Thursday, October 3, 2019

ICICI Bank: Porters Five Forces Analysis

ICICI Bank: Porters Five Forces Analysis Contents (Jump to) Introduction Impact of Globalization on Banking Industry Poter’s Five Forces Model Rationale of the Porter’s Five Forces Model in the Banking Industry Threat of New Entrants: Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Bargaining Power of Buyers: Threat of Substitute Products: Intensity of Competitive Rivalry: Introduction to ICICI Bank Impact of Globalization on ICICI Bank Conclusion References Introduction Globalization is the integration of worldwide markets. It changes everything enabling corporations, countries and individual to approach around the world deeper and cheaper never ever before (Freidman, 2005). According to Cato (cited Ervin Smith, 2008), â€Å"Globalization† defines the current inclinations towards the unbound flow of international investment trade beyond borders and the emerging merger of the economy around the world. Globalization hikes development standard of living of the countries that expose themselves to global market as it increased economic freedom and drive competition (Ervin Smith, 2008). ‘Globalization is the merger of historically distinct and separate national market into huge global market. Falling down of barriers to sell internationally’ (Hill, 2012) There have also been changes in the composition of trade and financial flow and trade flow are increasingly made up of intermediate factors of production. Hummels, Ishii, and  Yi (2001) detail the growth in vertical specialization, and Jones, Kierzkowski, and Lurong (2005) detail the rise in fragmentation and outsourcing. At the same time, capital market transactions are an increasing part of international Financial Flows. Lane and Milesi-Ferritti (2007) document the increasing importance of cross-border capital flows since the mid-1980à ­s. Globalization, in brief, is a process of increasing economic integration and growing economic interdependence between countries in the world economy. It is a relative softening up of economic and trade barriers across the countries so as to facilitate a free inter ­flow of capital technology, people, goods and services. Demand and competition in the market has been increased and changed. From production to services each and every sector is looking for international exposure. So many national companies become International in the last decade. Most of U.S. Companies have their Head offices in USA, but all the production work done by Asian countries like China, India and Philippians (Hill, 2012). Impact of Globalization on Banking Industry The banking sector is one of the most important economic sector and most influential and responsive to change whether international or domestic (Kenaway, 2009) The world banking system has gone through many transformations in last decade. There are drastic changes in service as well as technology. There is huge increment and integration of international financial sector. Transformations create the opportunity and challenges for international banking. It also provides the opportunity to expand internationally. Banks come with different changes like high quality customer services and less face to face interaction for example customer can contact with bank through call centre many miles away or when they can buy goods and send the money through online transaction system within minimum time period. Deregulate the banking acts and combines with globalization and integration of financial markets. Create new competitive environment to increase the efficiency of baking services. Increment in competition due to globalization and deregulate should affect on small and large scale banks. After adopting globalization government stopped protecting their local banks, world become a level playing field with survival of the fittest. Due to high competition banks provide best possible services in the most efficient way. Now banks start providing all financial solution to customer. They are providing loan and so many third party cross sell products. Competition made traditional banks come out of comfort level and turn to more effective way to service customers. So many small scale domestic banks merge with big players of industry ‘Many of research studies show that large scale impact on banking industry in all over the world. Due to global competition many of small bank merge with large banks. For example Bank of Rajasthan merge with ICICI BANK in 2010.’ (Business standard.com, 2010) Poter’s Five Forces Model According to Henry A. (2011) Porter’s five forces framework can help organizations to ascertain the attractiveness or profit potential oftheri industry by analysing the relative impact of each of the five forces on their industry structure. (Henry, 2011) The availability of the various players makes the industry so competitive and dynamic. This calls for a need for each individual player to operate competitively in order to sustain its business. The players in the industry need to make a strategic analysis of the industry in order to know the appropriate strategies to be applied in order to sustain the business continuity. One of the useful models in assessing the attractiveness of any industry is Porter’s Five Forces Framework (Porter, 1980) Rationale of the Porter’s Five Forces Model in the Banking Industry The model attempts to address key strategic issues in a wider scope. Many of the issues mentioned in the model, including the forces and the management of those forces, are relevant to the banking sector as well as any other service-oriented business. The results, which will be obtained by the application of this model, should be given the value of the time of the analysis and that a continuous review is necessary in order to avoid to be myopic or obsolete with the results. Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces (Porter, 1980). Figure 1 provides details of the framework. Fig: Porter’s five forces model (Exploring Management, John R. Schermerhorn, Jr) Threat of New Entrants: According to Hill and Jones (2009) potential competitors are the companies that are not currently competing in the industry but have capability to do so if they choose. The threat of entry of new firms into an industry depends on extent of barrier to entry like economies of scale, capital requirement, government policies, switching cost for buyers, etc. (Kew Stredwick, 2005) To open a new bank, huge capital investment is required. Moreover, there are lots of regulatory issues like government regulations for licensing, etc. Despite of these obstacles, a large number of banks are entering the market so the threat of new entrants should be high. But, due to bank failures and mergers according to FDIC, the number of banks opened from 1977 through 2002 is roughly 215 per year. Trust is one of the biggest hurdles for entry of a new bank. It is difficult for new banks to start up due to involvement of money financial information of other people. People tend to trust big brand names that are well known big banks, which, according to them are trustworthy. Today, banks are providing facilities for serving all financial needs of the customer at one place. Customers tend to allow a major well known bank to look after all of their accounts and financial needs. This centralization further makes it difficult for new banks to enter. As a result, the threat of new entrants is relatively low in banking industry. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Suppliers are the individuals or companies that provide inputs in terms of resources and materials, services etc into the industry (Hill Jones, 2009). The power of suppliers is dependent on Number of suppliers, Brand Power,possibility of forward integration and dependence of customers, etc.(Kew Stredwick, 2005) In banking industry, capital is the major resource and primarily there are 4 suppliers of capital i.e. Deposits of the customer, loans mortgages, mortgaged securities and loans taken from other financial institutions. Through these major suppliers, the bank can meet its requirements like borrowing needs of the customers and at the same time keeping enough money to fulfill withdrawal requirements. The power of the suppliers is widely based on the market and impact of this power is between medium to high. Bargaining Power of Buyers An industry’s buyer may be the individual or end user that will ultimately consume/buy the product of the firm or the companies that distribute the products further. (Hill Jones 2009). Buyer’s power depends on concentration of buyers, alternative sources of purchase, possibility of backward integrations. (Kew Stredwick, 2005) As far as an individual is concerned, it is not a major threat. But, if the cost of switching is higher, then this can affect the power of the buyers. If a single bank looks after all the banking requirements of the customer like savings, mortgages and other financial needs, then it will be a big botheration for the customer to move to some other bank. In order to persuade customers to move to their bank, the entrepreneurs may use different tactics like lowering the switching costs, but most of the customer may still choose to stay with their current bank. The internet has played a vital role in increasing the power of the customer in this industry. Customer can very easily and conveniently compare various banks at almost no cost at all. The cost of opening and maintaining an account as well as the rates offered by different banks can be checked by the customer anytime, anywhere. Threat of Substitute Products The more substitutes a product has, the demand for the product becomes more elastic. Elastic demand means increased consumer price sensitivity which equates to less certainty of profits (Kew Stredwick, 2005). Availability of substitutes of products places limits on the prices market leaders can charge (Hill Jones, 2009) The banking industry is not as much affected by rival banks but the non-financial organizations pose bigger threat of substitution. Although these organizations do not provide deposits, withdrawals, etc, but services such as mutual funds, insurance and fixed earning securities are offered by these companies in much convenient way. Method of payment and loans pose a threat of substitutes, which is relatively higher. For example, dealer who sell costly items like automobiles, ornaments, electronics, etc usually prefer financing expensive items. Usually, these companies give lower rate of interest on bill payment as compared to loan taken from any bank.9 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry Rivalry refers to the degree to which firms respond to competitive moves of the other firms in the industry (Hill Jones, 2009). Rivalry among existing firms may manifest itself in a number of ways- price competition, new products, increased levels of customer service, warranties and guarantees, advertising, better networks of wholesale distributors, and so on Barnat, 2014.) There is very high competition is banking industry. This industry is into existence since hundreds of years and is servicing people since then. Due to this reason, banks need to try to inveigle customers from their rival banks. This is done through lower rates of interest on loans, higher rates on deposits, better convenient after sale services and other investment related services. The basic competition is this industry is to give best services within minimum time period. But due to this completion banks are suffering from lower Returns on Assets (ROA). Due to this nature of the banking industry, there is possibility of more consolidation of the industry. Bigger banks go for acquiring or merging with smaller banks instead of spending valuable money on advertising and marketing. Introduction to ICICI Bank Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India founded in 1955 as a joint venture of World Bank. Its parent company is ICICI group. ICICI bank promote in 1994 by ICICI limited and whole subsidiary of ICICI shareholding. It is an Indian multinational bank and financial services provide based in Mumbai. ICICI have global banking operation 19 countries. ICICI Bank Ltd is Indias second largest financial services company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialized subsidiaries in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management. The Bank has a network of 2,533 branches and 6,800 ATMs in India, and has a presence in 19 countries, including India. The bank has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Russia, and Canada; branches in United States, Singapore, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Qatar and Dubai International Finance Centre; and representative offices in United Arab Emirates, China, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The companys UK subsidiary has established branches in Belgium and Germany. ICICI Banks equity shares are listed in India on Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited and its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Impact of Globalization on ICICI Bank To cope with globalization and increasing customer demand, ICICI was one of the new banks to start internet banking, private banking services and mobile banking services and mobile ATM services. Influenced by globalization, ICICI was the first ever bank from India to borrow Currency Units from European countries. With globalization and presence of multiple national and international firms, it was necessary to provide payment facilities through credit cards. Hence with Airtel and HPCL, ICICI bank launched multi-branded credit card to enhance customer base. ICICI has collaborated with Lloyds TSB of UK to make it easy for people of Indian origin living in the United Kingdom to access more branches and ATM in UK as well as India. In terms of profits, there has been a substantial improvement. It was a conscious strategy to pare the size: the bank decided to focus on profitability and efficiency. It has improved the composition of funding by reducing high cost funds. There was growth in international business. The international business which was 25% of the bank’s balance sheet now has come down to 23%. In the UK and Canada, the loan books are flat and in Russia it shrank. In terms of financial performance, ICICI has improved its Earnings Per Share, from 2009 through 2013 EPS has grown from 33.76 to 72.22; an increase of approximately 114%. Also, the net profit margin has risen from 5.63 to 12.94 in the period of past 5 years. ICICI has reduced its total expenses by 17% and increased its income by 15% approximately ICICI had adopted a strategy of aggressive sales and introduced new innovative expansion strategies and launched new different products which attracted the customers. ICICI had also taken over couple of companies which did give a major boost to its business and deposits recently it had also taken over Bank of Rajasthan. ICICI is successful in catering to the needs of its Indian Customers who are overseas (Non Resident Indians) by introducing many NRI services. ICICI was successful in opening many current and savings accounts and increase its deposits and has also introduced savings accounts for children as well. With this kind of exemplary performance and coupled with superb customer service in a very short span ICICI had emerged and successfully became one of the leading private sector banks of India. Conclusion The overall impact of globalization on ICICI bank is good. The net profit margin of the bank has increased by 2.5% annually in the past five years. The business strategy of the Bank has mainly been driven by the increased globalization of the Indian economy, the growing trend of Indian corporate expanding overseas, the large population of non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin across the globe and overseas companies looking to invest in India. References Barnat R. (2014), Stratigic Formulation, available at http://www.strategy-formulation.24xls.com/ Ervin J, Smith Z.A, Globalization:A Reference Handbook, 2008 Friedman T.L. (2005), The World is Flat Henry A.(2011), Understanding Strategic Management, Oxford University Press p. 81-83 Hill C., Jones G. (2009) Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, Cengage Learning p. 43-45 Hill C.W. (2012), International business competing in global marketplace, McGraw-Hill Education http://www.icicibank.com/aboutus/about-us.html Hummels, D., J. Ishii, and K.-M. Yi (2001): The nature and growth of vertical specialization in world trade,Journal of International Economics, 54, 75-96. Hummels, Ishii, and Yi (2001) Detail the growth in vertical specialization, and Jones, Kierzkowski, and Lurong (2005) ICICI Annual Report FY13 Available at http://www.icicibank.com/aboutus/annual.html Jones, R., H. Kerzkowski, and C. Lurong (2005): .What does evidence tell us about fragmentation and outsourcing,.International Review of Economics and Finance, 14, 305.316. Kenawy, Ezzat Molouk, (2009), Globalization and Its Effects on the Banking System Performance in Egypt p. 55 Kew J., Stredwick J. (2005), Business Environment:Managing in a Strategic Context, CIPD Publishing, p.21-23 Lane, P. R., and G. M. Milesi-Ferretti (2004): .International Investment Patterns,.CEPR Discussion Paper 4499. Porter, M E. (1980) Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors, New York: The Free Press. Reporter B.S., Bank of Rajasthan to merge with ICICI Bank, available at: http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/bank-of-rajasthan-to-merge-with-icici-bank-110051900028_1.html [Last Accessed: May 19, 2010] Schermerhorn J.R. (2009), Exploring Management, John Wiley Sons Subsidiaries of ICICI Bank Annual Report FY2013 Availabel at: http://www.icicibank.com/aboutus/annual.html Upender M., Shreedhar V.(2013) Growth Rates and Responsiveness of Credit to the Changes in Deposits in the Indian Banking, Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Jarroc: The Admiral and Father :: Star Trek Defector Essays Papers

Jarroc: The Admiral and Father During the episode of Star Trek, "The Defector", Jarroc clearly shows that he is not a traitor. He does not properly fit the definition of a traitor and while it can be argued that he was one, his inner motives must be taken into account. It is these motives which make all the difference. The Webster's dictionary from the On-line Library defines a traitor as, "one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty: one who commits treason."(gop). As an admiral, Jarroc was privileged to see many top secret documents. Some of these were accounts of the space station on Nelvana 3. The supposed betrayal of trust occurred when he took this information and gave it to the Federation. We were told that since the birth of his daughter Jarroc had become less inclined to the idea of a war with the Federation. He began to question the decisions of his superiors. He didn't do this out of anger but out of a concern for the future of his world and of his family. Even though he was an admiral and a past war hero, he disobeyed his orders and went over to the Federation space and gave them his secrets. Without looking at his reasons, it would be easy to call him a traitor. But there are always two sides to every story, and the question must be raised of to whom was Jarroc being loyal when he decided to leave the Romulan sector. He could have been responding to his own feelings, possibly to his own government as a spy, or he could have been acting for the future of his worlds. After doing a little research on the web I discovered a few pages devoted to Romulan history. One of the more pertinent facts was that they had a government with a Senate which elected their chain of high command(www.tos...). This implies a type of democratic government, which even further implies a sense of the government being responsible to the people. This is the way things are supposed to work over here anyway. What this meant was that the government owed a responsibility to keep their people safe. Jarroc clearly saw what a war could do to his people. Even though the government was willing to forsake their people for war, Jarroc was not willing to let that happen.

Standardized Testing in Schools Essay -- Standardized Testing Essays

Views on Standardized Testing Standardized testing has long been a controversial method of assessment in our schools. Such tests are important indicators of student achievement and aptitude. However, some standardized test scores have been misused as a manner in which to track students, allocate school funds, and even determine teacher pay. Standardized tests, when used appropriately and for the right reasons, can adequately determine a student's present level of strengths and weaknesses and his or her aptitude for certain abilities. There are two basic types of achievement assessments: norm-referenced and criterion referenced. In a norm-referenced test, a student's scores are compared to other students' scores to determine how the child is performing in relation to others his age (Woolfolk, A., 2004). A criterion-referenced test compares a student's scores to a set standard, not to other test takers. Criterion-referenced tests usually measure specific objectives and are helpful to teachers because they measure specific academic strengths and weaknesses (Woolfolk, A., 2004). Included in these types of assessments are the three types of standardized tests: achievement, aptitude, and diagnostic (Woolfolk, A., 2004). The achievement test measures how much of the material has been mastered. Tests such as the ACT, ITBS, and ITED are all norm-referenced, achievement tests (Woolfolk, A., 2004). These tests measure mastery of such areas as reading comprehension, math computation, and verbal skills, along with social studies and sciences (Woolfolk, A., 2004). The aptitude test is used to predict future performance by testing abilities which have been developed over many years (Woolfolk, A., 2004). The SAT and the IQ test are examp... ...nrichment opportunities for those excelling. For my classroom, effort on authentic assessments and work/progress portfolios will trump any standardized test score. Learning should be fun, and filled with many opportunities to explore and discover new and exciting ideas. Works Cited Hlebowitsh, Peter S. (Lecture). (2003, November 21). Foundations of American Education (2nd ed.). Wadsworth: University of Iowa Press. Importance of Testing in Psychology and Education. (2002). Retrieved November 30, 2003, from http://www.a2zpsychology.com/articles/importance_of_testing_in_psychol.htm. Reed, Eric. (Doctoral Student for University of Iowa College of Education). (Lecture). Multiculturalism and the Testing Debate. Human Relations for the Classroom Teacher. (2003, October 21). Woolfolk, Anita. (2004). Educational Psychology. (9th ed). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Intro to Security Final Project Essay

Due in Week Nine: Write 3 to 4 paragraphs giving a bottom-line summary of the specific measureable goals and objectives of the security plan, which can be implemented to define optimal security architecture for the selected business scenario. The objective of the Security Policy is to provide the basis of a secure information system within the Bloom Design Group. This policy will protect the information system from threats that exist in nature as well as disasters that exist from humans. The policy will also give consideration to the privacy, reputation, intellectual property and productivity of Bloom Design Group. The efficient operation of this company is dependent on being able to access and use resources within the building and being able to remote access with security. Each employees responsibility must be considered and appropriate access will be given to ensure that information is shared only with those who have the authority to have it. This policy will ensure the adherence to the Bloom Design Group policies but also with any government regulations. By limiting the access to certain groups of users, the security policy will guard against misuse of data and information. All processes that are within the system will be aligned with the policy and executed automatically to ensure that the policy is effectively protecting the information and resources in a continuous manner. Any disruptions or security risks will be dealt with immediately and automatically by means of the system software that has been established and configured for these purposes. 3. Introduction Due in Week One: Give an overview of the company and the security goals to be achieved. 3. 1. Company overview As relates to your selected scenario, give a brief 100- to 200-word overview of the company. The Bloom Design Group is an interior design business that offers services to clients globally. There is a corporate office in New York and a secondary office located in Los Angeles. The group’s website allows clients a virtual decorating tool, where they are able to get an idea of the design and color scheme they would like to see and how it may look after the design is completed. This is a great tool to aid the client in making decisions, backed up by consultation by experienced interior designers as well. The designers are able to access their client files and style guides utilized by the company. The designers will also be able to process orders for materials and furniture when accessing the website. Access is gained by a secure login and password. The employees and designers of this company conduct most of their business remotely and access the network via a secure VPN. 3. 2. Security policy overview Of the different types of security policies—program-level, program-framework, issue-specific, and system-specific—briefly cover which type is appropriate to your selected business scenario and why. For The Bloom Design Group, a program-framework policy would be appropriate. The corporate office would set the security policy as it pertains to network usage. The program-framework policy would cover the WAN, the entire organization would be covered by it and all decisions related to how data is accessed by the workforce. This would require an acceptable use policy, which pertains to all areas of access including remote access, authorized data retrieval and retention, and connections within the WAN. 3. 3. Security policy goals As applies to your selected scenario, explain how the confidentiality, integrity, and availability principles of information security will be addressed by the information security policy. 3. 3. 1. Confidentiality Briefly explain how the policy will protect information. Using the program-framework policy will help in making it possible that only those with authorized access to the company’s data will be the ones doing so. VPN technology will be utilized for these individuals and devices only. These will continue their privileges as long as the policy is complied with. The VPN will be maintained so as to minimize risk of unauthorized access, keep user and data confidentiality as much as possible over the internet, ensure the reliability of the company’s system as well as those systems of the authorized users of the network. 3. 3. 2. Integrity Give a brief overview of how the policy will provide rules for authentication and verification. Include a description of formal methods and system transactions. The program-framework policy will maintain the data and keep it secure, reliable, and free from corruption. The policy will keep unauthorized users from gaining, retaining, modifying, or deleting data of the company by means of firewalls, encryptions, and anti-spyware or anti malware tools. The VPN will be secured with using a tool that provides encryption and user authentication. Intrusion detection tools will also help protect the VPN. 3. 3. 3. Availability Briefly describe how the policy will address system back-up and recovery, access control, and quality of service. The program framework policy will maintain that authorized individuals, users, and systems will have access to information in its original format and at all times. The IT department will keep the business continuity plan up to date and and secure it in such case that there is a need for it due to emergencies. The company will create a business impact analysis which will evaluate risks to the company’s data and systems will be ready to be used for recovery of data if needed. A disaster recovery plan will also be created with step by step implementation to ensure recovery and continuation of business operations in the event recovery is needed due to loss. A risk analysis will be created to further identify and take steps to secure the company’s data. Full cooperation from each department and the administration of the company is needed for these plans to be effective. Training will be conducted in order to ensure that all are compliant to the plan. (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2006). 4. Disaster Recovery Plan Due in Week Three: For your selected scenario, describe the key elements of the Disaster Recovery Plan to be used in case of a disaster and the plan for testing the DRP. 4. 1. Risk Assessment 4. 1. 1. Critical business processes List the mission-critical business systems and services that must be protected by the DRP. The Bloom Design Group has the need of protecting their general support systems. These are the mission-critical systems and services to be concerned with. They are related to network connectivity, access to the internet and various resources through applications that will rest on the network that will aid in the daily productivity of the company. The following list of systems is includes the assets that must be protected by this plan.

Monday, September 30, 2019

Fighting Against Prejudice Essay

The Pirates of the Caribbean, set in the Caribbean Sea in the 17th century is a good example of negative prejudice. Gore Verbinski, the film director, highlights the negative prejudice using different techniques. There are two types of prejudice, negative and positive. Negative prejudice is prejudging someone in a wrong way based on their appearance or behavior. For instance, Commodore Norington from the French Military government just presumed that pirates are evil, lying, deceitful thieves who drink all day and just linger around anywhere. However, in the movie it was established that not all pirates are the same. As an example, Captain Jack Sparrow, pirate and captain of The Black Pearl sailing ship, seemed strange and ridiculous, but in fact he is a very honorable man. Furthermore, Jack helped young William Turner rescue Lady Swan from an evil band of pirates which were also the former crew of Jack Sparrow. Prejudging pirates based on stories told about them, is erroneous and neg ative. The movie director used numerous techniques to emphasize the theme of prejudice. One of the techniques used is montage through editing. This type of montage indicates that the camera films a particular scene through diverse angles using a variation of movements including panning and traveling. Panning means that there is a stationary camera which rotates horizontally and a traveling camera moves itself horizontally. For instance, in the quarrelling scene between Jack and William, this is effective since the audience is given both perspectives, from each of the people fighting and highlights William’s feeling towards pirates. Another technique that was used to emphasize prejudice is the tone and attitude of a scene. These two techniques were made possible by using a combination of close shot selection, medium camera angle and increasingly suspenseful music. Through these filming methods, the dueling scene conveys a strong prejudice feeling and a suspenseful mood. Close shot selection indicates that the camera was filming at a very close range to the subjects, which gives the audience the feeling that they are actually inside the action. Therefore, in the fighting action, the viewer feels that they are in the same room where Jack and William are fighting. When the camera is filming the scene at eye level, this is called medium camera angle. This helps underline a point because the audience is feeling that the characters from the movie are actually speaking to them. When William and Jack were dueling, they also talked to each other. Whenever one of them said something, the camera was using medium angle filming and it resulted in giving the viewer the sensation that one of the characters are talking to them. Moreover, in this type of scene there is increasingly suspenseful music which means that the music keeps the audience engrossed in the film and the music makes the viewer eager to find out what is going to happen next in the scene. Also, the music assists in dramatizing prejudice by keeping the audience in suspense. There is also another technique which is sometimes used to realize a point in a film; rate of film movement. This technique uses different types of frame motions, stop, slow, normal and fast motion. In the quarrelling scene, normal motion was used because this rate of film is as fast as real life motion and the audience has a richer experience with the negative prejudice that is projected in the fighting between Jack and William. These series of techniques articulate prejudice in the fighting scene between Jack and William because the eye level filming provides the audience with the ability to understand what each character is feeling about the other one. In the beginning scene, William Turner wanted to kill Jack Sparrow only based on the fact that he is a pirate. In this scene, there is a high camera angle as it is looking down at the scene and the camera was traveling and craning around the two characters. Furthermore, while William and Jack were skirmishing, the camera lenses were zoomed in especially when the swords were clashing and the music became intense and suspenseful to emphasize how much William was driven by negative prejudice against pirates. Besides the camera and music, there is potential montage -conflict of light: light vs. dark, which resulted in an overall darker picture since most of the light seeped into the blacksmith setting through the cracks in the wood. This technique stresses the dark side of the pirate, as perceived through William’s eyes. Moreover, after Jack Sparrow was defeated, William gave him a chance to escape from jail conditional – to save Lady Swan from the evil pirates of The Black Pearl. Hence, after fighting one another and learning more about each other, Jack Sparrow and William Turner formed a perceptive team. Despite the fact that Jack Sparrow is a pirate, it was proven that a friendship can be built between two people that belong to different worlds. Another example of negative prejudice is that no matter that the pirates saved a person’s life they are still judged and prosecuted as bad people. For instance, when the Governor’s daughter, Elizabeth Swan fainted and fell into the sea from a few hundred feet above, the two guards patrolling the docks were unable to save her because they were arguing which one to save her. However, Jack Sparrow without conditions dove into the sea to save Lady Swan. This scene was filmed at close range amid the docks and the camera was panning throughout the frames. These techniques were used to make the audience feel that they are actually helping to save Lady Swan. Another factor that made the scene look very realistic was the use of natural lighting and older English dialogue used by the characters. Even though Jack Sparrow rescued Elizabeth, the Governor and Commodore Norington saw the markings of a pirate on his left forearm, immediately they ordered to hang Jack Sparrow. In this scene, the camera filmed at a very close shot selection and there was a moment of silence, indicating that Jack Sparrow, the savior of Lady Swan, was indeed a pirate. As a result, this is yet another example of negative prejudice against pirates. Jack Sparrow had proven himself a noble man by saving the Governor’s daughter and was still sentenced because of what he was. In the Pirates of the Caribbean, numerous film techniques were used to emphasize and develop the theme of prejudice such as montage, camera movement, angle, and traveling camera. Whilst prejudice means â€Å"prejudgment,† there seems to be a moment where the facts are overwhelming the prejudgments. Therefore, in the ending scene of the movie, the Commodore and General accepted the reality and they spared Jack Sparrow’s life by a day. Prejudging a group of people only based on someone experience is wrong. Each individual might have qualities or defects, positive or negative characteristics.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Interpreter of Maladies

Failure of Marriage Communication is one of the most important things to us keep connected to other people. If we fail to communicate with others, we will fail in many ways such as failure in romance. In the book Interpreter of Maladies with the tittle â€Å"Interpreter of Maladies† by Jhumpa Lahiri, the difficulty of communication becomes one of the problems. Mr. Kapasi feels lonely in his life and in his marriage because he lost his ability to communicate with his wife. However, Mrs. Das is a selfish woman that always hides behind her sunglasses most of the time. She doesn’t care about her family, her husband and her children. These two characters are drawn together because they both have troubled marriages. But if they still have the common sense to think about their own responsibility to their family, they shouldn’t get closer and become interested each other. Mr. Kapasi believes that his life is a failure. He can’t have a successful marriage in his life because his marriage is arranged by his parents. His wife can’t forgive him because of the loss of their young son and also because Mr. Kapasi work for the doctor who failed to save their son’s life. His career is far away from what he dreamed might be happen. Because in his past, he got scholarship and diplomatic greatness so he hoped that he would be success in his career. But now, he only be a tour guide and an interpreter for a doctor. As a tour guide, he speaks in English to the Europeans and Americans about the sights of India. And as an interpreter, he helps people from another country to communicate with the doctor. The job was a sign of his failings. In his youth he’d been a devoted scholar of foreign languages, the owner of an impressive collection of dictionaries. He had dreamed of being an interpreter of diplomats and dignitaries, resolving conflicts between people and nations, settling disputes of which he aline could understand both sides. He was a self-educated man. In a series of notebooks, in the evenings before his parents settled his marriage, he had listed the common etymologies of words, and at one point in his life he was confident that he could converse, if given the opportunity, in English, French, Russian, Portuguese, and Italian, not to mention Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, and Gujarati. Now only a handful of European phrases remained in his memory, scattered words for things like saucers and chairs. English was the only non-Indian language he spoke fluently anymore. Mr. Kapasi knew it was not a remarkable talent. Sometimes he feared that his children knew better English than he did, just from watching television† (52). In his loveless life, he meet Mrs. Das that he thinks also has trouble in marriage. And he got interested with her, imagine what will he do if he live with her, an American woman. But at the end, he feels so disgust with Mrs Das because she cheated with her husband’s friend and had a child from it. Mrs. Das is a very selfish and self-absorbed woman. She doesn’t see anyone else as they are but rather as a means to fulfill her own wishes. Her selfishness can be seen when she doesn’t share her food with her children and her husband, reluctantly takes her daughter to the bathroom, and refuses to paint her daughter’s fingernails. She feels misery in her life because of her cheated with her husband’s friend. She never talk to anyone else about it. Rather than to face her misery, she chooses to hide behind her sunglasses and stays away from her family. Like it is mention on the book â€Å"Mine too. Mommy, do mine too,†said the little girl. Leave me alone,† Mrs. Das said, blowing on her nail and turning her body slightly. â€Å"You’re making me mess up. † (48) and also â€Å"Mrs. Das continued to polish her nails. She had still not removed her sunglasses† (49). The only one person that she talks about her misery is Mr. Kapas i. She hopes that Mr. Kapasi as an interpreter can help her to give some advices. But in fact, Mr. Kapasi can’t help her because it’s not part of his job. Mrs. Das gets angry and leaves the car after she knows that it’s useless to confide about her misery with Mr. Kapasi. The communication doesn’t run smoothly in this story. There are many times communication fail to happen. Mr. Kapasi can’t communicate well with his wife because he has lost his ability for it. Mr. Kapasi also afraid to talk with his children because he fears that his English is not as good as his children. Mr. Das and Mrs. Das do not communicate, not because of the language trouble but because Mrs. Das is so selfish and Mr. Das always gets himself in the guidebook, like said in the book â€Å"He glanced up from the paperback tour book, which said â€Å"INDIA† in yellow letters and looked as if it had been published abroad† (44). The children do not listen to their parents, Mr. Das and Mrs. Das, nor to Mr. Kapasi. This can be proved with the monkey incident when Bobby is trapped with the monkeys. The children have lost the parents figure because the bad behavior of Mr. Das and Mrs. Das. All of these failing communication lead to hurt feeling each person. The Kapasis have a failing marriage. The Dases are hostile to each other. â€Å"They were all like siblings, Mr. Kapasi thought as they passed a row of date trees. Mr. And Mrs. Das behaved like an older brother and sister, not parents. It seeemed that they were in charge of the children only for the day; it was hard to believe they were regularly responsible for anything other than themselves† (49). Another problem beside the failing communication in this story is the forbidden romance between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das. They both have the same loneliness in their marriage. Mr. Kapasi thinks that Mrs. Das could be a perfect companion to him in his loneliness. He puts an effort to attract Mrs. Das; he ignores many differences between him and Mrs. Das. He sees many details of Mrs. Das such as her legs. He ignores the other which is the bad behavior of Mrs. Das like dismisses her children’s desire and her selfishness with the snack. He observed her. She wore a red-and-white checkered skin that stopped above her knees, slip-on shoes with a square wooden heel, and a close-fitting blouse styled like a man’s undershirt. The blouse was decorated at chest-level with a woman, with small hands like paws, her frosty pink fingernails painted to match her lips, and was slightly plump in her figure. Her hair, shorn only a little longer than her husband’s, was parted far to one side. She was wearing large dark brown sunglasses with a pinkish tint to them, and carried a big straw bag, almost as big as her torso, shaped like a bowl, with a water bottle poking out of it. She walked slowly, carrying some puffed rice tossed with peanuts and chili peppers in a large packet made from newspapers (46). Mrs. Das wants to be a woman that can be a place to tell of Mr. Kapasi. She also wants Mr. Kapasi to help her solve her misery. Mrs. Das sees him as a good father and helper and ignores the signs that indicates he may not like to do that. For example, Mrs. Das doesn’t notice that Mr. Kapasi uncomfortable with her confession and push him to help her solve it that he can’t give it to her. Responsibility and love are the keys of successful marriage. Because when people have decided to get married means that they already promise to live with their couple and take care the family forever. When the couple already have it in their own heart and mind, infidelity will never happen. Mrs. Das should realize that she has a husband and three children that need to take care of. She has responsibility as a mother to serve her husband and gives advice to the children. If Mrs. Das could do all of it, she will definitely have a successful marriage. Works Cited Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies. New York : Houghton Mifflin Company. 1999. Print. Interpreter of maladies From the very beginning of the story the narrator depicts a very burdensome life. After leaving his homeland of India, he describes the first place he lived In London as: â€Å"a house occupied entirely of penniless Bengali Bachelors Like [himself], at least a dozen and sometimes more and all struggling to educate and establish ourselves abroad†(Lair 173). This is the perfect example of the narrator's determination to be successful in life and also the major hardships he will have to endure.This also portrays how the narrator accepts and is aware of his inevitable transformation through education and hardships. He knows that his struggles will eventually lead to the ultimate achievement of revealing over three continents. After surviving on the bare minimum in London for about flee years the narrator is offered a fulfillment job in America at the prestigious MIT, which will be his third continental move. Before he sets off abroad he must go back to Calcutta to fulfill an India n tradition of an arranged marriage.The narrator sees his marriage as Just another mundane chore and focuses instead on adjusting to his new life as an Indian immigrant In America. While he waits for his new wife's green card he looks for a cheap room to rent, which Is where he meets the first American he truly admires. Mrs.. Croft is first portrayed as an insignificant ranting old crippled woman that lives alone and rents out rooms, but when her age is revealed, the narrators whole perspective changes; after all he had assumed that she was only in her eighties.She then becomes a special and memorable person to him because he is absolutely astonished and Impressed that a one-hundred and three year old woman could still more or less be Independent or even coherent for that matter. This Is due to the fact that he mentions his own mother completely falling apart after his father passed away. He goes so far as to say: â€Å"What pained me the most was to see her so unguarded, to hear h er burp after meals or expel gas in front of company without the slightest embarrassment† (Lair 1 87 ).Seeing a widow like Mrs.. Croft so bold and quick-witted, yet so fragile, was refreshing and positively inspiring to him. The way he acknowledges her life, â€Å"As vigorous as her voice was, and imperious as she seemed, I knew that even a scratch or a cough could kill a person that old, each day she lived, I knew, was something of a miracle† (Lair 188). The significance of this quote shows that Mrs.. Croft was a big contribution to the narrators realization of an ever changing world where adaptation is the key to survival.As the the narrator waits the six weeks for his wife to arrive he is more than happy to make It a routine to simply sit down next to Mrs.. Croft each night and give her a little of his company. He feels compelled to do more but being of no relation he Crofts and find an apartment suitable for two people. It is peculiar that he not exactly anxious for his wife to Join him in America. He refers to her arrival as â€Å"the arrival of a coming month, or season – something inevitable, but meaningless at the same mime† (Lair 189). These are his feelings in the beginning when he only knew his wife for a mere five days.Once she is there she makes an effort as a dutiful wife by sprucing up the In conclusion the narrator encounters an internal conflict, he slowly becomes an Americanizes Indian with attempts to maintain his original Indian culture. His conflict comes to a head when speaking of his son because it is clear that he is afraid that his son will abandon their Indian traditions. A prime example is the following quote: â€Å"So we drive to Cambridge to visit him, or bring him home for a keen, so that he can eat rice with us with his hands, and speak in Bengali, things we sometimes worry he will no longer do after we die†(Lair 197).His attempt at being the modern American occurs when he tells his wife that she does not have to wear her sari all the time, â€Å"There is no need to cover your head, â€Å"l said. † I don't mind. It doesn't matter here† (Lair 192). Another example is when the narrator tries to retain his original traditions by eating egg curry and walking barefoot throughout his house. Egg curry seems to be the one thing the narrator holds onto which is obvious because he cooks egg curry in all three continents. Interpreter of maladies From the very beginning of the story the narrator depicts a very burdensome life. After leaving his homeland of India, he describes the first place he lived In London as: â€Å"a house occupied entirely of penniless Bengali Bachelors Like [himself], at least a dozen and sometimes more and all struggling to educate and establish ourselves abroad†(Lair 173). This is the perfect example of the narrator's determination to be successful in life and also the major hardships he will have to endure.This also portrays how the narrator accepts and is aware of his inevitable transformation through education and hardships. He knows that his struggles will eventually lead to the ultimate achievement of revealing over three continents. After surviving on the bare minimum in London for about flee years the narrator is offered a fulfillment job in America at the prestigious MIT, which will be his third continental move. Before he sets off abroad he must go back to Calcutta to fulfill an India n tradition of an arranged marriage.The narrator sees his marriage as Just another mundane chore and focuses instead on adjusting to his new life as an Indian immigrant In America. While he waits for his new wife's green card he looks for a cheap room to rent, which Is where he meets the first American he truly admires. Mrs.. Croft is first portrayed as an insignificant ranting old crippled woman that lives alone and rents out rooms, but when her age is revealed, the narrators whole perspective changes; after all he had assumed that she was only in her eighties.She then becomes a special and memorable person to him because he is absolutely astonished and Impressed that a one-hundred and three year old woman could still more or less be Independent or even coherent for that matter. This Is due to the fact that he mentions his own mother completely falling apart after his father passed away. He goes so far as to say: â€Å"What pained me the most was to see her so unguarded, to hear h er burp after meals or expel gas in front of company without the slightest embarrassment† (Lair 1 87 ).Seeing a widow like Mrs.. Croft so bold and quick-witted, yet so fragile, was refreshing and positively inspiring to him. The way he acknowledges her life, â€Å"As vigorous as her voice was, and imperious as she seemed, I knew that even a scratch or a cough could kill a person that old, each day she lived, I knew, was something of a miracle† (Lair 188). The significance of this quote shows that Mrs.. Croft was a big contribution to the narrators realization of an ever changing world where adaptation is the key to survival.As the the narrator waits the six weeks for his wife to arrive he is more than happy to make It a routine to simply sit down next to Mrs.. Croft each night and give her a little of his company. He feels compelled to do more but being of no relation he Crofts and find an apartment suitable for two people. It is peculiar that he not exactly anxious for his wife to Join him in America. He refers to her arrival as â€Å"the arrival of a coming month, or season – something inevitable, but meaningless at the same mime† (Lair 189). These are his feelings in the beginning when he only knew his wife for a mere five days.Once she is there she makes an effort as a dutiful wife by sprucing up the In conclusion the narrator encounters an internal conflict, he slowly becomes an Americanizes Indian with attempts to maintain his original Indian culture. His conflict comes to a head when speaking of his son because it is clear that he is afraid that his son will abandon their Indian traditions. A prime example is the following quote: â€Å"So we drive to Cambridge to visit him, or bring him home for a keen, so that he can eat rice with us with his hands, and speak in Bengali, things we sometimes worry he will no longer do after we die†(Lair 197).His attempt at being the modern American occurs when he tells his wife that she does not have to wear her sari all the time, â€Å"There is no need to cover your head, â€Å"l said. † I don't mind. It doesn't matter here† (Lair 192). Another example is when the narrator tries to retain his original traditions by eating egg curry and walking barefoot throughout his house. Egg curry seems to be the one thing the narrator holds onto which is obvious because he cooks egg curry in all three continents.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Personal & Professional Development Essay

1. Introduction In this assignment we can find the many different terms used to explain the Self-Managed Learning process, with the advantages and disadvantages of it. How this process can influence in a lifelong term, the personal and professional of an individual and how Selfmanaged learning can benefit inside of an organization. 2. The Self-managed Learning Context Many researches over the years have been showing the self- managed learning is getting very popular inside organization, based on the benefits that an individual acquires at the end of each achievement. Individuals that can manage their learning and activities are more responsible, independent and able to make tough decisions. Self-planning learning; selfeducating; self-directed learning and other similar terms together form the Self-managed context, in other words, the ability to organize and carry out an activity settled as a goal. 2.1 Self-Directed Learning In the early age, individuals are full dependents on the structure and the context given by their tutor, responsibility here is very low. A child needs to have some task to be accomplished, the tutor has to explain why and how tasks should be done. At the teenage stage the individual starts to be interested in their  own learning, the tutor give them more  space to be responsible. A simple example, when starting college they have the possibility to choose some subjects they would like to study deeper than the others. Once reached mature life the role tended to change. The adult pass to be self-directed learner, deciding what will be their own goals according with their needs. At this stage the tutor can be only partial responsible in the process of learning, showing them how important is to become a „SelfDirected Learner‟, encouraging and guiding, also stimulate the individuals to think outside the box, always to seek for evaluation on everything that they do, letting the participants dedicate their time on researches and experiments. The process helps the learners understand how to achieve their goals. The practice involves training and lifelong acquired skills. The self-managed learning starts when people show initiative to conquer some learning experience, being fully in charge for the learning and practicing constant evaluation to succeed. Determination; time; place; tools; evaluation; responsibility, are extremely important elements that a person must consider to be successful. We can find these factors in Malcolm Knowles‟s theory definition: â€Å"In this broadest meaning, ’self-direct learning’ describes a process by which individuals take the initiative, with or without the assistance of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating goals, identify human and material resources for learning, choosing and implement appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes.† (Knowles, 1975) The process of self-directed learning can be different based on the lifelong circumstances. All the tools, method, structures, conditions for learning  are directed by the situations (Merriam & Caffarella, 1993). People learn things in different ways and speed, with their own or other people‟s experiences. It can depends on where it will be applied (e.g. at home, at work, study group, etc.); what tools will be used (e.g. books, internet, videos, etc.); whom is going to perform the task. It can be formal and informal. The self-directed learners after conquering their aims, starts to be more aware of their responsibility in taking learning seriously and directing themselves (Garrison, 1997). They become more creative, curious and the willing to try something new, different (Lyman, 1997), Problems and difficulty to complete a task are seeing as fun challenges (Taylor, 1995). Based on Taylor‟s point of view, the S-D Learners are motivated and persistent, independent, self-disciplined, self-confident. 2.2 Self-Regulated Learning It is a reference to â€Å"thoughts, feelings and actions that are planned and adapted to the attainment of personal goals† (Zimmerman, 2000). The components of S-RL involves, as all the other terms, setting goals for learning, focus on training, using strong strategies to organize ideas, looking for researches effectively, managing performance and time, holding positive beliefs about one‟s capabilities (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000). There are tasks that makes Learners more autonomous, being capable of create an environment of S-RL, some of them are authentic strategies, autonomy-based assignments, and portfolios. Self-Regulated Learners don‟t only need to understand the strategies but realize the importance of using them to achieve success. Self-Regulation processes focus on how learners can manage their feelings and motivations to learn. It can be improve with practice. However, stresses related with low income such as psychological distress on adults and low quality of childcare background can harm the development of the individual, like occupational rank inside the organizations. Self-control is one of the most important key/skill to success inside any organization, also in the personal life. 2.3 Self-Planned Learning The term says for itself. Here we can find some procedure to put on practice SML: Selecting a subject or skill to learn, first evaluating knowledge acquired, seeking for weakness and errors that can be improved. Selecting methods, resources or equipment for learning  S-M Learners thinks they would be wasting time by letting the responsibility on somebody else to manage the time for each task. No wrong time and location, the learners will be available whenever/wherever there are. Expect to feel proud for accomplishing the task and get people attention. They may be too confident planning the steps for the learning, will be easy to complete, but say is easier than done. Perseverance and self-control will lead the learner. May feel hesitant to let and accept others direct their procedures, affecting their beliefs, attitudes or habits. Setting goals and deadlines. Designing all the steps and following them one by one. 2.4 Learning Project Project-based learning is an instructional method that provides students with complex tasks based on challenging questions or problems that involve the students’ problem solving, decision making, investigative skills, and reflection that includes teacher facilitation, but not direction. PBL is focused on questions that drive students to encounter the central concepts and principles of a subject in a hands-on method. Students form their own investigation of a guiding question, allowing students to develop valuable research skills as students engage in   design, problem solving, decision making, and investigative activities. Through Project-based learning, students learn from these experiences and apply them to the world outside their classroom. PBL emphasizes creative  thinking skills by allowing students to find that there are many ways to solve a problem. 3. Ways to promoted of S-DL in Personal & Professional Lifelong Term Happy staffs are productive Staffs. Foucher’s (1995) revealed based on research that organization that promote SDL can increase the presence of a participative management style, a pleasant environment that employees enjoy independence, making them seeing as very competent and motivated individuals. Giving them support for new strategies application, being tolerant with error and supporting unplanned, non-systematic learning activities, such as little private projects. SDL process can increases creativity and sense of perception, getting a better spot among the others. Once outside of the organization, they feel lighter, happier, self-confident, etc. All this emotion opens space for a healthier life, the individual become more communicative and comprehensive and patience. 4. Benefits of S-ML Inside Organization Organizations nowadays are becoming â€Å"learning organizations.† Where it promotes or rewards individuals to learn on benefit of the organization (Beitler, 2003, Chapter 12). For this process the establishment needs to have a continuous creation of learning opportunities that can be shared with others learners/employees (team work). Promoting a healthy dialogue and giving also space for continuous evaluation (Watkins and Marsick, 1993). Promoting seminarians; handling books; re-printed articles; and light sessions of training are, still, the most used. However, SDL costs should be away less than to traditional training programs. A learning organization can be defined as a structured environment focused on teamwork, collaboration, creativity. Senge (1990) identifies five disciplines essential for the learning organization: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building a shared vision, and team learning. An evaluation of all those 5 elements it is a win-win between employers and employees. 5. Conclusion We could see, individuals that can practice self-managed learning, who can evaluate, plan, sets their own goals based on their needs and interests are  more capable to stand-out among people that always have been told what to do. Changes are not a problem; they are challenges to be achieved. Self-evaluation is the key, is where everything starts. S-ML is a process to be developed at your personal life, professional, at school, at your social group. Be different and become unique. It‟s never late to start learning, it all depends on you.