Globalisation In The Banking Industry Finance Essay

Globalisation In The Banking Industry Finance Essay Banking industry is one of the crucial industries that influences the global economy. It is the industry that encourages the growth in investments by its funding. They are so many factors that drive change in the industry. Drivers of globalisation in banking industry are discussed below. Drivers of globalisation The drivers of globalisation are explained according to the yips model. Source: Based on G. Yip, Total Global Strategy II, FT/Prentice Hall, 2003, chapter 2. Applying this to the banking industry. Most particularly retail banking. The important factors that drive globalisation in the industry are issues regarding legal, customer relations and wishes, technological advancement and the crucial thing is profit. Legal regulations as a driver Operating globally may bring in a number of issues regarding legal that is with the laws of the particular country in which a bank is operating. There may be organisational problems within the bank or legal concerns. Global operations need good leadership with which they are able to respond to the government policies. The bank organising globally has to respond individually to the local governments regarding regulations or deregulations. This is essential component in the business because they have to change the interest rates and taxes on the services they provide to the customers. This effects their business with the customers. It doesnt mean only the taxes and interest rates counts when dealing with regulations and deregulations. Payments directive and financial services action plan in UK is one among them. Source: FUTURE OF BANKING IN A GLOBALISED WORLD, Chris Skinner, 2007. Mergers and acquisitions are highly effected by the regulations. Mergers may happen between two national banks or between two international banks. The terms and conditions followed at the time of merging depend on the regulations that are applied in a particular country. For instance consider the case of laws that guide mergers and acquisitions in European Union are related to the economical conditions of the joining partners. They state that the turnover of the individual participant should be more than 250 million Euros and their turnover together should be more than 5 billion Euros. The individual turnover of the bank operating abroad should be more than one third of the turnover of the bank. These regulations are concerned about the financial stability of the banks after the merger. If the banks are willing to merge, their strong financial conditions resist any adverse effects that come under their way. But in the case of small banks, those do not satisfy the conditions of merger , these regulations suffer them a lot. There were cases where small banks merged to form a big bank. But these regulations resist them from doing so. This is the case where legal activities control the banking industry. Source: www.nbs.sk Customer requirements as a driver Planning according to the customers preferences and delivering services up to the customers satisfaction has become the main formula for the success of the banks. It is important in every business to find out an influential customer, that is a customer who brings in more profits to the bank and also who inspires others to join the business with the bank. If that customer is met with all his requirements in banking, he will become the true ambassador for the bank. Of course the needs of the customers in dealing with the bank all over the world are same. They need quality of service and security for their savings. However the requirements of an influential customer vary according to his willingness and trust to invest in a bank. There may be social and cultural factors that influence the customers interests and requirements. Source: Exploring corporate strategy 7th edition, Gerry Johnson, kevan Scholes, Richard Whittington, 2004 Technology as a driver Internet has become a great boom to the banking industry. It gave the industry the opportunity to serve better to the customers and to develop cross-border communication with the employees and customers as well. It helps in providing privilege customers the advanced banking services, promoting services for new customers, making customer retention by continuously maintaining customer relations etc. Source: Internet marketing, David Chaffey, 2006 On the other hand, internet banking has raised security concerns about transfer of money online and third-party deposit services. To the customers using internet fraudsters send mails asking for account details and passwords pretending to be like bankers. The customers those respond to the mails will be targeted to get money. These types of actions alerted the banks to develop technology to counter the actions. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7091206.stm Profitability as a driver Obviously the ultimate aim of any bank is to make as much profit as they can. Generally to gain profits they concentrate on savings of the customers. They plan converting the short term savings of the customers into profits that yield more profits. In retail banking the long term profit yielding products for the banks are fixed deposits, house loans etc. Source: The business environment 5th ed, Ian Worthington and Chris Britton, 2006 In this present economic downturn of the world, the banks are facing the worst situation in the decade. To face these adverse effects the central banks of almost all the countries started repair work to fuel the economy by decreasing the interest rates there by encouraging the investors to do business with the banks. Source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/interactive/2008/oct/21/creditcrunch Localisation Localisation in case of banking industry means designing itself according to the rules and regulations of a particular country. Generally countries demand for localisation irrespective of the foreign bank, as they do not want to be dominated. Retail banking is one of the industries that undergo localisation primarily. However localisation is benefiting the banks in having a wide range of products globally there by analysing the customers tastes and concerns. It helps them to gain information regarding customers needs to be met locally. In recent days local governments are deregulating the rules to boost globalisation. Source: Global strategic management, Philippe Lasserre, 2002 ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES Any industry operating globally has so many factors that influence it in the external environment. Political Governments decision has an influential change in the prospects of the banking industry in a country. Governmental decisions have been a more important factor for the globalisation of the banking industry. Political stand over allowing the foreign countries to do business in their countries decides the extent of entry barriers into the country. Source: Corporate Strategy 4th ed, Richard Lynch, 2005 Economical Downing of the inflation is the main factor that reflects the fall in the economical condition . The one of the factors for decline in the economy are lower inflation occurring gradually. The one of the reasons for the decline in the retail price index excluding mortgage interest rates from 5.5 % in September to 4.7 % in October clearly states that the drastic situation faced by the banks. Inflation CPI down to 4.5%, RPI down to 4.2% Annual inflation rates 12 month % change Source: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=19 The central bank decreases interest rates which in turn reduces the interest rates of all the banks funding mortgages. Bank of England is planning to cut its interest rates drastically to 2 % as when it was in the initial days. Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4bd8c730-c16b-11dd-831e-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1 Social Social trends in the banking, which means the sections of population those who utilise the banking products are essential in planning a strategy for the customers. For instance more than half of the people of Britain are aware of the banking products through dailies, televisions etc. Awareness and individual requirements of the customers are essential to plan a strategy for a bank. With the increased technology the banks are effectively communicating with customers, media and investors. In this way banks are always observed by the society in all means. Source: http://www.ginns.info/Retail%20banking.pdf Technology Technology is proven to be the best tool for the globalisation in banking industry. It plays a vital role in providing financial services to the customers. With use of sophisticated technology, the concerned bank can be able to find out the preferences of the customers. Basing on the preferences of the customer, the services are advertised for him through the mails etc. Also investing in ATM technology took the pain and pressure away from the banks. Now it is easy to access money from pay points etc. The customer is no need to go to bank stand there in queue for hours together to do transactions. Source: FUTURE OF BANKING IN A GLOBALISED WORLD, Chris Skinner, 2007 Legal Regulations of the banking system is mainly undertaken to control the financial conditions of the banks there by decreasing the domination of the foreign economy on the country. There are different ways in regulating the banks. UK and US banks follow risk based system to regulate the banks. Source: Banking regulations of UK and US financial markets, Dalvinder Singh, 2007 Opportunities and threats There are many opportunities of the banking industry. For instance the euro currency offers less cost borrowing or the chance to provide new debts to a large number of investors. According to the international monetary systems governments of different nations undertake rules that will influence firms. The financial position and the opportunities abroad attract the organisations to do business in their countries. The foreign exchange market that are used by many organisations provides the opportunity to gain profits. Source: International business 4th ed., Alan M.Ruman, Simon Collinson, Richard M.Hodgetts , 2005 Threats to banking industry are mainly related to technology. The technology used by the fraudsters by dominating the banking technology troubles the customers which in turn causes damages to the reputation of a bank. If a bank loses reputation in terms of security, its trustworthiness among the customers decreases. This damages the brand value which results in decrease in customer retention. Source: http://www.icc-ccs.org HSBC Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited founded in the year 1865 is one of the top banks in the world. It holds operations in nearly 85 countries all over the world. Its headquarters is located in the London. Strengths It has the shareholders number of nearly 2, 00,000 in 100 countries. They need different services and diversified requirements. Having dealt with all the diversified customers world wide, it is capable of estimating consumer tastes and concerns. Instead it confidently advertises itself as The Worlds Local bank, which reflects its adaptability to the local needs and cultures. It whole heartedly responds to the individual customer from which it gains required knowledge to serve the other customer with same needs. The awards and rewards it achieved are the measurements for its sincere contribution to the customers. HSBC won awards in all most all categories that are responsible for the banks success. The list of awards is given below HSBC generated revenue of 87,601 million dollars in the financial year that completed in December 2007. It was 25% high than previous year and the operating profit was 22,709 million dollars which was 6.9% high when compared to previous year. Net profit was 19,133 million dollars with an increase of 21.2% on 2006. The most of the profits it gained were from the developing economies. Source: http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=1907489g=1 With the global experience it has, it can deliver a perfect solution for the complex supply chain network of the customer utilising HSBCs talented resources. Having well versed in utilising sophisticated technology, it follows online dealing with customers rather than going on papers. High level of information exchange can be done with speed and accuracy at the same time cost-effective measures are indulged in their business. Source: http://www.hsbc.co.nz/nz/corp/trade/eservices/supplychain.htm Weaknesses Even though it is a well established brand globally, it realised lately the advantages of performing under one brand name. The action was taken place in the year 1998. Until then it used to perform under various names in various countries. This might had created confusion among its customers who thought that their strong local brand was being taken over by some foreign bank. This misunderstanding caused some considerable loss to the bank. It suffered slight stagnation of revenue in 2006 when compared to the previous year due to increase in bad debts. Source: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/782667.html Financial analysis Here the financial analysis of HSBC is done by comparing three months and nine months profits with that of the previous year that ended in September 2006 respectively. Finance and other interest income lost by 727 million dollars and 1483 million dollars respectively. On as a whole it got 271 million dollars loss where it was 1,102 million dollars for the same period of three months that ended in September 2006. On the other hand it recorded 1,461 million dollars loss when compared to that of nine months that ended in Sep 2006. Source:http://www.hsbc.com/1/PA_1_1_S5/content/assets/investor_relations/hfc2008form10q_3q.pdf Competitors The main competitors of HSBC are Barclays Citigroup Royal bank of Scotland Barclays Barclay has 1,700 branches in UK alone and around 2,000 branches in Europe, Africa, Asia and the America. The bank also contributes financial products, corporate finance etc. It is one of the largest investing companies operating under the name Barclays Global Investors. In this year it owned North American investment banking and Lehman brothers for approx. one billion pounds. Citigroup It is one of the large financial companies in the world with 3,000 branches in America and Canada and more than 2,000 in several parts of the world. It is the first American bank to own 1 trillion dollars valued assets. Due to the financial downturn it faced in 2007 its CEO Chuck Prince left the job. Royal bank of Scotland It operates under the names of Royal bank of Scotland and NatWest. It has nearly 2,300 UK branches offering financial services. In the America it has Citizens Financial which is one of the USs largest foreign-managed bank. Following the shareholders demand UK government took 60 percent of stakes in the recent days of 2008. Source: http://www.hoovers.com/free/ Conclusion Here in this work the environmental influences on the banking industry are discussed. The main constituents in the banking industry are customer satisfaction, technological advancements, regulations and deregulations and most importantly profits. These four factors act as drivers of change in the banking industry. Out of all without losing the identity the banking industry should be able to adapt changes that occur locally. To discuss more extensively HSBC is considered as an example and the environmental changes on the bank are discussed. Out of all observations the bank is performing very well.

The Big Bang(personal Account) (tragedy) :: essays research papers

The Big Bang   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My lesson about playing with fire was a hard one learned. That one summer day so long ago was one of the longest days in my life. The morning was a normal one. The afternoon was when things started to heat up. That night was one I thought would never end.That morning was one just like any other summer day. The sun was bright and warm. We also had family in from Colorado. My Aunt and Uncle were there with my two cousins. They were planning on staying with us the entire summer. My parents had just installed a 4 1/2 foot above ground swimming pool for all of us to enjoy that summer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That afternoon every body was up and busy doing their own things. My brother and I were out in the neighborhood playing with our friends. When we came home for lunch my dad asked us to unload his truck and put everything in the shed. My parents, aunt and uncle were leaving to go out for the evening. They were leaving us in the care of my cousins who are several years older than us. After we had lunch and my parents had left, my brother and I started to unload the truck. I grabbed the first load and headed for the shed. I was in the shed putting things away for about ten minutes. My brother was still not back there with another load. I went around the front of the house looking for him when I saw a flash. As I reached the driveway I saw my brother just as he was throwing another match on the driveway. When the match hit the concrete a flare of fire leaped up about five foot and was gone just as fast as it appeared. I immediately forgot about unloading the truck and joined my brother. He explained to me how it worked. He handed me a five-pound can of gunpowder and told me to pour a small pile out on the driveway. After I did and back away he tore out another match from the pack, struck it and threw it on the pile of powder. Again the flash leaped from the driveway. We continued this way, with me pouring and him throwing the match, until we were down to the second to last match. We had to figure out a way to continue before we were out of matches. The Big Bang(personal Account) (tragedy) :: essays research papers The Big Bang   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My lesson about playing with fire was a hard one learned. That one summer day so long ago was one of the longest days in my life. The morning was a normal one. The afternoon was when things started to heat up. That night was one I thought would never end.That morning was one just like any other summer day. The sun was bright and warm. We also had family in from Colorado. My Aunt and Uncle were there with my two cousins. They were planning on staying with us the entire summer. My parents had just installed a 4 1/2 foot above ground swimming pool for all of us to enjoy that summer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That afternoon every body was up and busy doing their own things. My brother and I were out in the neighborhood playing with our friends. When we came home for lunch my dad asked us to unload his truck and put everything in the shed. My parents, aunt and uncle were leaving to go out for the evening. They were leaving us in the care of my cousins who are several years older than us. After we had lunch and my parents had left, my brother and I started to unload the truck. I grabbed the first load and headed for the shed. I was in the shed putting things away for about ten minutes. My brother was still not back there with another load. I went around the front of the house looking for him when I saw a flash. As I reached the driveway I saw my brother just as he was throwing another match on the driveway. When the match hit the concrete a flare of fire leaped up about five foot and was gone just as fast as it appeared. I immediately forgot about unloading the truck and joined my brother. He explained to me how it worked. He handed me a five-pound can of gunpowder and told me to pour a small pile out on the driveway. After I did and back away he tore out another match from the pack, struck it and threw it on the pile of powder. Again the flash leaped from the driveway. We continued this way, with me pouring and him throwing the match, until we were down to the second to last match. We had to figure out a way to continue before we were out of matches.

Godiva Chocolates Essay

A family by the name of the Draps began creating these amazing, little chocolates in Brussels, Belgium in 1926. Pierre Draps, in particular, was the man behind the chocolate. He started selling his chocolates to local shops to get business going. After World War II, Pierre’s son, Joseph, took control of the business. Joseph wanted to open a store of his own and asked his wife for insight on a name. His wife recommended the name â€Å"Godiva,† after the Lady Godiva who was famous for protesting high taxes by riding her horse nude through Coventry, England. After the opening of Godiva in the Brussels’ Grande Place, the Draps family realized that it was a huge success. With that being said, it was decided to expand the business, and more stores were opened throughout Belgium. Joseph’s idea was to have his company be a â€Å"premium chocolate company. † He wanted to use the most classy and elegant advertisement, as well as packaging. The family strived to have smooth, rich, and delicious chocolate. They decided they would only use the finest of ingredients, found throughout the world, to ensure the best tasting chocolate. At first, Godiva started off with a rich chocolate shell, filled with basic â€Å"ganache,† which is rich chocolate fudge, or a hazelnut praline filling. As time went on, the Draps began to create many more flavors and textured chocolates. The most famous chocolate creation was the Comtesse. This chocolate was made particularly to rejoice the Lady Godiva. It consisted of a creamy chocolate center with either a milk or dark chocolate outer layer. After the Comtesse came the Autant. The Autant was a chocolate leaf shaped milk chocolate that was hand-decorated and filled with a coffee-chocolate cream. This chocolate was made to honor the opening of the production â€Å"Gone With the Wind†, in 1939. There were several other chocolates designed and created to recognize a certain date or event; the Fabiola was a chocolate that was created in 1958 for the engagement of Queen Fabiola and King Baudouin I, the Golf Ball was a chocolate created to recognize Belgium’s King Leopold III passion for golf. In 1958, the Godiva company expanded to Paris and then to the United States. While expanding, the company also decided to invest with Pepperidge Farm and Campbell Soup. In 1972, Godiva finally opened its first store in the United States. The store was located in a high end part of New York City. Being a company that focuses on elegance and perfection, Godiva displayed its products as if they were diamonds, shining in their cases. Creation of New Products In the early 1990’s, the chocolatiers realized that they needed to keep up with the latest trends. Godiva introduced the Cafe Godiva portion of their company in 1993. The Cafe Godiva brought a variety of coffees, chocolate liquors, cocoa mixes, single serving pastries, and also cookies. With this new product line, Godiva saw a huge increase in their sales. Though Godiva is a European chocolate company, it was understood that Americans enjoy sweeter chocolate than most Europeans. Europeans typically eat a richer chocolate that is not very sweet at all, but actually considered â€Å"intense. † Godiva realized that tastes change over time. Currently, Godiva is adjusting its product line and are incorporating more European-like chocolates. Godiva is also changing most of its chocolates and candies. Instead of the outer shell being thick, Godiva is thinking about thinning the outside. The Chocolate Making Process The making of the delicious Belgium chocolates begins with the cocoa bean. After the beans are harvested, they are dried and carefully inspected for good quality. The beans the Godiva uses are considered to be the best of all the cocoa beans. They are shelled to expose cocoa nibs, which are then baked to release their intense aroma. After the beans are ready, the next step is to create the cocoa liquor. The chocolate liquor is the most important part of the chocolate making process, after all, that is where the chocolate gets its entire flavor. The liquor is created by grinding the nibs to a point when liquid begins to evolve. The liquid is extremely fine and consists of cocoa butter and cocoa particles. When creating the fillings, Godiva refuses to use any preservatives and artificial flavorings. Separating them from other chocolate companies, Godiva uses Grade A dairy butter and heavy cream to create their creamy and delicious fillings. Godiva is well known for its beautiful and unique shaped and designed chocolates. This was intentional; Godiva wants their products to be recognized when they are seen. Their shapes, molds, and designs represent everything there is to fine chocolate. The â€Å"Look† of Godiva In the initial openings of Godiva stores, the stores were designed to look similar to a jewelry store. There were pink marble counter tops with black lacquer, representing a very clean and classy look to them. In 1994, the company decided to take a risk and redesign the stores. The new stores would consist of bleached wooden floors, creamy white counter tops, and cherry wood cabinets. This new design was created to show a more welcoming and cozy feel to customers. As the new design was taking place, Godiva changed their set-up of their display. There were new single serving chocolates put out for the customer to browse at, as well as their prices. Instead of having their store look appealing to only the â€Å"wealthy† population, the store was recognized but all chocolate lovers. Thought Godiva changed the look of the interior of the store, their â€Å"perfect chocolate† image still remained. The expressed their image through creative advertisement and packaging. The advertisement campaign that Godiva uses is called â€Å"silhouettes. † Their chocolates are packaged in a way that looks appealing to the eye, using warm colors for all their packing. The packing consists of an assortment of golden boxes, ribbon, silk flowers, collectors’ tins, and colorful wrapping paper. Today, their famous assortment is known as the Gold Ballotin. This assortment is available in seven different sizes, and is used for all occasions and events. The Ballotin is a gold box with the Godiva logo located on the top of it, followed by a gold silk ribbon wrapped around it. Godiva named their assortment the â€Å"ballotin,† after the French word â€Å"ballot. † The world in French meant small package of goods for sale. Godiva Today Godiva has continued to expand their company worldwide. In 2009 Godiva began opening stores in Malaysia, Singapore, and even Taiwan. More recently, Godiva opened its first store in Turkey in September of 2010. The most recent event and accomplishment for Godiva is the opening of a Cafe Godiva in one of London’s well respected stores, Harrod’s Department Store. Today the Godiva name and brand is well known, respected, and loved in over 80 countries. Godiva now owns and runs more than 450 stores around the world. At all the stores, you are able to find an extensive selection of chocolates and products. With that being said, Godiva is able to suit anyone’s needs and give you the best of Belgium, all the way from New York to Taiwan.

Drug And Alcohol Abuse Treatment Programs - 2241 Words

Although there has been a steady decline in substance use during recent years, nearly a quarter of Canadians meet the criteria for a substance use disorder (SUD) at some point across their lifespan (Statistics Canada, 2012). In addition, three-quarters of all women in drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs report being sexually abused (Najavits, Weiss Shaw, 1997), and about one-quarter of the men (Ouimette, Kimerling, Shaw Moos, 2000). Childhood abuse has been shown to be a significant risk factor in adolescent and adult substance use, and this relationship tends to be more substantial in women as apposed to men (Simpson Miller, 2002; White Widom, 2008). Research indicates that throughout the lifespan, adolescence is the period†¦show more content†¦The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) released a Reauthorization Act (2010) which states that the minimum set of behaviours that define child abuse or neglect (National Child Abuse and Neglect Trainin g and Publications Project, 2014) as: â€Å"Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.† In addition to the above description of child abuse or neglect, the DSM-IV-R provides the criteria for trauma. According to the DSM-IV-R, the criteria of trauma includes a real or perceived threat of physical harm to oneself or others, resulting in emotional reactions of extreme fear, horror or helplessness (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Sexual Abuse According to Statistics Canada (2012), reported that more than half of all victims of sexual abuse or assault were under the age of 18, and over 80 percent of these cases were perpetrated by someone close to the victim such as a family member or acquaintance. The working definition of childhood sexual abuse has been re-worded The DSM – IV consideration of childhood sexual abuse is summarized in the APSAC Handbook of Child Maltreatment (Myers et al., 2002) as: â€Å"Child sexual abuse involves any sexual activity with a child where consent is not or cannot be given. This includes sexual contact that is accomplished by