Development Of Agriculture In Southwest Asia And East Asia

Southwest Asia is a region surrounded by seas and mountains and lies at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia. Southwest Asia was the center of development of the earth’s civilizations. Towns emerged on the plains of Mesopotamia and highlands of Iran and Anatolia by 7000BC and some of these became centers of chiefdoms. The first efforts to form empires are documented and are used by archaeologists from different countries to reveal the processes that gave rise to these successively more complex socio-political systems. This varied geographical and climatic setting of south west Asia encompasses the natural habitats of wild plants and animals which were the first to be domesticated. The area was conducive for farming as well for hunting-gathering since its annual rainfall was over 250mm. Environmental changes occurred during the period between 11,000-9600 BC and recovery took 50 years. (Human Past 2005).  Plant and Animal Domestication Plant domestication – Southwe st Asia was very conducive for plant domestication especially wild legumes and cereals. The main domesticated cereals were wheat, rye and barley which began in the early aceramic period. This domestication was evidenced by plant species rye in abuhureyra, Jordan valley and southern Syria. Cultivation was intensified during the Neolithic period, which was around 8800 BC, during this time the climate was conducive and population had grown.Hunting and Herding – Southwest Asia’s potential for animal domestication was evidenced from the long-lived settlement sites and may have occurred after plant domestication at around the transition period of earlier and later Neolithic(World Archaeology 2007). The domesticated goats have been found in Ganj Dareh in Iran, sheep and pigs in turkey and northern Syria.Mixed Farming Economies: More settlements emerged during the period of between early and later a ceramic Neolithic period. The demographic theory which states â€Å"that the rise in population following the end of ice age forced people to adopt agriculture† seems to hold water although an agreement is yet to be reached (Human Past 2007).The Evidence of Ali Kosh: Ali Kosh lies in areas which are conducive for wild resources and domesticates (World Archaeology 2007). Successive strata indicate permanent and large buildings as well as increased cultivated and wild plants. The oasis theory which states that â€Å"The relationship between humans and environment is the key reason for agricultural development,† comes forth. Also there were few ecotones for supporting sedentary hunters-gatherers but many locations for domesticated species especially in the sites of hureyra, catalhoyuk and ain Ghazab.Social Exchange and Networking: This is the feasting hypothesis which argues that the desire for new things, new states, respect and recognition as well as ability to throw feasts led to development of agriculture in this region. Due to the fact that th e obsidian and marine shells were found hundred of kilometers from their sources serve as an evidence of exchange networks where communities are believed to have kept and used a proportion of the obsidian acquired and then exchanged the remaining for gifts to be given as tokens during parties. Part.2. Agriculture in East Asia.The Pleistocene- Holocene transition occurred in East Asia between about 14,000-6000BC. Climatical changes also made the plants and animals to change making the hunters-gatherers to begin harvesting and propagating new plants. Between 8000-6000BC farming differed in two areas, in the south, wild rice was domesticated while in the central china region millet was the major domesticated grain. During the last ice age (36,000-10,000BC), hunters-gatherers lived in open cares and river terraces in the yellow river region, presence of arrow needs at the sites was an evidence of hunting cattle and wild sheep whose bones were present.More wild millet seed resources arou nd shunwangpin, xveguan and shizitan, menjiaquan and nanzh vangton were evidence of farming. Although there are not true transitional sites to reveal adoption of agriculture by hunter-gatherers, there are many sedentary Neolithic villagers since 6000 BC. Cultural transformation is however evidenced by permanent villages, houses and inhuman cemeteries. Store jewelry, polished axes, wooden and bone spades were an indication of social strata at sides like dadiwan, cishan and peiligang.  Growth of Agricultural CommunitiesMillet farming in yellow river region intensified resulting into social complexity and formation of states. The yangshao culture in the loess plateau of central plains and dawenkon culture to the east emerged. The yangshao culture varied regionally but their sites share semi-subterranean house, millet storages and ceramics. While dawenkou culture concentrated around the lower yellow river valley and is attributed with population densities and social ranking. There gro wth of agriculture In these two cultures is supported by the oasis theory, Demographic theory and The hilly flanks hypothesis Sedentary settlements with increasing number of cemeteries and grave goods like fenshan bao and hujiawuchang around the rice cultivation region of yangzi river valley are sites that reveal conditions in early Neolithic(Human Past 2005).Between 4500-3300 BC villages increased and spread. Settlement was chosen near dry wetlands in order to facilitate the creation of wet rice fields. Houses were rectangular and made of clay, bamboo leads and rice husks and these villagers were referred to as the Daxi culture (World Archaeology 2007). Domestication of animals was evidenced from the identification of plowing at around 4 millennium BC. Presence of boat and sea faring technology support the believe of family along water routes. The major sites include chengtoushan and Daxi.Historical linguistics is one of the major methods that may have been used to test the idea of migration and expansion movements of farmers. This is evidenced by the presence of several languages and language families in East Asia.   These languages are divided into five linguistic blocks which include; austroasiatic, Austronesian, Hmong Mien, Kadal with Tai and Sino-Tibetan (World Archaeology 2007). Three of the major branches of Austronesian family are in eastern India, Vietnam and south in the islands o Indian Ocean. Wordings of the languages over east and Southern Asia are believed   to have originated from Asian main land (Human Past 2005). Archaeological evidence for the origin and spread of rice agriculture and crafts such as weaving supports this belief.Part 3.Comparing and ContrastingDevelopment of agriculture in southwest Asian and East Asia corresponds with the growth of human population as well as environmental changes. Early theorists argue that the growth of human population resulted to food shortage and hence introduction of domestication of both wild and domesticated plants and animals. Development of agriculture in both regions is supported by evidence produced by the achaeobotanists and archeozooligsts.The beginning of agriculture also corresponds with the reduction in the range of food eaten. This is because in most of the farming societies identified in the two regions, south west Asia and East Asia they grew one or two plant species on which they relied very heavily and equally then domesticated a small range of animals whereas the hunters-gatherers had a wide range of foods that they collected or hunted in their local environment. It is therefore evident that the hunters and gatherers in both regions consumed a good diet than the farmers due to variety.The oasis theory â€Å"the hilly franks hypothesis† which suggests that other than occupying a particular ecological region/niche, where plants and animals could flourish, the transition in agriculture in both south west Asia and East Asia, the shift to agriculture also i nvolved changes in human cognition and people developed, skills needed for successive farming. This was evidenced by emergence of complex social villages, which involved permanent housing, improved technology, and presence of storage pins.Demographic theory is also evident in both regions as to have been the driving force behind adoption of agriculture. This is because during the beginning of agriculture, there were population/demographic increase and environmental changes. People were forced by these external forces to invent/adapt agriculture. Theorists also argue that societies played a significant role in the domestication. This is because of social status. Cultivation may have been adopted in southwest Asia to provide food and drink to be consumed during competitive feasting and this is the feasting hypothesis.Evolution and intentionality hypothesis is supported by the belief that hunters-gatherers were organized through kinships that had flexible membership whereas the farmers had larger groups that were institutionalized with social destinations and due to these complexity there were accumulation of goods and hence population growth as well technological advancement. However, the development of agriculture in both regions deferred in that in southwest Asia was between the end of epipaleolithic and Pleistocene periods while in East Asia. It began during the Pleistocene Holocene transition period. Also in East Asia there was existence of many cultures unlike in South West Asia.Agricultural development began at the end of the last glacial age where wheat and barley were the first domesticated plants. Researchers argue that population growth and climatical changes were the major factors for adoption of agriculture but there are minimal evidences to support the argument since agriculture is labor intensive as compared to hunting and gathering. However, evolution social status, and emulation are other factors behind the development of agriculture other than p opulation growth and climate changes.References:Scarre Chris (2005), the human past. United Kingdom accessed online on 26/09/07http://www/thamesandhudsonusa.com/web/humanpast/links/index.htmlPerkins Phil. (2007), World Archaeology. United Kingdom, Audio CD transcript. (Track2) p6-14Assessment Booklet,  © 2007.World Archaeology: United Kingdom pp 4-6Perkins Phil (2007). World Archaeology Study Guide. (A251) the Open UniversityUnited Kingdom pp 16-17

Hipaa Essay

HIPAA Abstract The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or better known as (HIPAA) began in 1996 as an Act to help individuals keep their health insurance as they moved from one job to another. As the future brought new advancements HIPAA evolved to include much more than portability. HIPAA now includes many complex rules to protect patient privacy along with the use of information technology that transfers medical records. HIPAA Nearly a decade ago, lawmakers tried to combine the older age ethical tradition of patient privacy with newer age health technology advances, in hopes of saving more lives and reducing such high medical costs. Congress’ intention of the HIPAA Privacy Act was to bring the healthcare industry into the 20th century, while saving U.S citizens billions of dollars. As health care technologies advance so does the rules, rights, and regulations of HIPAA. It’s important to know the â€Å"in’s† and â€Å"outs† of HIPAA and these new advancement’s. Having a guest speaker for HIPAA helped me learn and realize these new advancement’s, a long with what HIPAA really stands for, the rights of patients, and what a breach is and how to prevent it. In the words of the guest speaker, HIPAA equals privacy. Each letter in HIPAA stands for and explains exactly what the Act is. The letter â€Å"H† in HIPAA stands for health, the health of the patient. â€Å"I† in HIPAA stands for insurance, the availability of health plans for the patient. The â€Å"P† in HIPAA stands for portability, it’s portable. â€Å"A† is for accountability, they are accountable for here actions. And finally the last â€Å"A† in HIPAA stands for act, the action of carrying something out. All of these letter s may make up HIPAA but it’s important to know what they actually mean and stand for. After learning the patient rights from the guest speaker I think it makes up the most important part of HIPAA. Knowing your rights under HIPAA can save you from trouble in the future. The first right of HIPAA is The Right to Access, how you the patient can access their health information and obtain copies of their health information. The second patient right is The Right to  Restrictions which gives you the right to restrict certain disclosures of your health information. Another important patient right to HIPAA is The Right to Amendment, it gives you the right to request on amendment to your health information. The next right is The Right to Accounting of Disclosures, this right makes sure your request on accounting of disclosure made on your health information is met. The next patient right is The Right to Complain of Privacy Rights Violation, which I think is the most important. It gives you the right to complain if you feel that your health information has been used or disclosed inappropriately. The last patient right the speaker talked about was how the patients’ health information us used and disclosed. Which allows many ways on how your health information is used or disclosed in regards to treatment, payment, and health care operations. Also patient rights of authorization to release medical or he alth information and the right to revoke authorizations. As you can see there are many rights that the patient has. These rights ensure that patients get the right care in regards to health and how medical records are stored. Even though these rights protect patients there are still major problems that can happen. One of the major problems with HIPAA is a breach. A breach is the unauthorized access use, or disclosure of protected health information that compromises the privacy of such information. According to the HIPAA guest speaker, penalties for a breach can equal up to 1.5millon a year. For individuals found guilty of breach, penalties can be up to $100,000 per year, per violation and or up to ten years in prison. You may be wondering how they decide if there is a breach. Some exceptions to breach that the guest speaker informed us of are unintentional access or use of health information. Only if that information accessed was made in a good faith within employment and the inform ation was not further accessed or used, it is not considered a breach. Another exception of a breach situation is child abuse. Law Enforcement must collect medical evidence to investigate and prosecute a possible child abuse case. Along with Law Enforcement Officials, Social Services also have HIPAA exceptions so they can serve victims of abuse, neglect, and domestic violence. A breach in HIPAA can be very serious, so it’s important to practice good prevention precautions. Some of the guest speaker’s tips on preventing a breach were locking files to secure important papers. Also securing areas that have any health  information, so only the people who are authorized have access to them. Not only do health care workers take precautions to avoid a breach, but so does HIPAA. HIPAA officials do random checks on health care patients in different facilities to ensure that only the authorized workers had access to their medical records. One of HIPAA’s main goals are to protect the patient’s privacy. Taking these precautions as a health care worker can prevent any complications regarding HIPAA and most importantly patient privacy. Having a guest speaker come into class helped me understand more concepts of HIPAA I didn’t understand. She taught me what HIPAA is really about, patient rights, and how important it is to prevent a br each. Learning more about HIPAA will help me in my future career. HIPAA will directly affect my future, as I am currently going for a medical assistant degree. But HIPAA doesn’t just affect people going into the medical field it affects the patients. Therefore it is important for everyone to learn and understand the importance of HIPAA. References Law and Ethics (For the Health Professions) 6e (2013). HIPAA. Pages From74 – To 76 http://www.uthscsa.edu/hipaa/patientrights.asp http://www.ndaa.org/ncpca_update_v16_no4.html http://hipaacow.org/ http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/index.html http://www.hipaa.com/

Profits from pornography and prostitution Assignment

Profits from pornography and prostitution - Assignment Example A survey conducted in U.S.A reveals that adult bookshops and stores offer more number of books that exhibit pornographic contents that are legally banned in the country. Though legal implications are more, pornography has not been reduced and most of these forms violate the norms and regulations specified by the government. (Pace, 1983). Another organized crime is prostitution that also reaps profit to the one who owns the business. In most of the countries children below the age of 16 are also forcibly included into this act of prostitution. (Lunde, 2006). Though it is not legally permitted in most of the countries, illegal activists continue to do this organized crime. Vice Crimes are the ones that are banned either by the legal system or by the society due to the illicit problems that they bring into the society. The common vice crimes are prostitution and pornography. (Albanese, 2011). They are considered as illegal acts that spoil the morality of the people and communities in particular. Victimless crimes do not involve any third party or a person except from the one who is directly involved in it. Usage of drugs and alcoholics that are prohibited by the government is also considered to be victimless crimes. (Monkkonen, 1992). They also fall under the category of victimless crimes that are committed by organized crime. Even procuring illegal drugs and supplying them to the people are considered to be organized

Local channel San antonio TX, channel 5 Research Paper

Local channel San antonio TX, channel 5 - Research Paper Example The news started with the marriages that were happening during the day, and it was a foregone conclusion that the day was unique in engaging in marriages. As it was a memorable day. Most of those who commented said that it would be easy to remember the day as it had the same numbers for months days and years. The possibility that it could take another century to take another millennium to have such a date. Then, the story of birthing followed. Mothers wanted to give birth on this phenomenal day in history. The first events of the newscast were targeting the family since they talked much about the family. This is evident in the themes of marriage and giving of birth in the first two segments of the news. This news could be watched by all audiences since it dwelt on the family and had no violence in it. Thus, this news segment targeted all people regardless of their ages, especially those who are about to wed or planning to wed sometime later. Crime and murder then followed. This was e vident n the news about a certain man called Jacob Mathews who went on a rampage, shooting and killing three two people and seriously injuring one. He was camouflaged and wore a bullet proof vest. It was done in Portland, Oregon. The person used a rifle in the shooting. The events in this story were not appropriate for children. The story required a mature audience. Another story involved the robbery of arms by masked men who were caught on surveillance cameras. They were not successful since the alarms went off and became a scare to them. they had stolen the a barbeque vehicle. Only the vehicle was found after the thugs escaped. Karen an employee of trust bank spoke on the issue. The story was appropriate in that there was a crime that was about to be committed, and the authorities put the public on notice to report anybody they suspected in the involvement of the crime. The audience to this was largely the banks and security firms, and to a small extent, the public since they were to report any suspect to the police. The security firms and banks were appropriate audiences because the act focuses on their securing of the banks using security systems. The robbers were not able to break through the ATMs because the alarms went off. This was to send a message to the banks to involve security firms in beefing up security to prevent cases of break-ins in their ATMs. Another story was about pilgrim’s pride being involved in 4 serious violations, and if they don’t deal with the violations in 15 business days they will face the consequences of breaking the laws. The audience to this was other organizations that are related to pilgrim’s pride. They are also put on notice though indirectly. This sent a message that any organization contravening the laws set will face legal process and could be prosecuted in a court of law. There was no happy talk in this story since it involved serous sentences and the newscaster just wore her customary smile as sh e presented the news. The next story was of two brothers who engaged in burglary. They vandalized five dorms and stole various goods. The came us a surprise to many since the two were former members of the corps. Jovan and Allison Martinez were the individuals who engaged in this act of thievery. Their intention was unknown as it caused may unanswered questions. Only one brother was caught. The audiences for this story were members of the corps and the general public. the news anchor was not smiling as much as she presented t

Competition Between Political Parties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Competition Between Political Parties - Essay Example It is a group comprising of numerous individuals striving for a common cause but all supports the set of common governmental goals. It may be 2 or 3 or many party system. However in a party, people are the representatives always desiring to create equality and fraternity in a country to maintain peace and order. But, in the most imperative thing that need to be maintained is the rules and regulations of the government like: equal speaking power of the citizens, voting rights, rights of all basic needs etc (Hofmeister & Grabow, 2011, p. 4). Apart from political party, another type of group that also works for the benefit of general public is pressure groups. In recent age, maximum extent of the citizens do not try to engage in politics through voting and so without joining the political parties, they become politically active through their active membership in groups, organizations and associations of varied kinds. These type of parties are also known as pressure groups (Hofmeister & Grabow, 2011, p. 5). The parties or groups are some sort of permanent organizations that help in contesting elections with the aim to acquire the crucial positions in the government of the state. These small fractions of individuals or groups work for a common cause keeping at par with the rules and regulations of the state. Thus, these parties act as a device to highlight the desire or interest of the citizens among the higher authorities of the state or country (Hofmeister & Grabow, 2011, p. 6).

Working with and Leading people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Working with and Leading people - Essay Example Testing and assessment should also be done in this stage. The next step will be interviewing the candidates. This allows the organization to further understand a candidate. An interview should go beyond the skills in a resume or the score of a test - it should focus on how the candidate can apply the skills and scores in the work environment. For a position of call centre are much needed, a person possessing high level of communication skills and social interaction. These agents should have the capacity to handle customer service in an international set-up. Applicants should also possess technical knowledge in the fields where the agent is assigned. For call centre manager handling corporate clients, a perfect candidate would be a person that has superb leadership and management skills. He should also display mastery in receiving/conducting calls so that he can be a perfect example to the staff he is leading. Therefore he should have effective communication and interaction skills that his subordinates can emulate. For a human resources department administrator, an applicant should have excellent presentation skills and can motivate others by his inspirational and motivating speeches. Call centre business needs someone who can uplift the spirits of agents who are prone to be upset by distracting and irritating calls. This is exactly their job. A manager A manager that has a just and conscientious vision for his fellow employees, that is what a human resources manager should possess. He should have the zeal to improve his other employees in the company. To put this vision into action, the candidate for this post should have superb managerial and planning skills and capable of spearheading the organization towards staff development. He should also have sufficient knowledge in pertinent legal knowledge needed to ensure that employees will be given just compensation and benefits. Just like the human resources manager, the senior sales manager should be competent in meticulously planning the sales campaign of the company. He should be able to produce sales targets and quotas for his sales representatives. Training his sales force is his other significant responsibility. Because of this, he should have excellent presentation and training skills (Assessment and Selection, 2007). Security staff should be vigilant and physically fit for the position. Since security personnel are needed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, applicants should also be willing to work in different 8-hour shifts. In recruiting, human resources personnel should be wary about certain legal, regulatory and ethical requirements. The first one is the character and productivity background of the applicant. HR personnel have the responsibility to look over the attitude and behaviour of its applicants. Yet in doing so, the HR should be cautious about the legal issues in recruiting. One such concern is the right of the applicants against discrimination from disability. Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in the UK protects the rights of the disabled (Employer's Forum for Disability, 2004). Aside from this, UK has various laws that will protect employee's rights, such as Race Relations Act 1976, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, and Employment Equality Regulations 2003 (Independent Police Complaints Commission, n.d., p.2). Full-time long term employees have the experience unparalleled by the new-comers. They also have the zealous concern in

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Research Proposal - Essay Example There are various rationales for why a prison inmate harms the self, ranging from psychological disturbances to even attempts to manipulate the prison officers to elicit change to their incarceration circumstances. Self-harm is a phenomenon that occurs with both male and female prisoners, thus it is not a gender-specific problem within the prison system. Statistics indicate that female prisoners, in 2003, represented only six percent of the total prisoners incarcerated in the entire UK prison system, but female self-harm constituted 46 percent of all national reports of self-harm in the country (Borrill, Snow, Medlicott, Teers and Paton 2005). Self-harm in prisons is costly to the prison system, taxpayers, and the health care system for those that require psychological counselling and, oftentimes, recurring medical treatment for this activity. The severity of the problem justifies conducting a research study to analyse the catalysts of self-harm, especially with female inmates that represent nearly half of all national reports of self-harm. Prison officers and medical practitioners have multitudes of responsibility for ensuring prisoner safety, ensuring the integrity of the prison system, and providing health care services to a broader population. Self-harm recurrences and its prevalence in the UK add significant burdens to the health care system and for prison officers that must develop documentation of these events and provide supplementary mental health services to recognised problem prisoners. Examine socio-historical instances of negative lifestyle scenarios that might exist in female prisoners, including, but not limited to, previous childhood or spousal abuse, mental health conditions, or stunted cognitive/developmental growth during various phases of child and adolescent development. The broader purpose of the study is to identify and categorise, statistically, the most frequent and common catalysts of

Ethics Mod 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics Mod 5 - Essay Example SHA asks employers in the United States to comply with its regulations to ensure that they provide safe and healthful workplace, and it constantly monitors strict compliance to these regulations by conducting inspections, whistle-blower activities, post-incident follow-ups etc. According to the norms of this act, employer is basically held responsible for employees’ falls or injuries that occurred due to employer’s failure to provide adequate safety and health measures instructed in the OSH Act. OSH Act imposes a duty on employers to take steps to control risks to employees or third parties from slips, trips and falls. However, employees are also held responsible for falls or injuries if it happened due to their mistakes, because they are under the duty to behave in a responsible way to ensure their own safety and the third parties near to them. Even after 44 years since Congress passed the OSHA of 1970 by strictly instructing employers to provide workplace safety, security and health to make employees free from hazards, the toll of workplace injuries and deaths still remain unjustifiably high. As of OSHA’s report, there were 4,405 death cases in the United States due to falls or injuries in workplaces in 2013 (osha.gov, 2015). Work injuries and hazards cause severe impacts on income inequalities and create a big burden of medical and other expenses on employees. In order to eliminate workplace injuries and its impacts, OSHA has not only made it stricter that employers are responsible for employees’ injuries, but also asked employers to become familiar with standards applicable for their establishments or workplace environments. According to many health and safety professionals today, simply complying with OSHA standards is not sufficient to safeguard all employees in the workplace. Instead, these professional s have developed extensive written compliance programs with which compliance is achieved and maintained as part of the all-encompassing safety and

Business strategy of the footwear company Essay

Business strategy of the footwear company - Essay Example The study will start with an insight into the company’s performance. In this case the data shows the performance of each of the eight companies under the footwear industry. The performance is rated against the investor’s expectation. Investor set the target for the performance of each company over a particular period, and in this case it is one year. From the information gathered most of the companies are quite scoring well on the scoreboard by exceeding the investor’s expectation and as such earning some bonus point. The company leading with the highest point is the bold footwear company which up to date is shown having 6 bonus points. Looking at some of the scoreboard performance over the few years, we see quite a fluctuation with companies showing a positive trend by increasing from the previous year’s while others going down the trench. Significant of this is the last year. That is year 20 where all the companies showed a significant reduction from the previous year. But something to note is that there is quite a good trend in the industry since the companies show quite good performance higher than the expectation of the investor. The earning per share shows quite a starling performance for three companies, company B, E, F. This is by the fact that these companies are scoring high above the investors’ expectation on the EPS. Greatly performed is company B with an average performance of above 15 while the other two have an average performance of between 2 and three. ... The other companies are performing quit below the expectation, with company H having the lowest weighted expectation. These results are replicated on the stock price per share and the return on shares. It is quite evident to mention that, there is a great correlation between these three because the company scoring high on the ROE similarly scores high on EPS. The credit rating shows a starling performance for three companies A, B, F, all of them scoring an A. That is high beyond the expectation of the investors. The other companies’ though not scoring that high, they are still within the range of the investors’ expectation. The image rating only gives three companies scoring beyond the expectation in the period of ten years. Page 4 of the report gives an insight on the company’s production and how they have been fairing in the market. The rate of production is compared against the consumption and rejected items. The rate of rejected production seems to be reduced and maintained below five percent in the last five years, but there appears to be a significant change in the year 20th year were the percentage moved up beyond 5 percent, on the footwear production. Page five of the report is a look at the financial performance that is the profit earning of each company. The records show quite a level performance at year 10. All the companies have a similar performance. At year 14, there is quite a very significant change with company B scoring a very high net profit while company H is scoring losses. The trend is replicated in the subsequent years with company B having the highest profit level while company F still scoring the great losses. It would be clear to mention that the decisions made by the companies H are the ones

MILITARY PAY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MILITARY PAY - Assignment Example Next, I will carryout the real study in the month of October using the above methods. During the same month, I will collect data using survey, interview and questionnaire methods of data collection. I will write short notes on the most important things arising in the course of the study. Finally, I will analyze the data and come up with the final results in the month of November. Based on the results of the study, I will make conclusions and recommendations then write a report of the study. In order to carryout this research, some of the resources that must be carried include electronics e.g. a laptop and mobile phone. Laptop will help in recording and storing information collected from the informants. This is a reliable storage facility because information is permanently stored. Writing materials are very essential when carrying out research. This is because the activity involves lots of recording. The researcher notes down information gathered from the informant in a notebook. These are mainly short notes that are later expounded when compiling data. Biro pens should also be enough for the number of people intended to fill the questionnaires. According to Nasu (2009), money is a major resource. In order to carry out any research, the researcher should ensure that he/she has enough funds. Most of the activities need money. For instance, money is needed to cater for transport purposes. In order to collect reliable data, the researcher should collect data in different regions and from different military officers then compare. Money is needed to cater for food and accommodation. What and where the researcher will eat, rest and sleep has to be paid for. The researcher should have enough airtime to feed their mobile phone to enable communications to take place, pay assistants who help in carrying out research as well as be in a position to cater

Problem Solving & Spreadsheet Modeling Essay Example for Free

Problem Solving Spreadsheet Modeling Essay This paper talks about the problem solving process along with examples, as well as one of more commonly used modeling and analytical techniques, i.e. spreadsheet modeling. It also talks about its dependency, its uses, disadvantages and well as explores ways to better this very new, but powerful technique. | Modeling is the process of creating a simpliï ¬ ed representation of real life problems and representing them in an organized fashion in order to understand a particular problem. These models can take many forms such as mental, visual, mathematical or electronic spreadsheets to name a few. Their uses can be seen in almost every field of our daily lives such as businesses, governments, human resources, science and engineering, and medicine etc. Their primary function is to gain insight into a specific problem and after getting a clear understanding of the topic, one can easily approach it from different directions with possible solutions. This paper discusses this process in detail, starting with gaining insight into a specific problem by using a problem solving model, and then moves on to how it applies to spreadsheet modeling. It also discusses different aspects of electronic spreadsheet engineering, its uses and caveats, as well as its dependency in the business world these days. Before creating any models, visual, mathematical or spreadsheets, one has to start with the problem solving process. The problem solving process consists of six stages that can be followed to solve almost any problem. These stages or steps are employed and are repeated multiple times, not necessarily in the same order, to obtain an efficient and refined solution to a particular problem. The first of these stages is exploration of a â€Å"mess†. â€Å"A mess is a morass of unsettling symptoms, causes, data, pressures, shortfalls, and opportunities† (Baker Powell, p.18). One of the key issues in solving any problem is to be able to take any given situation and extract key information, problems, issues as well as opportunities from it. A problem never presents  itself in a clear, well-posed statement. It is usually hidden in a scenario, along with a lot of other trivial information and any problem solving should start by understanding a given situation and be able to extract key information from it. â€Å"During this phase, questions that are explored include listing problems or opportunities that are to be faced, gaps between current and desired situations, and thinking about stated and unstated goals.† (Baker Powell, p.21) Baker and Powell use an example of a pharmaceutical company in their book, where majority of that company’s revenue is generated from the production and distribution of a single drug, and present a scenario where the patent for that drug heads towards its expiration date in upcoming months. Using this scenario, exploring the mess stage would involve the company officials to perform individual researches and evaluate any threats and affects the expiration of the drug patents would have on their revenues as well as taking initial steps to address the upcoming problems (Baker Powell, p.21). Second stage of the problem solving process involves searching for information. â€Å"This includes opinions, raw data, impressions and published literature etc. and involves casting about widely for any and all information that might shed light on what the problem really is† (Baker Powell, p.22). This is basically a â€Å"brainstorming phase†, and usually involves approaching the mess from different directions. In the case of the pharmaceutical company, for example, senior managers would handle this phase by holding meetings and addressing their discomfort towards the upcoming problem as well as hiring outside consultants to perform company as well as industry research and gathering all the necessary facts involving this problem. â€Å"This stage is usually complete when relevant information for the situation at hand if found and organized and when initial hypotheses about the source of the problem and potential solutions are discussed.† (Baker Powell, p.22) The next phase of the process, known as â€Å"identifying the problem†, st arts out in its divergent phase with a few possible problem statements that can be inferred from earlier stages. These problem statements are evaluated and results in a final, more detailed, problem statement that may or may not be an aggregation of one or more initial statements. It is imperative that each of the initial problem statements are examined individually and eliminated carefully and the end result is an unambiguous problem statement. For  example, the pharmaceutical executives may initially come up with two different problem statements, one dealing with somehow extending patent dates and focusing on revitalizing their strategy around the existing drug, while the other group thinking about how to come introduce other drugs into the market to cover the decline in revenues. Another option looks at decreasing costs and expenses overall to cover the losses incurred. From these initial statements, developing a portfolio and introduction of new drugs seems to win the general consensus. The next phase of searching for possible solutions to the now defined problem statement involves open-ended process searches for good, even radical, solutions. This can only be done however, when a problem statement has already been described. â€Å"Considering possible solutions to an ambiguous problem is not only inefficient but also dangerous as well, since it can lead to solutions that were nowhere close to the original problem and can result in a lot of wasted time and resources. This stage is complete when a list of potential solutions is produced and perhaps a list of advantages and disadvantages for each one† (Baker Powell, p.23). In the case of the pharmaceutical example, this phase can start out with solutions including speeding up FDA approval process for the new drugs, investing RD resources and funds towards drugs with the highest percentages of approval and focusing on a new portfolio of drugs in the same medical category, and thus providing expertise in one or two specialty areas (Baker Powell, p.23). Next comes the stage of evaluating all possible solutions and deciding on the preferred solution. This is done through evaluating each of the initial solutions against a set of given criteria. â€Å"This can lead directly to a preferred alternative. More often, this process leads to changes, and improvements, in the solutions themselves. Often, stronger points of multiple solutions are grafter together while less attractive aspects are removed and through this process, a final, preferred solution is refined† (Baker Powell, p.24). For example, for the pharmaceutical drug scenario, after evaluating and grafting various solutions, it can be decided that one most critical area for improvement is how RD funds are allocated over time. And finally, the problem solving process concludes with implementation the preferred solution. In this phase, a problem-solving team will identify sources of resistance as well as support for their solution. During this stage, once a  solution has been implemented, a final evaluation is done after some time to see if the implementation has been successful or not. This stage concludes when an implementation plan is produced and executed enough so that the team may begin to evaluate how well it is succeeding. For example, the pharmaceutical problem solving team will have to get approval and support from the senior management for their solution and when they carry the plan forward, they must monitor its impacts and modify it as needed, and solve a new set of problems as they arise. In order for a solution to be refined, these six steps must sometimes be repeated multiple times, each time creating a new solution to the problems in the previous cycle. â€Å"It is also worth stating that only rarely are these six stages followed in a strict sequence. Most problem-solving processes move back and forth from one stage to another, perhaps rethinking the problem statement while evaluating solutions, or returning to an information-gathering mode while searching for solutions (Baker Powell, p.25).† Now a brief overview of the problem solving process has been outlined, we can discuss one of the more common problem solving and analyzing techniques used in the business world today, i.e. spreadsheet modeling. Baker and Powell explain it in their book that â€Å"spreadsheet is the second best way to do many kinds of analysis and is therefore the best way to do most modeling (p.4).† Basically what this means is that for any singular modeling task, there is always some better, more powerful software available that can handle that specific task. However, due to the complexity and costs related to such applications and their very narrow scope of problem solving capabilities, it becomes inefficient for most companies and analysts to use separate software for separate models. Therefore, most of the modeling in the business world is done in electronic spreadsheets due to its nature of being able to handle and process a wide scope of modeling and analytical tasks. There are, however, limitations to electronic spreadsheets due to its broad capabilities but most modeling tasks in many companies can be easily handled through spreadsheet modeling and analytical tools. Despite their limitations, spreadsheets allow modelers to build more detailed and more complex models and also have the advantage of being pervasive in business analysis. On the other hand, however, using ele ctronic spreadsheets is not without its downsides. The business world is still at an early stage of understanding how to develop error-free  spreadsheets. And one of the caveats of using electronic spreadsheets is assuming that they are error free. In fact studies and research have shown that only less than ten percent of spreadsheets in individual studies have been free of any errors (Graves, p.1). These errors may be small and would seem very insignificant, such as improper sorting or entering numbers as text, but in larger companies, the results can be devastating and can cause effects ranging from ineligible candidates becoming police officers to a school losing more than $50,000 in funding due to budget understatements (Baker Powell, p. 6). When using electronic spreadsheets, or any software for that matter, it is also imperative to ensure that the software packages are always up to date. This can range anywhere from applying security updates to upgrading software versions altogether. â€Å"Upgrading a business software is more than just an economic business decision. It is a matter of security, productivity, lower costs, and employee morale† (Garger, p.1). The longer any software has been around, the more vulnerable it gets to malicious viruses and security breaches. Therefore any software must be updated or upgraded routinely since newer versions would be safer from a security standpoint guarding against vulnerabilities from previous versions. Another reason to keep software up to date is from a budget point of view. Usually, older versions of any software are more expensive to maintain than the newer versions (Garger, p.1). And probably the most important reason to update any software, and especially spreadsheets, is an increase in productivity. Software companies are continually adding newer features to their applications that increase productivity and are efficient in handling various tasks. More often than not, newer versions usually have larger set of capabilities and tools under their belt and can perform more tasks in lesser time and with more ease (Garger, p.2). Even though electronic spreadsheets are still quite new in the business world, their dependency has been increasing drastically in the past two decades. About 25 years ago, the idea of personal computers was unknown to most and â€Å"modeling was performed only by specialists using demanding software on expensive hardware. This meant that only the most critical business problems could be analyzed using models, because only these problems justified the large budgets and long time commitments required to build, debug, and apply the models of the day (Graves, p.1). However, since then, the ever evolving technological advances  starting with personal computers, spreadsheets and now the add-on features for specialized analyses have greatly changed the business world. Nowadays, anyone with a laptop and little background in spreadsheet modeling can easily handle tasks that would have been thought of as quite complex 25 years ago and would have required teams of specialist to perform (Baker Powell, p.5). In fact, â€Å"these applications have become a staple of end users and business professionals and are widely used by businesses, service agencies, volunteer groups, private sector organizations, scientists, students, educators, trainers, researchers, journalists, accountants and others† (Graves, p.2) In conclusion, spreadsheets represent an ever-present platform for businesses and our dependency on them cannot be understated. However, as with any great tool, there are many stipulations. Any tool can be only as useful and powerful as its user. Therefore, in order to use electronic spreadsheets properly, one has to be proficient in their use and must acquire the necessary skill set to create and analyze powerful and effective business models. Knowing the capabilities of any given software as well as its limitations is crucial. And finally, planning a spreadsheet model properly and never assuming that it will be error-free are necessary to create successful business models. â€Å"Only with a solid foundation in spreadsheet engineering can the business analyst effectively generate real insights from spreadsheet models (Baker Powell, p.8). References Baker, Kenneth R.; Powell, Stephen G. (2010-10-08). Management Science: The Art of Modeling with Spreadsheets, 3rd Edition. John Wiley Sons, Inc. Kindle Edition. Garger, John. â€Å"The Advantages of Upgrading Your Business Software†. Bright Hub. Nov 8th, 2010. Accessed Dec. 12th, 2012. http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/43180.aspx Graves, Sherry. â€Å"The Importance Of Excel In The Workplace†. SparkNET. Sept. 10, 2007. Accessed on Dec.12th, 2012. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-Of-Excel-In-The-Workplaceid=724646

Communication Skills Reflection: Patient Interaction

Communication Skills Reflection: Patient Interaction This essay will examine the interaction between myself and the mother of a child who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (Mrs X). Before examining the interaction in specific detail I would like to consider some of the more general elements that are relevant to the topic of communication between healthcare professionals and their patients. There are many definitions of communication and Wilkinson offers one definition which describes a complex process of both sending and receiving messages in different formats (both verbal, non verbal or more commonly a mixture of both elements). This interchange typically allows for an exchange of information, feelings, needs and preferences. Typically the two protagonists in a communication exchange will encode and decode messages in a cyclic pattern. Each making an analysis and response to the preceding gambit. (Wilkinson SA et al. 1999) Bugge enlarges on this definition by putting it in a context of professional nursing and suggesting that â€Å"its purpose is generally manifold but will include the means of establishing a nurse-patient relationship, to be a tool for expressing concerns or interest in the patient’s circumstances, to elicit information relevant to the patient’s condition and to provide healthcare information.† (Bugge E et al. 2006) It is an essential part of the whole process of successful communication that both parties achieve a shared understanding of meaning. This is validated by the process of feedback interpretation which indicates if the actual meaning of the message was interpreted as it was originally intended. (Coiera E et al. 1998) In this essay I should note that communication can be considered on many different levels. In this instance we are specifically considering the mechanisms of information exchange between a healthcare professional and a client which, in the broadest sense will ultimately determine many of the parameters of treatment (and also possibly patient compliance) (Stewart M 1995). Although we are specifically considering one interaction here, this does not mean that the other elements of communication are ignored. Hogard (E et al. 2001) writes extensively on the importance of communication between healthcare professionals which can cause huge problems in terms of patient management if they are anything less than optimal. I would hope that any information that I would be able to glean from a patient could be communicated to the rest of a multidisciplinary healthcare team efficiently so that appropriate management decisions could be made. If we consider an overview of a typical communicative interchange it can generally be categorised by both type and level. In the specific context of nursing, the various levels could be considered as â€Å"Social† which is considered to be safe and non-contentious, â€Å"Structuredâ€Å", which is typically utilised for situations of teaching and patient interviews and â€Å"Therapeutic† which has the characteristic of being specifically patient focussed, purposeful and generally time limited. (DAngelica M et al. 1998) Heinmann-Knoch (et al. 2005) considers the process in greater detail. If this initial interaction is successful it can develop further characteristics such as the nurse comes to regard the patient as a unique individual and begins to understand their motivations, and the patient develops a trust in the nurse. It is within this communication context that the nurse is generally able to try to provide care and, more importantly in some instances, help patient identify, resolve, or adapt to health problems We will also briefly consider the elements of both verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication requires, by definition, the conscious use of the spoken or written word. The nature, grammar and syntax and context of the words chosen are important in that they can reflect the patient’s mental age, their education, their culture and in some cases their mental state and feelings of the moment. In a clinical context inferences can be made from the way the words are delivered such as their choice, their tone or pace of delivery. The characteristics most favourable for efficient and effective communication are that the words should be â€Å"simple, brief, clear, well timed, relevant, adaptable, credible†. (Philipp R et al. 2005) Non-verbal communication by contrast, relies on the interpretation of facial expressions, hand gestures, and body language. This can be an extremely subtle means of communication and can give credence (or otherwise) to the spoken word. In the nursing context, non-verbal communication can be manipulated to the nurse’s advantage to help to elicit information that may otherwise not have been forthcoming. It has been estimated that non-verbal communication accounts for up to 85% of information transfer between communicating adults. In the professional nursing context it requires both systematic observation and careful assessment and interpretation to derive the full meaning of what the patient wishes to convey. Most importantly, the nurse should be aware of incongruity between the verbal message and the non-verbal cues. The patient who smiles while describing a terrible pain is one such example. (Musselman C et al. 1999) Specific examples If we now consider elements of communication from the transcript. Clearly there is no evidence of non-verbal communication on the transcript but I was very conscious of the mother’s initial reticence in her opening exchanges with me. She initially sat in a â€Å"closed† position and largely avoided eye contact. As the conversation unfolded she clearly became more relaxed and trusting. She adopted a more â€Å"open† and relaxed posture and started to express herself with appropriate hand gestures. (Hulsman R L et al. 1999) I particularly recall the jabbing gestures she made to emphasise a point relating to giving injections. I have to observe that the environment that was used for the interview was very contrived and I believe that this may have had an influence on both myself and the client. I think that, in a real situation I would be able to allow the conversation to be far more fluid and relaxed. I can analyse some of the techniques used to elicit or reinforce information During the interview I purposely made a point of asking open questions to try to draw out the client’s response So it sounds as if, it has obviously upset you..? It sounds as if you were almost blamed yourself for it as well..? Generally its quite a healthy family as well..? >From the terminology you’re using there is sounds as if you know what you’re talking about, you sound quite confident..? Mrs X. was clearly at ease after a while and even when closed questions were asked she would answer them Yes or No and then go onto both expand what had been said and volunteer other information. I had varying degrees of success in eliciting the information that I was after. Trying to establish whether it would be difficult to get the patient to comply with his diet I touched on the subject of diets and Mrs X clearly has a major psychological difficulty in coming to terms with her own diet. I allowed her to express her views about her obesity before trying to bring the conversation back on track. After Mrs X’s outburst about her â€Å"serious morbid obesity† I made three attempts to both empathise and sympathise with her feelings in order to gain her trust by asking supportive and non-contentious questions before returning to the point relating to injections with the question â€Å"So how did you feel with the injections, because obviously for me that was quite a scary experience, seeing someone so young giving an injection to themselves..?† Phrasing the question in this way appears to show considerable empathy for Mrs X’s situation and allows her then to offer her opinion. (Richards T 1999) There were several instances where I needed to summarise what was said in order to be sure that I had understood the thrust of Mrs X’s comments Easy to understand, em, there was no panic mongering in them and things like that. If I’d have looked on the websites, I might have found some information I didn’t want to see at this stage. So I was advised not to look and I didn’t. So would you be a bit. . So if you read something that was sort of like false information or mis-information that scared you a little bit, is that what you’re trying to say? It probably would have scared me because it’s my child, but I wouldn’t have been into histrionics about it, I would have been probably saying well that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. problems. Paraphrasing was a useful technique to ensure that I had understood what was being said. Yes, and you know, instead of buying biscuits and things for the biscuit tin in the house, I’ll be buying fruit, huge varieties of fruit, and that’ll be their options now. So you say you’re going more toward the healthy lifestyle and keeping, would you,? Direct questioning helped to elicit specific answers Prodigy websites? Off the websites, yes, they were very good because they were no nonsense. Do you mean they were easy to understand? Easy to understand, em, there was no panic mongering in them and things like that. If I’d have looked on the websites, I might have found some information I didn’t want to see at this stage. So I was advised not to look and I didn’t On occasions it was useful to reflect on the implications of Mrs X’s answers and to try to elicit further information from her So it sounds as if, it has obviously upset you..? Does that it sounds as if you were almost blamed yourself for it as well..? Empathising is a useful technique particularly when dealing with difficult issues such as the problems with diets. (Stewart M . 1995) Especially being teenagers, its all.. They eat chocolate, they eat crisps and all things that are bad for them and if they’re restricted in what they can eat it makes them want it more in a way. I know if I couldn’t have chocolate or sweets.. On reflection I believe that I made a reasonable attempt in the circumstances to get as much information from Mrs X as I could. By the end of the interview Mrs X was getting tired and losing concentration so I believe that it was correct to terminate the interview at this time. (Wilkinson S et al. 1999) I am aware that I frequently asked incomplete questions or stopped in the middle of a sentence. This may be an indication that I was not in control of the situation This whole exercise has been a useful analytical and learning experience for me. I believe that I shall have gained a great deal of experience from the episode and will use that to further inform my practice in the future. References Bugge E and I. J Higgins on (2006) Palliative care and the need for education Do we know what makes a difference? A limited systematic review. Health Education Journal, June 1, 2006 ; 65 (2) : 101 125. Coiera E and Vanessa Tombs (1998) Communication behaviours in a hospital setting: an observational study. BMJ, Feb 1998 ; 316 : 673 676. DAngelica M, Kathy Hirsch, Howard Ross, Steven Passik, and Murray F. Brennan (1998) Surgeon-Patient Communication in the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer. Arch Surg, Sep 1998 ; 133 : 962 966. Heinmann-Knoch, Korte, Heusinger, Klunder Knoch (2005) Training of communication skills in stationary long care homesthe evaluation of a model project to develop communication skills and transfer it into practice. Z Gerontol Geriatr. 2005 Feb ; 38 (1) : 40-6. Hogard E and Roger Ellis (2006) Evaluation and Communication: Using a Communication Audit to Evaluate Organizational Communication. Eval Rev, Apr 2006 ; 30 : 171 187. Hulsman R L, Ros W J G, Winnubst J A M, et al. (1999) Teaching clinically experienced clinicians communication skills: a review of evaluation studies. Med Educ 1999 ; 33 : 655 – 68 Musselman C and C Tane Akamatsu (1999) Interpersonal communication skills of deaf adolescents and their relationship to communication history. J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ., Winter 1999 ; 4 : 305 320. Philipp R and P. Dodwell (2005) Improved communication between doctors and with managers would benefit professional integrity and reduce the occupational medicine workload. Occup. Med., Jan 2005 ; 55 : 40 47. Richards T. (1999) Chasms in communication. BMJ 1999 ; 301 : 1407 – 8 Stewart M . (1995) Effective physician-patient communication and health outcomes: a review. CMAJ 1995 ; 152 : 1423 – 33. Wilkinson S, Bailey, J. Aldridge, and A. Roberts (1999) longitudinal evaluation of a communication skills programme. Palliative Medicine, June 1, 1999 ; 13 (4) : 341 348. Appendix Self in blue italics Mrs X in black print How has xxxx diabetes since coming into hospital? Well it’s come as a terrible shock obviously, that he’s got diabetes, because he’s a healthy boy. It’s still a shock. I think the staff have tried to help us over it as much as they can. Do you feel as if they’ve given you enough information about diabetes..? I think we’ve been inundated with information, I think that it was good that one particular member of staff dealt with us mainly, and they listened very closely to what we had to say. We’ve had a lot of conflicting information but ultimately it all meant the same thing which caused a little bit of confusion. And did you feel as if that that was a bit of overkill? Or a bit too much information too soon? Probably, but between the bits of information that we run off the PC, off the.. Prodigy websites? Off the websites, yes, they were very good because they were no nonsense. Do you mean they were easy to understand? Easy to understand, em, there was no panic mongering in them and things like that. If I’d have looked on the websites, I might have found some information I didn’t want to see at this stage. So I was advised not to look and I didn’t. So would you be a bit. . So if you read something that was sort of like false information or mis-information that scared you a little bit, is that what you’re trying to say? It probably would have scared me because it’s my child, but I wouldn’t have been into histrionics about it, I would have been probably saying well that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. problems. Yes I had a little bit of knowledge about diabetes before this happened, but sometimes a little bit of knowledge is a more dangerous thing. Is that because of the work that you’re doing? Yes, and you know, what Ive actually learned now †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. had diabetes, so. And do you think †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ how it’s going to change your lifestyle? Definitely going to change the lifestyle. Having a big family its going to mean that.. How many people in the house sorry? In the house there’s 6. Cooking Sunday dinner yesterday, there were 11 of us for Sunday dinner yesterday.. That’s a lot of people.. Yes, and you know, instead of buying biscuits and things for the biscuit tin in the house, I’ll be buying fruit, huge varieties of fruit, and that’ll be their options now. So you say you’re going more toward the healthy lifestyle and keeping, would you, Yes, yes Would you all the bad things, would you keep them out of the house or will you still buy them in for.. I won’t be buying them because my children will need to make their own decisions about that. I don’t have small children who are going to feel deprived if they don’t have a chocolate biscuit. They’re old enough to make a conscious decision, â€Å"okay Mum’s given us that, but I fancy this so I’m going to go and buy it.† They’ve got their own resources so they can go and do it themselves. And they’re quite happy about that are they? Yes, and they’re happy, apart from one, about the healthier way of cooking things if you like and em, wasn’t a terribly bad diet in the first place. Have they all agreed to sort of, give their responses to diabetes or are they sort of laid back about it? They seem quite laid back.. They are very laid back. They’ve even, I mean it sounds absolutely terrible but they’ve even been cracking jokes about it. Three of my children have got asthma and I mean he was joking â€Å"well mine’s worse than yours† and .. So they’re all quite light hearted about it and taking it in their stride. Yes. Matthew, my eldest boy, was, because he’s a Nurse I think, he was absolutely devastated but he is better about it now. But in the first instance he was absolutely gutted. I mean xxxx he was gutted obviously.. Well this is it, he seems quite calm about it from what Ive seen and a very relaxed family in general. Yes. I mean if we were any more laid back we’d need †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. on a night to keep us going because we don’t really let things bother us. So it sounds as if, it has obviously upset you..? Yes, very much. I kicked right off. I didn’t kick off in front of him, but when I got home I kicked right off to everybody and anybody that would listen. I even had texts from friends that didn’t even know, and I was ranting to them Does that it sounds as if you were almost blamed yourself for it as well..? I did wonder, you know, initially I wondered if it was because they’ve always been allowed to have sweets. Ive never made sweets into a reward or a treat, you know, they’ve always been an everyday matter of fact, because I didn’t want them to grow with my problems, obesity problems, because they weren’t allowed sweets. I didn’t ever want them to ever think sweets were something really special. Because they’re not, they’re just another thing that, they’re a foodstuff, and they’re a bad source of.. Especially being teenagers, its all.. They eat chocolate, they eat crisps and all things that are bad for them and if they’re restricted in what they can eat it makes them want it more in a way. I know if I couldn’t have chocolate or sweets.. Well that’s just my life experience you know, being denied things and then leaving home at 16 and eating all of that stuff and becoming at one point seriously morbidly obese I don’t want that for my children. Obviously they might have a predisposition to do that. I don’t want that to happen so, let’s not make sweets and biscuits em, a reward or a treat so they never have been. So then I wondered if possibly they’d had too much. None of them are overweight, none of them are fat, none of them have got bad teeth and cavities and things. None of them has ever had a filling. Generally its quite a healthy family as well.. He hasn’t seen a doctor for 7 years. So it must be a complete shock for you that this has suddenly happened.. and changed everything that has been happening in your home. So how has the rest of the family been coping, have they been..? Very supportive, except for one.. Ah, except for one, is that the elder one or the younger one? He’s 18 just turned, and he’s got an appalling diet, all I can do is advise him. I can put his meals in front of him and if he chooses not to eat them and go and buy rubbish then, all I can do is advise him. So how did you feel with the injections, because obviously for me that was quite a scary experience, seeing someone so young giving an injection to themselves.. I knew he could do it. Of all of this, that’s the bit that doesn’t faze him. Does it faze you at all? It doesn’t faze me. Em, when I was asked to give him an injection here, and staff knew I could do it †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦said you might not be able to do it because he’s your son.. But its not like that is it? If he goes into a hypo and he needs me to inject him, I’m not going to start you know, â€Å"oh my god! his life depends on it, get him injected, how†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..† From the terminology you’re using there is sounds as if you know what you’re talking about, you sound quite confident. Yes. I am. I mean†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.but, at the end of the day its your child and you’re not going to, going to, you wouldn’t hesitate, just get on with it, you just do it. And do you feel that that’s the attitude that you’re whole family’s going to have as well? Yes. They’re all, you know, when he’s doing his bloods they’re all there watching, hovering over him, when he’s sticking a needle in they’re â€Å"ooh, where are you going to stick it now?† you know. Nobody’s squeamish, nobody’s terribly fazed by it, I think they’re all pretty pleased because it’s not them that’s got diabetes. But at the end of the day †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.but be supportive, can’t ask any more really. Yes. Can you see yourself coming in regularly to see all the diabetes nurses? Even if he’s in complete control of his diabetes will you still come in and visit just to make sure everything’s alright? Yes, as long as he wants me to come with him, then I will come with him. I mean, when he turns 18 if he wants me to come to the diabetes clinic with him then I’ll come with him. Is he independent anyway? Very. Fiercely independent. Still like, on the phone its still like Mum †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ So when you go away today do you think you’ll feel as if you’re going to have everything that you need for the next, lets say two weeks, or week, to be happy with.. Yes I still need to ask about when I should make an appointment for †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. him to see his GP. I still need to ask little questions.. When he turns 18 is the insulin free, or does he have to pay for it like everybody else, with the prescription charges Yes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. aren’t they? Its quite expensive as well isn’t it? Well asthmatics don’t get their inhalers free, they have to pay.. When you think about it you’ve got your insulin, your sticks you†¦. It’s the keytones as well, they haven’t been completely explained to us. They’re in the leaving pack anyway which†¦ I mean I understand what the keytones are, but†¦ What are they? Because I don’t fully understand, I know they’re a by-product .. Keytones are a waste product that your kidneys filter out of the blood and pass out in the urine. Obviously they’re in your blood for your kidneys to pull them out, filter them out, but if his blood sugars are high and remain high you should test his urine for keytones. There are sticks to test his urine. If there are a lot of keytones in his urine then he should probably do a test on his blood which is just another stick that goes in Have you got them? No. Then you would phone the ward. But we know we can phone the ward anytime. So you feel reassured at having that point of contact that you can phone up anytime†¦? Absolutely, yes. There’s still going to be stuff that comes up and â€Å"what can you do about that?† There’s going to be stuff that comes up all the time. I’m sure you’re going to have peaks and troughs a little bit where you’re unsure what’s happening and if you’re concerned he’s not controlling his diabetes properly, we’re only a phone call away. Yes. And if its not being controlled I don’t think it would be anything he’s doing deliberately wrong.. You said earlier, he knew about what his level was. I think at one point yyyy asked him â€Å"what level do you think you’re at†.. Yes, he was very close. Mm, very close And that was only on day two or three, day three maybe He’s had a couple of lows on his blood pressure as well which I think he’s realised because he’s felt the effect that it’s had on him He knew yesterday afternoon that he was low because he said look at me and he showed me and there was just ever such a slight tremor in his hands. Did that concern you or reassure you? It reassured me because he knew and I said, he said I need to test my blood and I said why and he said because I think its low and he said look and he showed me. For him it was low, it’s the lowest it’s been. Well that’s fantastic I wasn’t worried because I knew that all he had to do was have the glucose or eat something or both and em, when he goes back to school I know that he’s †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ You take home glucose tablets as well don’t you? I think you can buy them from the shops now.. Yes. You can just at the supermarket so they’re easy to carry about. Very nice sweets as well. Anyway I think that’s about enough so thank you for your time. I hope it helps. I’m sure it will. ############################################################### 17.04.07 word count 2,112 PDG

Analysis of the E-brokerage Industry

Analysis of the E-brokerage Industry Executive Summary The financial brokerage industry has undergone dramatic changes worldwide in the last decade, due to the rise of the Internet. E-brokerage brought huge opportunity to the industry as it introduces enormous amount of on-line traders but at the same time posted serious threat as it open up the market to new competitors. In this thesis, we investigate past and current challenges the brokerage industry faced. From our literature review, we studied the impact of online trading to the brokerage industry and the online traders, and proposed solutions pinpointed to the facts we found. We studied the challenge the brokerage industry faced from the perspectives of strategy, marketing and technology and carried out strategic analysis using value chain and framework of five forces by Michael E. Porter. A small scale survey was conducted to collect local people attitude towards online/mobile trading and we used the data collected to justify the information we found during our literature review. F inally, we proposed a basket of suggestions for the brokerage industry in various aspects including product enhancement, customer education, partnership, differentiation, customer segmentation and more. An in-depth interview with a local broker firm was organized to value our suggestions, their feedback are positive. Introduction The tough challenge among e-brokerage industry is still going on and in fact, it is getting even more furious. The situation was more rigorous during bearish market after the burst of IT foams, SAR outbreak and the recent financial tsunami. The strategy the brokerage firms adopted to handle the challenges they faced determine who will survive the competition and stay in the market. Losers will soon be squeezed out of the market. This is especially true for small to median size local brokerage firms who are now facing new competitors like direct banks and oversea online trade provider like E-Trade. Confronted with growing competition, old-guard brokers are being forced to restructure and re-focus their market offerings. Various strategies were adopted, some brokerage firms seek to maintain their lead in value-added services through a focus on knowledge/advise more financial planning and investment advice rather than transactions -processing trades. Other firms attempted to comprehen d how to offer on-line services without alienating their brokers, to minimize channel conflict. The purpose of this article is to analysis the current e-brokerage practices and device new service directions and enhancement to existing products to increase competence of our local brokerage industry. We will first present the evolution of security trading in Hong Kong and characteristic of different types of brokerage firms and customers. From our literature review, we found that online trading exerted great impact on both brokerage industry and online traders. For brokerage firms, they faced vigorous competition due to new competitors, reduced customer loyalty and market fragmentation due to low entry barrier. While illusion of knowledge and control, lack of personal advice and overwhelmed by information were the hurdle online traders faced. We have presented the strategic challenge faced by the brokerage industry and analysis their strategy using value chain and framework of five forces algorithm. We have devised a basket of suggestions and discussed with a brokerage firm the f easibility to comprehend our research. Financial Broker Industry In Hong Kong Evolution of security trading in Hong Kong The ultimate goal of a well-functioning stock market is to bring together all possible buyers and sellers, so that the market price reflects the combined preferences of all participants. The history of securities trading in Hong Kong can be traced back to 1866. The present Sock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEx) was established as a result of the unification of four exchanges during the big market boom in 1986, while the first stock exchange began its operation in 1891. Exchange System Architecture Computerized trading system was first introduced on 2 April 1986 and in 1993 the exchange launched the Automatic Order Matching and Execution System (AMS), which was replaced by the third generation system (AMS/3) in October 2000. AMS/3 is the core system used to serve securities trading which has significant enhancements in central market functions, open connectivity and system capacity as compared with AMS/2. AMS/3 supports multiple trading facilities for market access. Most of the participants developed their own Broker Supplied System (BSS) which interfacing with AMS/3 via the Open Gateway (OG) facility for greater control to the front-end solutions instead of the Multi-workstation System (MWS) by HKEx. The open connectivity of OG has made possible the large-scale automation of Participants operations, enabling Participants to offer new investor services and experience efficiency gains. In 2002, a new generation of the system, CCASS/3, was launched for clearing and settlement. MD S (Market Data Feed System) is the key system used for delivery of securities price data to about 60 local and international information vendors. HKATS (Hong Kong Futures Automated Trading System) is the electronic order matching system operated for the derivatives market. Advancement in information technology, especially the Internet, is revolutionizing traditional commerce. Obviously the securities industry, and in particular the on-line brokerage, is at the forefront of this revolution. Here in Hong Kong, retail online trading as a proportion of total retail investor trading continued to grow in 2008/09, reaching 43 per cent from 39 per cent in 2007/08. Its contribution to total market turnover was 10 per cent, up from 7 per cent in 2007/08. For stock options, retail online trading contributed 23 per cent of total retail investor trading (up significantly from 15 per cent in 2007/08) and 2 per cent of product turnover (1 per cent in 2007/08). For other derivatives, retail online trading contributed 49 per cent of total retail investor trading and 18 per cent of total product turnover (up from 44 per cent and 15 per cent respectively in 2007/08). Types of Brokerage Firm The basic function of a brokerage firm is to execute buy and sell orders for clients. Traditionally these firms have offered the investigation of the quality and the possibilities of investing in a variety of investment products. It is still accustomed for brokerage firms to offer information about possible investments free of charge. This activity of bringing free of charge stock investment reports is one of the main tools that are utilized by brokerage houses to compete against other firms. To investors, it continues to be an important service. However, with the bloom of communication technology, especially the Internet, more and more investors rated that investment reports as less important service. Instead, those investors preferred other types of services that charged less commission and service fee, by forfeiting those investment reports. In order to capture this vast diverse clientele, the brokerage industry segmented itself. After the restrictions in commissions were eliminat ed, several brokerages began to open up their doors as discount brokerage firms. At that time, brokerage firms were classified into two types: full service brokers and discount brokers. Full service brokerage firms continued to offer informative stock reports and a level of service much higher than other brokerage houses. They looked for purchasing and selling opportunities for clients and offering more customer and portfolio advisory service than was available from discount brokers. Discount brokerage houses, on the other hand, only dedicated themselves to execute orders for clients with minimal services. These differences in services and philosophies led to great differences in commission costs. It was evident that these differences were an important factor in the return of an investment. Type of customers in brokerage industry In Hong Kong customers of brokerage firm can be divided into three typical categories: l Prestige Group: These are customers with large amount of capital put in to the brokerage firm for investment. They have granted total authority to the brokerage firm to execute trading decision on behalf of them. Although they are minority in terms of the customer base of brokerage firm, they contribute a great portion of revenue to the brokerage firm. l Middle Group: Customer of this group usually trade through account agent of the brokerage firm. They utilities financial information, report and analyzing tools provided by the brokerage firm to make trading decision. Account agent will also actively contact these customers whenever they see an investment opportunity fit for them. l Basic Group: Customer mostly uses service of brokerage firm to maintain account balance and execute trading order on the own. Although multiple channels are supplied to them, they mostly adopt on-line trading as their first choice of trading media. Although the first two groups of customers contribute quite a large portion of the revenue of brokerage firm, we will concentrate our research on the third group for two reasons. First, there is a clear trend that this group of customer is increasing in a fast pace. Second, by investing and improving the on-line system, the other group will also be benefited. Literature Review Online-Brokerage Simply put, â€Å"On-line brokerage† can be defined as selling of securities which encompasses equity like stocks and warrants and derivatives like bonds, mutual funds etc, on the Internet. Although traditional banks and brokers also provided online trading after year 2000, new entrants like direct banks and new brokers offered a genuine e-commerce business model. Direct banks are internet-only banks or virtual banks. These banks were designed without a traditional banking infrastructure with physical branches. This cost-saving advantage enabled many of them to offer savings accounts with higher interest rates, loans with lower interest rates and minimal management fee and commissions than most traditional banks. More and more customer joined in as online trade and a peak was hit on year 2000. At the same time, new competitors like traditional brokers and virtual banks joined in proactively by acquiring existing brokerage firm or using their own business model. At that time, t hen customer base and knowledge of the traditional institutions was still advantages for online trading enhancement. The strategy online brokers adopted was customers segmentation and directed their offer to the most preferred customer group, the active private investors, which allowed them to swiftly catch up the market. Compared with banks, absence of physical branches thus low overhead costs gave these internet brokers an advantageous in cost structure. They competed with each other rigorously to achieve the biggest market share in the shortest time frame to reach the break even point. The strategy to conquer and develop loyalty of new customers was invested massively in marketing. They also adopted a cut-throat commission rate to attract private individuals who were more sensitive to this cost of investment. The position of banks and traditional brokers in the brokerage business was deeply undermined by the pressure caused by these new entrants. Bloom of on-line trading For the first time ever, investors could, from the comfort of their own homes, accessed a wealth of financial information including breaking news developments and market data on the same terms as market professionals did. In addition, on-line brokerage provided investors with tools to analyze this information, such as research reports, calculators, and portfolio analyzers. Finally, on-line brokerage enables investors to act quickly on this information. The technological and regulatory barriers that gave traditional brokerage and securities companies edges were rapidly becoming extinct. First, new provider quickly gained access to the market by leveraged on the use of Internet technology. Without expensive branch networks and labor-intensive advisory services, new competitor like direct banks and new online brokerage firms were able to process retail clients orders in relatively low cost. Second, the bull markets in year 2000 attracted large number of new online customers. For example , lot of local residents became online investors and started to hold security when frequent and gigantic scale IPO activity were taking place during 2006. These new customers welcomed the new internet investment style that encompassed vast amount of free of charge real time information, enhanced market transparency, convenience and low commission. Together with the rising share prices in bull market atmosphere, these new customer, in particular, heavy traders quickly got accustomed to doing online trade. The Internet also made other comparisons easier. For example, it increased price competition for products for which price comparison was previously more difficult. New information applications enabled investors to compare the quality of trade execution provided by different brokerages and thus extend the trading costs that investors consider beyond commissions. Companies scrambled to create viable strategies that balance many priorities. Typical considerations included: Should they defend their existing customer base or enter into new customer segments? Grow their existing business or expand into new products? Acquire, partner or go alone? Basically, companies were competing not only to offer different and better products and services, but to design robust, lucrative business models that took advantage of emerging forms of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce the facilitation of exchange of value over computer networks fundamentally changed the brokerage business in part by increasing the velocity of financial services [1]. Impact of on-line brokerage Hurdle on brokerage firm Rigorous competition With the advancing Internet technology, investors had became less reliant on stockbrokers for trade execution or obtaining research information as such services were readily available on the Internet. In addition, the Internet was a convenient and efficient channel for doing stock trade transactions and for providing information support to investors. Indeed, the trend of self-investing led to the proliferation of Internet brokerages around 2000, offering trading services on the Internet at very low commission rates compared to using traditional brokerages. Reduced customer loyalty Lower transaction costs online led many investors to e-brokerages and away from traditional brokers to place their trades Another concern was that since investors feel that they can distinguish between the good and bad advice that they find on the Internet, they therefore were not be willing to continue to pay a financial planner solely for their expert opinion. This was in part due to the information illusion discussed in next section: illusion of knowledge and control, where investors feel that since they have access to so much information that they had no need to pay for such service and can do it better on their own. Reduced customer-broker cohesiveness Before on-line trading is prevalent, a single stock trade typically involves multiple telephone conversations between a customer and a broker. The broker may take the opportunity to reinforce the personal relationship with the customer by discussing pros and cons of the trade or offer tailor-made investment package. On the contrary, on-line traders are more on their own. Together with the convenience to switch broker, the loyalty of the customer to the brokerage firm is largely weakened. Although transactions are the bread and butter of brokerage companies, brokerage firms were also strived to developing client relationships in order to provide total solution to their customers. The income by providing strategic planning, advisory services, financial advices, margin loan and other client services are also vital to brokerage companies.. Market fragmentation Market fragmentation occurs when too many competitive suppliers enter an active or new market. It happened starting from 1998 and peaked around 2001, when online trading started to take off and attracted many different competitors. They all aimed attract on-line investors and to achieve the largest possible market shares by all means, for example, by giving them some extra bonuses. However, the sudden downturn of the market quickly turned a lot of these new investors to passive customers, if not entirely retired, due to lack of knowledge and experience. This phenomenon was even more obvious after market started to plunge beginning at 2001. As a matter of fact, it is too risky for e-brokers to over-rely on commission as the main source of revenue. After all, the demand for brokerage services highly depends on investment atmosphere of stock market. The number of on-line executed orders during bullish and bearish market varies significantly. These large variation experts high risk for those who base their income on commission. In order to safeguard possession of active traders during both bullish and bearish market, it is very important to educate them and foster a correct investment culture. Lower entry barrier The Internet changed how information is delivered to investors and the ways in which investors can act on that information. On-line brokerage provide a effective and convenient access media between customers and the brokerage firm, the unit cost of operations is much reduced. It had lowered both the fixed and marginal costs of producing financial services, thus enabling newer, smaller companies to challenge established providers of these services. On-line brokerage firms, such as E*Trade, are among the most vivid and successful financial service firms to provide on-line financial advice, research tools, and financial information that emerged in the last decade. These e-commerce firms transformed the way traditional services were delivered and offered a vast assortment of new services. Hurdle on customer Investors in general and on-line investors in particular now make decisions in a very different environment than investors in the past. They have access to far more data. They often act without personal intermediaries. They can conduct extensive searches and comparisons on a wide variety of criteria. Although the quantity they can produce may be large, it is the quality that matter. As a consequence, they trade more actively, more speculatively but less profitably than before. On-line trader stress heavily on commission and management cost when choosing broker firm to use. However, there are other unobservable costs that are unaware by them: information-processing costs, information illusion, illusion of control, frequent trading behavior, and the lack of personal advice. Information-processing costs Information-processing costs are the costs that online investors sustain before they actually make a transaction and it is defined by the time and energy that the investor expands trying to reach an investment decision. Because of the huge volume of information found on the Internet that it can take investors a lot of extra time to find, sort, and analyze all of the relevant information. This in turn can out-weigh the benefits of online trading for some investors because they might not be able to afford the opportunity. In fact, the overwhelmingly huge amount of information available on the Internet scales many investors away, let alone their validity or intentional hoax. Illusion of knowledge The proposition that more information leads to better decision-making is intuitively appealing. But the truth of the proposition depends on the relevance of the information to the decision and on how well-equipped the decision maker is to use the information .The vast amount of on-line investment data available will enable investors to confirm their prior beliefs and may lead them to become overconfident in their ability to pick stocks and other securities. Faster feedback may focus investors attention on recent performance. Psychology shows that when people who initially disagree on a topic are given arguments on either side of the issue, they become further polarized in their beliefs. They are impressed by the arguments with which they already agree and they discount opposing views. Not only are people more impressed by arguments they favor, but they actively seek out confirming evidence. For this reason, investors are more likely to visit chatrooms or forum of like-minded investor s. If controversies ensue, they are likely to be convinced by those with whom they already agree. Investors who believe that additional information makes them better investors are unlikely to seek out or attend to evidence that indicates otherwise. Thus, on-line investors are likely to become overconfident. They may believe that they have more ability to perform tasks such as stock-picking than they actually do. In theoretical models, overconfident individual investors trade more actively and more speculatively than they otherwise would, hold under diversified portfolios, have lower expected utilities, and contribute to increased market volatility. In an empirical study of investors at a large discount brokerage who switched from phone-based to personal computer-based trading by Barber and Odean, they find that after going on-line, investors tend to trade both more actively and more speculatively. Illusion of control This illusion results when investors think that because they have access to so much information via the Internet that they have an advantage over the entire market and this can lead them to make bad investment decisions. These investors then have an exaggerated sense of control over the outcomes of their investments. Frequent trading is another cost associated with online investing. Low transaction costs can encourage frequent trading and day-trade strategy according to Konana, Menon and Balasubramanian. As an example, in Singapore, 71.1 per cent of online investors say that they trade more frequently than they did prior to online trading (Teo, Tan, Peck, 2004). Researches show that most of the on-line traders adopt short term trading strategy: a risky strategy rather than the believed buy and hold strategy. The Internet also seems likely to change what information investors focus on, because it reduces the cost of some kinds of information more than others. For instance, the Intern et especially facilitates comparisons of real time data, and thus has changed investors focus by emphasizing the importance of speed and immediacy. While the serious individual investor of a decade ago may have checked stock positions once a day in the morning paper, casual investors now may check theirs several times an hour. Many more investors pay attention to short term-even intraday- return trends than ever before. Worse still, many firms advertise their ability to deliver real time data or to execute investors orders rapidly, making the situation even worse. Lack of personal advice The downside of investing online is the lack of personal advice from those in the financial field (Vakil Lu, 2005). According to Phelan (2001), the Web will never be able to substitute for the judgment and expertise of financial planners, nor will it be able to protect investors from all of the scams that are abundant on the Internet. In reality, the news and new information people found on the internet might not be as new as they think. Moreover, many online traders only focus on the here and now and do not look at the whole picture or at the future as financial advisors are trained to do, thus jeopardizing their investment. Challenge Our research examines the pressures for change over the past decade that was overcoming the inertia in the brokerage industry. We viewed the challenge from the perspectives of traditional brokerage firm and electronic brokerage firm. Traditional brokerage firm To provide online trading, traditional brokerage firms were forced to decide on which of the two approaches to go, either establishes new subsidiary with a new brand name or provide under its own name. For the first case, brokerage firm suffer from overlapped company structure and considerable marketing expenditure to build the new name, which prolonged the period to reach break even point. The later case, though easier to setup, brokerage firm is putting their reputation at stake when the service do not meet customers expectation. The strategy adopted was to have differentiated brands serve the younger, more tech-savvy investors that gravitated to on-line trading without nibbling full-commission business. With the advent of the World Wide Web, discount brokerage firms face a comparable disintermediation dilemma. Commissions were suddenly under pressure, customers wanted to trade directly, and competition is coming from non-traditional sources like direct banks. To address the competitive threat, some entrenched firms adopted the supermarket approach by providing other supplementary services like providing financial information and news. However, such approach was in fact a typical re-intermediation path that directly competed with full service brokerage firm which offered a wider portfolio of products and services. Nevertheless, creating a financial services supermarket was a misguided strategic choice for three reasons: First, many successful 1990s businesses have rediscovered the virtues of adhering to their core competencies and the power of strategic outsourcing in order to gain agility. Most of the conglomerates which attempted to enter the financial services arena learned the hard way that adding unfamiliar lines of business can dilute their ability to compete, weaken shareholder and customer loyalty and multiply management complexity. The reason for failure was economic. Risk and cost sharing in the production or delivery process can enable better time to market and make providing a product/service bundle more efficient than integrating everything in-house. Second, offering additional products to an existing customer base does not prevent customers from leaving. Also, the decision to add new products to an existing portfolio is complicated by an uncertain environment such as the Internet. In an uncertain techno-marketplace, a firm is often making an informed guess about what it thinks is best for a customer without fully knowing what that customers preferences and goals are. Third, technology-enabled firms like ETrade were taking the â€Å"re- intermediation† path in a new way by providing customers with interactive and personalized services at little or no cost. This branding and trust-building approach enables the service providers to learn directly and accurately from each customer whats actually important to him or her. Armed with this intimate customer knowledge, these companies are better positioned to build loyalty and increase profits for the long term. Clearly, re-intermediation was a difficult strategy as sustainable competitive advantage was becoming rare in the on-line environment. High performers today look for a series of short-term advantages over a long period of time instead of attempting to plot a far-sighted course in an environment with too many unpredictable variables. Innovative Internet-based intermediaries were the real threat to the entrenched players. These firms were adopting dramatically more effective means of forging interactive relationships with customers added value, which was essentially the incremental benefit that the new in the middle firm brings to the customer. They were looking to exploit synergism across different product lines. They innovated more frequently and organized to seize opportunities much faster than their competitors. The reason was: concentrated focus on traditional sources of competitive advantage such as cost, technology, and differentiation was inadequate because competitors were quick to replicate advantages. They seek to identify and rapidly responded to subtle changes to the finest ingredient: the individual customer. To sustain competitive advantage, it was important to embrace business practices that encourage deep customer insight and thinking about how to materially improved the customers value proposition. Electronic brokerage firm Online brokers rushed to pour money to increase their capacity to absorb the fast growing demand during dot.com boom in 2000. The only way considered effective to increase market share at that time was advantageous offers and promotions, combined with enormous marketing expenses exposing them to a very high costs. The development of the online brokerage market was highly dominated by such marketing approach. Absence of physical branches and thus reduced operation cost entitle internet brokers the advantageous cost structure. Instead, they allocated this saving and invested on massive marketing campaign in order to achieve the biggest market share as soon as possible. By attracting and developing the loyalty of new customers, these brokerage firms were expecting soon to reach the break-even point. The bull market during the dot.com boom had dusted the eye of these online brokers. They failed to anticipated adverse situation when significant downturn in capital investments occurred and stroke their over investment. The stock markets had proved its volatility in a year time, when the dot.com boom burst in 2001. The serious regression caused by global slump of economy and the later SAR outbreak during 2003 had made the situation even steeper for the industry. The depression lasted for a couple of years before reaching a rising track started on 2007. Stock market transaction was drastically dropped from hundreds of billion down to tens of billions and last for years. Investors were either scared away or suffered from great lost by the sudden market plunge and prolonged recession. The once admirable capacity had turned into the biggest burden for brokerage firm. Naturally, all of them suffered from great investment lost, if not bankrupted altogether. All the internet brokerage firms had paid a huge price for this costly experience. The lesson they learnt made them re-evaluated the challenges ahead and the goals to attain. They have learnt that low commission rates or excessive marketing expenses would not give them competitive advantages and made the break-even point harder to reach. Instead, they had to revise the services they offered and discover alternative source of revenue. Suffered from the great impact of market volatility, they were looking for a flexible enough business models that is able to cope with the huge capacity demand during a bull market while enable them to safely transit bearish market. We can classify the challenges facing online brokerage firms into three categories: strategy, marketing and technology. Strategic challenge The characteristic of online brokerage had fundamentally changed the brokerage industry. New competitors like insurance companies, banks and financial portal had entered the arena. With the competitive advantage in possessing technology, a large customer bases and knowledge of their customers, they posted great threat to traditional brokerage player who want to participant in online brokerage. The large customer bases not only significantly reduced marketing cost but also helped to minimize development and operation cost due to economy of scale. Coupled with the open standard characteristics, traditional brokerage players had an up hill battle to fight. The value chain of the brokerage was invaded by these new competitors, forcing traditional p