish the blemished image. Else, the bancassurance would be difficult to succeed in these banks. Unlike, the banking service, there is no guarantee for insurance products that all efforts that a bank staff spends in explaining to a customer would clinch the deal due to the very nature of the insurance products.This frustration of the bank staff has the danger of spillover effect even on their regular banking business. With the financial reforms and technological revolution embracing the financial system, there has been a great deal of flexibility in the mind set of people to accept change. The above outlined problems need not, however, deter the banking sector to embark on bancassurance as any form of resistance from the bank employees could be tackled by devising an appropriate incentive system commensurate with intensive training to the frontline bank staff. On other hand, the middle class population is over-burdened today by the inflationary pressures.This is considerably reducing the amount of savings of a middle class income group. Also absence of elementary IT requirements is still the case in many of the PSU and co-operative bank bra nches which is a concern area. Opportunities:- Bank has a huge database to work on. This has to be analyzed thoroughly and similar groups should be churned out in order to sell the bancassurance products. Since the Government pensions and other payments are handled through the bank branches, the bank can become a rallying point for more and more insurance business. Banks can become the ‘One stop shop' where a customer can apply for banking, mortgages, pensions, investment and insurance products. Threats:-The bank employee is so well entrenched in his classical way of working that there is a definite threat of resistance to any change the Bancassurance may bring in. The knowledge level of the bank staff on insurance matters is so low that all enquiries of the customers are turned over to the insurer much to the disappointment and discomfiture of the client. The bank employee simply becomes a post man in transferring the problems of the client. The same trouble comes in the matt er of other servicing aspects like the policy revivals or claims. There are hazards of direct competition to conventional banking products. The bank personnel may become resistant to sell insurance products, fearing that the bank's savings may be diverted to the insurance companies.The strategy should be using multiple banks according to their presence in different regions. Success would come by using bancassurance where it will be most effective i. e. selling simple, cheap products to the masses at a low cost. This awareness is growing and is evident from the fact that nearly every insurance company has partnered with one or many banks to implement bancassurance. ? Online Sales Channel – A feasible alternative India is joining the fast growing breed of net users and using net for banking transactions is also growing rapidly. Now almost all the public and private sector banks provide online banking facility as an add-on advantage with savings accounts.In insurance industry, j ust few years back internet was used mostly used by Insurers for Policy servicing, promotion of new products and providing various tools like illustrative calculators etc†¦ However selling insurance products online is a relatively new concept in India. Let’s understand the need of online distribution in Insurance industry. In 2010, the insurance regulator tightened norms which forced insurers to cut down commission to agents. The regulator also made it mandatory for agents to achieve a minimum level of productivity and persistency of business. As a result of these tough measures the number of life insurance agents dropped from 28. 03 lakh in September 2010 to 24. 53 lakh in September 2011.Until a couple of years back most life insurers were swearing by face-to-face sales and maintained that online would be largely used for servicing. Change in the regulatory environment, which has compelled insurers to cut distribution costs, is leading companies to look at new low-cost channels for distribution. Recent developments in information technology (IT) and web-enabled systems have made it easier for insurers to run global operations in a way that would not have been possible even two years ago. Insurers are already reaping advantages from IT improvements in internal efficiencies in areas as diverse as underwriting, claims, policy administration, financial reporting and human resources.But efficiencies go beyond these internal ones. In the coming years, the internet will have at least two major effects on the insurance industry: cost efficiencies and broader distribution. These efficiencies will come as insurers experience a greater availability of data from the internet and the transfer of business processes from manual-related or computer-related systems to newer communication related systems. Such internet-style technology will reduce cost; reduce the level of effort and improve accessibility to large-scale data. Data accumulation becomes much easier u nder the internet approach and thus affects costs and value of insurance.The internet will bring insurers to a whole new base of customers and will allow them to sample new markets that would have been too expensive to enter. Making information available to potential customers and the ability to market products to the new audience will have a tremendous impact. Advantages of Online distribution:- †¢ It would reduce the internal administration and management costs by automating business processes, permitting real-time networking of company departments, and improving management information. †¢ It would reduce the commissions paid to intermediaries since it can be sold directly to clients. †¢ It would reduce the cost of training staff and other miscellaneous expenses required to run a branch. Response time for a conversion of policy would be much lesser than the manual submission. †¢ 24 hour connectivity for purchase and servicing of insurance policies. This would e nable customer to pay premiums, check NAV, track due dates etc. as per his or her convenience. †¢ It will enable online request for quotes and data gathering which will improve efficiency. †¢ It will reduce the re-keying and typing errors which would save time and decrease risk. Compared to online stock broking or online banking, development of internet in insurance industry is somewhat cautious. There are some factors which makes the online selling of insurance policies difficult. Difficulties in selling Insurance online:- The complexity of many insurance products can make it difficult to automate the provision of information. However with improved technology and continuous innovations sometimes later it may be possible to automate complex information and offer that product online. †¢ In many cases, it is difficult to standardize claims settlement. E. g. Claims involves various investigations which needs to be carried out before making decision and would be subjectiv e on case to case basis. This process often involves people and companies who are not in a contractual relation with insurers. †¢ Internet is particularly suitable for products where contact with company is very frequent.For Insurance products, contact with customer is often infrequent. Once policy is carried out, with some type of insurance the policy holder and insurers would get in touch only in case of occurrence of insured event. †¢ In India many customers still view internet as an insecure medium. This prevents large transactions being carried out through Internet and it deters the transmission of confidential information, both of which are essential aspects of insurance policies. While the technology capability is there, improvement in bandwidth and infrastructure are needed. There is also a need of simpler products where auto-under writing is feasible.Automobile insurance, one of the segments of insurance purchased â€Å"off the shelf† in India, would be the ideal segment to start with. On the life side, term assurance for standard lives with simplified underwriting is a possibility. Nowadays many general insurance products like Travel Insurance, Auto Insurance, Health Insurance and in case of life insurance Term Insurance are being sold over internet successfully. Because of the simple nature of these products insurers are have standardized the terms and conditions to be able to sell products online. Online selling has given them chance to go beyond the normal markets and sell these products to new entrants’ altogether. ? MicroinsuranceMicroinsurance is the protection of low -income people against specific perils in exchange for regular premium payments proportionate to the likelihood and cost of the risk involved. Low-income people can use microinsurance, where it is available, as one of several tools (specifically designed for this market in terms of premiums, terms, coverage, and delivery) to manage their risks. India curren tly has the most dynamic microinsurance sector in the world. Liberalization of the economy and the insurance sector has created new opportunities for insurance to reach the vast majority of the poor, including those working in the informal sector. Even so, market penetration is largely driven by supply, not demand.It is often assumed that a microinsurance policy is simply a low -premium insurance policy. This is not so. There are a number of other important factors. Low-income clients often: †¢ Live in remote rural areas, requiring a different distribution channel to urban insurance products; †¢ Are often illiterate and unfamiliar with the concept of insurance, requiring new approaches to both marketing and contracting. †¢ Tend to face more risks than wealthier people do because they cannot afford the same defenses. So, for example, on average they are more prone to illness because they do not eat as well, work under hazardous conditions and do not have regular medica l check –ups. Have little experience of dealing with formal financial institutions, with the exception of the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Linkage Banking programme. Traditiona