Banking Essays - Systemic Risk, Bank Regulation In The United States

Banking Essays - Systemic Risk, Bank Regulation In The United States Banking Banking So Much for That Plan More than 70% of commercial bank assets are held by organizations that are supervised by at least two federal agencies; almost half attract the attention of three or four. Banks devote on average about 14% of their non-interest expense to complying with rules (Anonymous 88). A fool can see that government waste has struck again. This tangled mess of regulation, among other things, increases costs and diffuses accountability for policy actions gone awry. The most effective remedy to correct this problem would be to consolidate most of the supervisory responsibilities of the regulatory agencies into one agency. This would reduce costs to both the government and the banks, and would allow the parts of the agencies not consolidated to concentrate on their primary tasks. One such plan was introduced by Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen in March of 1994. The plan called for folding, into a new independent federal agency (called the Banking Commission), the regulatory portions of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). This plan would save the government $150 to $200 million a year. This would also allow the FDIC to concentrate on deposit insurance and the Fed to concentrate on monetary policy (Anonymous 88). Of course this is Washington, not The Land of Oz, so everyone can't be satisfied with this plan. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and FDIC Chairman Ricki R. Tigert have been vocal opponents of the plan. Greenspan has four major complaints about the plan. First, divorced from the banks, the Fed would find it harder to forestall and deal with financial crises. Second, monetary policy would suffer because the Fed would have less access to review the banks. Thirdly, a supervisor with no macroeconomic concerns might be too inclined to discourage banks from taking risks, slowing the economy down. Lastly, creating a single regulator would do away with important checks and balances, in the process damaging state bank regulation (Anonymous 88). To answer these criticisms it is necessary to make clear what the Fed's job is. The Fed has three main responsibilities: to ensure financial stability, to implement monetary policy, and to oversee a smoothly functioning payments system (delivering checks and transferring funds) (Syron 3). The responsibilities of the Fed are linked to the banking system. For the Fed to carry out its job it must have detailed knowledge of the working of banks and financial markets. Central banks know from the experience of financial crises that regulatory and monetary policy directly influence each other. For example, a banking crises can disturb monetary policy, discouraging lending and destroying consumer confidence, they can also disrupt the ability to make or receive payments by check or to transfer funds. It is for these reasons that it is argued that the Fed must maintain a regulatory role with banks. The Treasury plan would leave the Fed some access to the review of banks. The Fed, which lends through its discount window and operates an interbank money transfer system, would have full access to bank examination data. Because regulatory policy affects monetary policy and systemic risk, it is necessary that the Fed have at least some jurisdiction. The Fed must be able to effectively deal with current policy concerns. The Banking Commission would be mainly concerned with the safety and stability of the banks. This would encourage conservative regulations, and could inhibit economic growth. The Fed clearly has a hands on knowledge of the banking system. The common indicators of monetary policy - the monetary aggregates, the federal funds rate, and the growth of loans - are all influenced by bank behavior and bank regulation. Understanding changes and taking action in a timely fashion can be achieved only by maintaining contact with examiners who are directly monitoring banks (Syron 7). The banking system is what ultimately determines monetary policy. It is only common sense to have personnel in the Fed that have a better understanding of the system other than just through financial statements and examination reports. The Fed also needs the authority to change bank behavior that is inconsistent with its established monetary policy and with financial stability. This requires both the responsibility for writing the regulations and the responsibility for enforcing those regulations through bank supervision. State banking charters have already started to be affected. Under the proposed plan, state chartered banks would be subject to two regulators. While the federal bank would have only one. Thus, making the state bank charter less attractive. However, an increasing

Free Essays on Buddism

Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world. It was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who lived in northern India from c.560 to c.480 BC. The time of the Buddha was a time of social and religious change, the development of trade and cities, the breakdown of old tribal traditions, and the rise of many new religious movements that answered the demands of the times. These movements came from the Brahmanic tradition of Hinduism but were also reactions against it. Of the new sects, Buddhism was the most successful and eventually spread throughout India and most of Asia. Today Buddhism is divided into two main branches. The Theravada, or "Way of the Elders," the more conservative of the two, it is mainly found in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. The Mahayana, or "Great Vehicle," is more liberal, it is found mainly in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and among Tibetan peoples, where it is known by its emphasis on he Buddhist Tantras. In recent times, both branches, as well as Tibetan Buddhism, have gained followers in the West.... Free Essays on Buddism Free Essays on Buddism Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world. It was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who lived in northern India from c.560 to c.480 BC. The time of the Buddha was a time of social and religious change, the development of trade and cities, the breakdown of old tribal traditions, and the rise of many new religious movements that answered the demands of the times. These movements came from the Brahmanic tradition of Hinduism but were also reactions against it. Of the new sects, Buddhism was the most successful and eventually spread throughout India and most of Asia. Today Buddhism is divided into two main branches. The Theravada, or "Way of the Elders," the more conservative of the two, it is mainly found in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. The Mahayana, or "Great Vehicle," is more liberal, it is found mainly in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and among Tibetan peoples, where it is known by its emphasis on he Buddhist Tantras. In recent times, both branches, as well as Tibetan Buddhism, have gained followers in the West....

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Supply chain management - Essay Example Transformation. Another key strategy is that Zara keeps tight control and flexibility over every link in its supply chain, keeping the bulk of manufacturing in-house rather than outsourcing them. While other companies begin with the designers who plan a year in advance, Zara store managers monitor what is selling daily and track current sales trends. They feed information on what customers need but can’t find to designers who create the designs and have them manufactured instantly. Throughout its process, the ‘fast fashion’ concept enables designs to reach production in two weeks, and has been imitated by Forever 21, Mango, and Topshop (Hansen, 2012). Output. As for distribution, Zara does this exclusively through their own stores because they desire to control the customer’s entire experience. Its Just-in-time system was developed in collaboration with Toyota Motor thus enhancing its control. Smaller batches of clothing are delivered to stores, to project an image of exclusivity to attract customers, and precluding the need to conduct bargain sales to move mass quantities of out-of-season merchandise (Capell, 2008). Part B: Analyse the competitive priorities of the three apparel operations and the approaches taken to managing their supply chain Design Zara’s design phase ‘breaks all the rules’ in retail fashion by drawing ideas from the market and passing these on to its designers to create. Unlike conventional garment retailers, ideas for designs do not originate from the designers in Zara, but from the customers. Customers come into the Zara store, and if they could not find the design they wanted the store management feeds this back to headquarters for designers to work on. This system is what enables the company to realize its competitive advantages, that is, its fast development lead time to market of only two weeks, compared to six months for other companies. While the method assures Zara of a ready market f or its designs, the designers however, could only experiment within a strict and narrow margin. Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) plans and designs centrally in Sweden, based on customer demands while achieving a balance among fashion, quality and price. The designers came up with their ideas by observing fashion trends, getting inputs from employees and feedback from customers; in this last aspect, they are similar to Zara. Unlike Zara which releases its designs within two weeks after order, H&M released its designs by seasons, in two main collections and several subcollections. Designing begins by brainstorming which involves all designers, buyers and pattern designers, a process not undertaken in Zara. Styles and designs previously successful and unsuccessful are deliberated on and a look of the year is decided upon. The result is that many designs brainstormed do not reach production. The design method of H&M is organized and shows planning, deliberation, and joint collaboration between bu yers and designers, but it is time consuming and inefficient compared to Zara’s two week development to market system. Benetton’s designs depend to a large degree on their designers’ diverse backgrounds and cultures. Designing is organized

System Development and Business Processes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

System Development and Business Processes - Essay Example Neither the storage of this information, nor the retrieval should be a time consuming exercise. All this should happen at the click of a button. YellowPen ushers in such a product. This should therefore bring in a great reengineering in the way the internet is used. Common shareable data helps in sharing research information across an organization. Knowledge Management is defined as availability of information for the right person at the right time. Information that one needs should be available when the person needs it. This is made possible by YellowPen. By using a common server, YellowPen is able to offer its services for any body who can log on to the system using Windows. It keeps the user posted as to what are the latest postings available which she has not read by having an online icon on their job tray. YellowPen provides a personalized Knowledge Management System for every user on the net. 1. Anywhere anytime accessible repository of all their information and the related information makes this methodology a unique and usable alternate to any other storage-retrieval mechanism that is in use. 2. Storage and retrieval is on the fly. When you need to store a specific information, all that we need to do is, drag and drop the specific page. The software captures the entire page with all its graphics and images into the YellowPen system. Along with this it also captures, who did the capturing, data and time stamps in addition to the location from which this was captured. YellowPen also captures a host of metadata along with this that helps in keeping the page updated and easily searchable for instant retrieval. 3. Being an encrypted and password protected database, it makes sure that the data is available on a single server and also is very well protected. It is also very well integrated with the current trends in piping XML data over RSS or Dublin Core. Do you believe that organizations will be better served by implementing YellowPen as an additional resource in a corporation Knowledge management in a company is very important. Nearly 60% of the information or knowledge in any company is in the minds of the people. Most of this knowledge gets transferred in the form of emails which are very difficult to search and locate when the need props up. A database with all the relevant information, easy to search option and a common repository where every body puts in relevant information is very useful and would bring out at least 20% of the dormant knowledge. If every company 'knows' what it 'knows' and could make use of that dormant knowledge residing in the emails and in the minds of the people, then certainly that company would be able to beat the competition. If a large company should need personal solution for these knowledge management systems, then they could create their own server with the software, which should be very valuable for their

On the Origin of the Scythed Chariots Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On the Origin of the Scythed Chariots - Essay Example From this study it is clear that  Alexander is trying to reason about the role of reconstruction. As a distinguished scholar, he takes this opportunity to look for possible evidence that can help in unveiling the exact origin of this weapon. After acknowledging that this mater still remains a contentious issue, he goes ahead to state that he disagrees with Hesychius, but concurs with Xenophon for linking the chariot to King Cyrus the Great. Nonetheless, he concludes by saying that a lot of research still needs to be conducted by looking for all the available evidence that can help in shedding more light on this mater.This paper declares that  the reporter expresses his pleasure with this author for writing about scythed chariots. Having keenly gone trough his analysis, he concluded that it is a product of a vigorous research because it was based on a collection of necessary evidence. Also, the author provided exhaustive explanation to prove his point. For instance, his position t hat this type of chariot was used during the ancient times is accurate. He digs deeper into explaining that the chariot was used at a time when horses had not become stronger as they are today. This is why they were pulled by human beings. He explains this is a candid manner that makes it easier to comprehend by anyone who is interested in knowing about the origin of this weapon.  Alexander’s illustrations are up to the expected standard.

The Competitive Position Of A Company

The Competitive Position Of A Company This statement (in the coming referred to as The Statement) holds two different perspectives on the strategy thinking one based on competitive positioning and the other one based on industry structure and The Statement could to all appearances come from Porter. In Porters world it is the industry in which a company operates that is the foundation for the strategic analysis (reference). This is where the rules for competition are being made something that is well documented in Porters earlier work (see box Black box reference). In his later work (efter 1980 reference) Porter is more concerned about the resource needed to create a favorable competitive position within the industry. According to Porter every strategic formulation therefore needs to contain the two elements industry analysis and competitive positioning analyses (reference). My argument in this paper is that the two approaches cannot stand alone and that they are the two sides of the same coin. Taken the word limitations of this assignment into consideration, this is a short version of a huge area of strategic thinking, literature and ideas. How and why the stages of the evaluation has been undertaken I will be evaluating The Statements through two different theoretical approaches to strategy. The industry analyses (outside-in) versus the resource based view (inside-out). I will be working with the two approaches as two opposite poles in strategy thinking. In the industry analyses part I will be focusing on Porters early work (and the positioning school in the coming referred to as P-School) and their approach to strategy thinking. On the other side I will be focusing on the resource based view (in the coming referred to as RVB). This will be done through 2 different aspects A) The two approaches fundamental hypothesis and B) The two approaches key points of criticism. Finally I will compare the two rirections and make the following conclusion/thesis: The main statement of the assignment is too simplistic. In my view its a combination of internal and external factors that determines the competitive position of a company. The inside-out and the outside-in approaches have much in co mmon and for strategy development both approaches are relevant. A theoretical approach to evaluation of the statement There have been several attempts in literature to categorize strategy perspectives or schools of thought (e.g. Mintzberg 1990 and Whittington 2001). The two schools I will be looking at here P-school and RVB school each describing one part of a the SWOT framework (Barney 1991). RVB describes the strengths and weaknesses of a company, and the industry analyses are accountable for opportunities and threats as described in Barneys view on strategic framework. In the following I will try to make the correlation between two key views which both are occupied with the concept of competitive advantage through two components (Verdin Williamson, 1994); external sources and internal sources. Focus on the internal sources Resource based view (Inside out) The resources based view underlines the internal capabilities of the organisation in achieving sustainable competitive advantages in the market. Studies show that there are differences in companies returns within specific industries (Werner Field Montgomery, 1988). These differences are interpreted as caused by the existence of company specific differences in resources and skills. So it can be argued that it is the companies portfolio of resources and skills and the effective use of them, which determines a sustainable competitive advantage. Jay Barney is often mentioned as the author of the RVB approach (reference), but also significant contributions have been made by authors like Wernerfelt (1984) and Gary Hamel/ C. K. Prahalad (1990). With the publication of the book: The Theory of the Growth of the Firm (Penrose 1959) Edith Penrose advocates the view that the limitation of a companys growth opportunities are primarily related to its internal resources and capabilities. Grant, an other noble contributor to the RBV, puts the theses internal resources into three groups: tangible, intangible and human (reference). They all have similar but still slightly different understandings of RBV, but fundamentally they argument for an inside-out view, where the competitive advantage derives from a companys resources. Studies show that there are differences in companies returns within specific industries (Werner Field Montgomery, 1988). These differences are interpreted as caused by the existence of company specific differences in resources and skills. So the main hypothesis of the RBV writers is that is its portfolio of resources and skills and the effective use of them, which is the prerequisite for achieving sustained competitive advantage (reference). Fahy, Smithee (1999) cites Hooley, Moller and Broderick (1998) for criticising the resource-based view for its inward focus which risks ignoring the nature of market demand. Also Priem Butler (2001) made several points of critic by arguing that the role of product markets is underdeveloped in the argument, and that different resource configurations can generate the same value for firms and thus would not be competitive advantage. Priem and Butler further argue that the RBV is lacking detail and therefore being difficult to implement. The most outspoken criticism of the schools theory and method is directed against the schools one-sided emphasis on the companys resource at the expense of the market. It can be argued that this theory is too one track minded on enterprise resource being the only factor in building competitive advantages. The resource-based only relates inward inside out, so it does not create an immediate understanding of its environment, or the fact that a company must act in the environment in order to be competitive. Focus on the external sources Industry Perspective Porter is a prominent scientist in relations to the outside-in view at least his work before 1980 (reference) (which is what I will comment here). Porter and the P-School, tries explaining why some companies are more successful than other companies when they apparently are subject to the same business conditions (reference). In addition, the school has focused on answering the question What forces drive competition in an industry? (reference). In relation to The Statement Porter believes that for the individual company, the industry structure is essential for the companys strategic development and competitive position (reference). Porter identifies 5 different basic forces which determine a companys competitive position in the market a model of industry attractiveness Porters 5 Forces. The five forces is an out-side strategy tool which is used to illuminate the main competition issues in a market and measure how strong and important each one of them is. A critic of Porter and the P-school is linked to the fact that the choice of strategy is largely based on analytical desk work, without prior knowledge of real market conditions. Mintzberg writes in his book The rise and fall of Strategic Planning: The whole positioning school of which Porter is the leading spokesman depends to such an extent on strategic analyses, that it virtually replaces overall planning as the main activity (Mintzberg 1994:273). Porters Five Forces Model has some limitations with the market and business environment we have today. One of the criticisms is that the model assumes a relatively static market structure ((Prahalad and Gary, 1990) that can only create a snapshot picture of the market situation. Porters model is based primarily on the economic situation in the 80s were characterized by strong competition and a stable market structures. Todays market is dynamic, hectic and constantly changing (Prahalad and Gary, 1990), which also affects the firms acting in these markets. Another recent critique is made by Larry Downes (2001) who comments on Porters theory not being as important as they used to be, as new economic laws, conditions and markets have raised ( globalisation, digitalisation and deregulation). Still they are valid to some extent, as long as they are used with the knowledge that they have limitations within them. Hill and Jones (1995) make further criticisms of Porters 5 forces by stating that a companys success is not certain to be successful just because it operates in an attractive industry. The positioning school are solely focused on the market conditions and their crucial role in the competitive position of a company (reference). They do not involve the internal environment in determining/improving the competitive position of a company. This is a very limited view, which is the same critique as I put on the RBV its too one-sided. Alternative nonfinancial perspective to Inside-Out and Outside-in approach An alternative theoretical approach to Inside-Out and Outside-in in a nonfinancial measure could be done by looking at the contingency approach to management and strategy development. Fiedlers contingency model has the basic assumption that there is no best way of organizing or leading (Fiedler, 1964). Charles W. Hofer (1975) discusses the concept in terms of business strategy development. The contingency approach to strategy thinking underlines the importance of developing a best fit between structure, strategy and environment (là ¦rebogen side 69). Summery Not either or, but complementary I have now looked at our statement through two perspectives to strategy thinking. In my opinion, there is no one best way. Its about finding the perfect fit between inside out and outside in focus. The industry perspective and RBV perspective in strategic analysis are two parts of the same whole. E.g. in analyzing the industry perspective, it is possible to identify elements, which lies outside the area of RBV and vice versa. To be able to navigate successfully and be successful in todays dynamic markets you have to adapt to the external environments as well as the internal resources and ideally create the perfect fit between them. So its not neither or, but a complementary of both approaches, which is also the direction Porter is giving in his later work from 1985 (Murray, A. I.:390). Conclusion Strategic analysis has two dominant approaches or better referred to as fractions or perspectives. Outside In which is based on Porter and the positioning schools and the inside out concept which is often referred to as RBV Barney being the central author. This papers main point is that none of them can do without the other. The fundamental difference is that inside-out looks at the strategic analysis and a company competitive ability as being based on the internal resources and capabilities of which the company has at its disposal. On the other hand, outside in works from the starting point that it is the structure of a given industry which determines the companies competitive ability. An industry analyses requires both internal and external analyses to be successful. The Statement The competitive position of a company is determined by the industry structure in which it competes. should be rephrased to The competitive position of a company is determined by the internal resources available to the company and by the industry structure in which it competes. if the statement should be fully correct.

Causes and Effects of Stress in Daily Life Essay

Causes and Effects of Stress in Daily Life Stress comes from many different things and is the cause of many problems in a person’s life. There are different type of stress that mostly people experienced in there lives. The Acute, episodic and chronic stress. Each of this stress has a different types of characteristics, symptoms and treatment. Mostly people suffer from acute stress and experienced a perceived threat either physical, emotional or psychological that can cause our body to experiences and increased the levels of hormones and to increase the heart rate, breathing and higher blood pressure. Episodic stress is more severe type of acute stress. This type of stress is often more difficult to diagnose. Mostly people suffer from this type of stress experience symptoms everyday. The most common symptoms are headaches such as migraines, tension, being irritable, feeling anxious or even pain in the chest. According to Benjamin H. Gottlieb, Chronic stress is often defined by continuing the possibility or expectation of potential harm. The most common sources of stress in people’s life are often categorized like Death of spouse, family or friends. Health, crime, sexual problems, alcohol or drug abuse or inancial, and the life changing, for instance the divorce, separation, marriage or new baby. Argument with spouse, family member, friends, co-workers or boss. Physical changes to include lack of sleep, new work place and hours and the demands of the job and relationship with co-workers, new responsibilities and to understand the roles and regulations of the new Job and the support that there getting to a co- workers or supervisors. A lot of people suffers stress from the work place. to include the lack of feedback on the performance, poor communication with their own teams , orking long hours and uncomfortable work place. The general causes of stress that most common of people experienced are physical threat, social threat and financial threat. In particular it will be worsen when the person feels they have no response that can reduce the threat, the need and sense of control. When a person dealing with stress it can become fear that leads to imagined the outcomes. Uncertainty, unable to predict , and feeling not in control and lastly feeling being cognitive dissonance. It occurs when they cannot meet the commitments and being perceived as incapable and dishonest.