Impact of Marketing Collateral in Banks

Impact of Marketing Collateral in Banks INTRODUCTION About HDFC Bank: HDFC Bank was incorporated in August 1994, and, currently has a nationwide network of 2000 Branches and 5,471 ATMs in 996 Indian towns and cities. Differentiate to lead: Trust is a bankers greatest currency and a great banking and financial services brand can be built only on a strong foundation of trust. That pretty much has been HDFC banks story as it emerged from the image of a state owned housing finance corporation to a slick new age universal bank. Incorporated in 1994, the banks contribution to the bustle of post liberalization has been incredible. The banks service offerings include a spectrum of innovative products in retail banking, wholesale banking, the capital markets and many more areas growing consistently at 25-30 percent for over a decade. This has been driven by HDFC banks decision to adopt technology as its backbone. Not only did the technological revolution cut down costs but most significantly it enhanced the customer experience. The experience fostered trust and confidence among customers and the virtuous feedback loop catapulted HDFC bank into the league of elite private sector banks in the country. HDFC banks biggest differentiator from others is its robust set of policies that they worked on backed by quality service. Clear de-risking policies in a high risk Indian market have paid rich dividends to a brand run with great vision and strategy. When others concentrated on numbers, HDFC bank concentrated on quality. That made them an extremely respected bank to deal with. Power Creation: With the vision of being one-stop financial superstore in mind, the bank operates in three segments: Personal Banking, Wholesale Banking, and NRI Services. The Personal Banking segments provides various deposit products, exclusive banking for high net-worth individuals including Wealth Advisory, Private banking and Personal loans such as auto, personal, home, gold, business loans and more. This segment also is the distribution point for third party financial products, such as Mutual Funds and Insurance. In the space of Personal Banking, HDFC banks credit Cards are also enormously trusted. Here as well some well-crafted strategies of the past have yielded brilliant results for the bank. One of the key success factors for HDFC bank is clear de-risked business strategies that not only ensure the right revenue inflow but a loyal customer base. The Wholesale Banking segment provides loan and transaction services to large corporate organizations, emerging corporate organizations, small and medium enterprises and institutional customers. It also offers deposit and transaction banking products, working capital and term finance, foreign exchange products and the like. Other services include trade services, cash management, money market, custodial, tax collection and electronic banking. In addition, it provides correspondent bank services to co-operative banks, private banks, foreign banks and regional rural banks and investment services for non-resident Indians. Communication Strategy: The positioning strategy in recent years has been to position the bank as a one-stop financial supermarket. The objective of the communication has not just been acquisition of new customers, but also creating product awareness, enhancing usage and providing value-adds to customers. The campaigns from HDFC bank have always focused on that and their tagline ‘We Understand Your World only carries the legacy forward. Advertisement campaigns are aimed at highlighting how a product fulfils an identified customer need. The communication showcases the customer benefit first showcasing the banks commitment towards excellence in customer service facilitated through various means, especially technology. The bank also compliments its visual media presence with below the line activities including innovative programmes such as the Merits Scholarship plan which received high acclamation. Magical factors: As a brand, HDFC bank remains committed to India and enhancing the financial service space for everyone in the country. HDFC bank plans to bring financial viability in the next five years to 10 million families at the bottom of the pyramid through supporting microfinance programmes which can be driven by the bank through self help groups rather than just relying on microfinance institutions. The relentless pursuit of efficiency through technology also makes the bank a customer favourite. Their latest innovation is the ‘My Favourite features at ATMs which help customers reduce the time they spend at the ATM. The feature enables the consumer to customize his most often used withdrawal amount thereby speeding up the process by about 40%. It is the focus on little things also that has made HDFC bank such a customer centric bank and is the heart and soul of the brand. Brand Ethos: HDFC bank has always been about making customers comfortable thereby earning their trust. Whether it is through offering transparent products with no hidden fine print or through technological enhancements, HDFC bank has always paid attention to understand customer needs, reinforcing the trust it holds among customers. Its current tagline â€Å"We Understand Your World† is only apt in the sense that if theres one word youd like to associate with HDFC bank it has to be ‘understanding. What is a Brand? The word brand is derived from the Old Norse â€Å"brandr† meaning to burn. It refers to the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products. When the technique of branding first started, it was meant to make identifying and differentiating a product easier. Over time, brands came to embrace a performance or benefit promise, for the product, certainly, but eventually also for the company behind the brand. Today, brand plays a much bigger role. Brands have been co-opted as powerful symbols in larger debates about economics, social issues, and politics. The power of brands to communicate a complex message quickly, with emotional impact and the ability of brands to attract media attention makes them an ideal tool in the hands of activists. Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and relates to key constituencies i.e. customers, staff, partners, investors etc. Brand identity and image Brand identity is the outward expression of a brand, including its name, trademark, communications and visual appearance. Because the identity is assembled by the brand owner, it reflects how the owner wants the consumer to perceive the brand and by extension the branded company, organization, product or service. This is in contrast to the brand image, which is a customers mental picture of a brand. The brand owner will seek to bridge the gap between the brand image and the brand identity Brand awareness Brand awareness refers to customers ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions and link to the brand name, logo and jingles etc., to certain associations in memory. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs and what products and services are sold under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products. Brand awareness is of critical importance since customers will not consider your brand if they are not aware of it. Brand Tracking The role of brand tracking methodologies is to monitor the health and the value of your brands. These are the business equivalent of taking your temperature or reading your pulse they can tell you quite reliably (within statistically-dictated tolerances) whether you are ill or well, and even how ill or how well. They can also point to certain symptoms. However, if you want to know how to get better, you may have to go to see a doctor (or, in this case, a consultant/marketing research agency using sophisticated diagnostic and prognostic techniques) Effective brand management relies on getting timely and accurate information from the target audiences. Brand tracking involves designing a program of measurement that is completed on a regular schedule to allow for trend analysis and comparison. Some of the key metrics that are involved in tracking a brand include: Brand awareness and familiarity Brand perceptions Brand positioning Delivery on brand promise Perceptions of competitive brands What are marketing collaterals? Marketing collaterals consists of printed materials that describe a business and its products and services. Marketing collateral includes brochures, posters, banners, standees and other printed materials produced by or for an organization. Types of the marketing collaterals used in HDFC bank are displayed as follows: MARKETING COLLATERALS WINDOW GLAZINGTENT CARDS LCD TVSTANDEE BANNERLEAFLETS POSTERNOTICE BOARD DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT Impact of marketing collaterals in branches: Every bank has several branches spread wide all over. As we enter a branch we witness many informative items such as banners, posters, standees, leaflets, window glazing, etc. These are known as marketing collaterals. These collaterals are put up with the intention of being read and used by every individual, customer or non-customer, whosoever enters the branch for whatever purpose. They carry information regarding new offers, schemes, rates, changes in banking operations, RBI implications, list of services provided, etc. These are meant to grab customer attention and to probe them into enquiring about the information displayed. It not only helps in improving sales opportunities but also helps in spreading information about the bank and its services. By observing and studying how effective these collaterals actually are, we could do a cost-benefit analysis and also provide recommendations on improving the effectiveness and usefulness of these collaterals by making desired modifications. The project involves observing visitors and also using questionnaires to identify the effective usage of marketing collaterals in the branches of HDFC bank spread over Mumbai city. Brand tracking of HDFC bank in semi-urban regions of India: A brand is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. It is very difficult to understand the perception that people have about a particular brand. The role of brand tracking is to monitor the health and the value of a particular brand. It can tell you quite reliably how are the brand performing and what is the image of the brand, as perceived by the people. Brand tracking can point out the reasons why a brand is not performing well and can also recommend suggestions on improving the brand image. In this project, I will be using questionnaires to interview already existing customers as well as non-customers in semi-urban areas of selected cities of India about how they feel about HDFC bank and its services. Interviews would be done face-to-face or door-to-door. Analysis will be made from the data obtained and the current brand image in the minds of people can be formed. Accordingly, suggestions can be provided on how the brand image can be improvised. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT Impact of marketing collaterals in branches: HDFC bank has 1780 branches and 5231 ATMs in 833 Indian towns and cities. Every branch has several marketing collaterals placed with the intention of spreading awareness about the bank and for improving sales. HDFC bank incurs expenses to put up these marketing collaterals. If the collaterals do not help the bank up to the desired extent at which the bank requires then it is considered that the bank is making losses on these marketing collaterals. The core objective of this project is to study the usefulness of marketing collaterals and to identify the obstacles that are faced by the customer/visitor in utilizing these collaterals. Thus, changes can be suggested in order to improve the utility of these marketing collaterals. Brand tracking of HDFC bank in semi-urban regions of India: A brand plays a very vital role in the sales of any company. The image that people have about a certain brand influences them to make decision regarding whether to use a certain product or service of that particular brand. Thus, in order to improve sales, it is very important to improve the brands image in the minds of people. Brand tracking is a methodology which helps in tracking and identifying the brands image i.e. what people perceive about the particular company. Identifying the brands image is very helpful in placing marketing strategies. The objective of this project is to track the image of HDFC bank in the minds of its customers as well as non-customers in semi-urban markets of India and identifying the banks brand position as compared to its competitors. BENEFITS TO THE ORGANIZATION With the help of this survey, HDFC Bank can identify how much impact its each marketing collaterals has on the customers and which are the collaterals which are not helpful or fail to induce enquiries from the customers. Also the reason behind the collaterals not being attractive are found out and accordingly modifications are suggested. Thus, the effectiveness of the marketing collaterals at various branches of Mumbai city can be increased. The brand tracking survey would help HDFC Bank to identify what people in semi-urban regions perceive about it. Also it can know where it stands as compared to its competitors and what people understand about HDFC Banks local taglines. The brand awareness, visibility, likability and its recall value is calculated. Future marketing strategies can be designed using this information. Apart from these core objectives, HDFC Bank can also use the database collected by the survey for generating leads and other such purposes. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY As the method of communication used for the survey is face-to-face or door-to-door, the limitations include limited geographical flexibility, high cost and difficulty in call back or follow-up. The entire surveys, research, analysis and decisions are based on the primary data collected by interviewing people from different cities. So the project is highly reliable on the perceptions, thoughts and ideas of people, which are ever changing. Also measuring the cognitive, affective and behavioural components of an attitude is a limitation. The project on brand tracking is limited to the semi-urban regions of India and does not include the urban cities. RESEARCH PROCESS ADOPTED Both the projects that have been selected are research based projects. To study the impact of marketing collaterals in the branches of HDFC bank in Mumbai city as well as for tracking the image of HDFC bank in semi-urban regions, a research had to be made which followed a process that is divided in 7 steps which are as follows: The entire research process has been designed keeping these 7 steps in mind. Accordingly, a schedule was formed and the stipulated time frame was decided to complete the tasks of the schedule. This helped complete the projects in a smooth and systematically planned manner. THE SCHEDULE OF TASKS IS AS FOLLOWS METHODOLGY USED The methodology adopted for researching on both the projects is by collecting primary data through questionnaire method. Customers as well as non-customers are interviewed using questionnaires on face-to-face basis by visiting different semi-urban regions of a few cities where HDFC bank has its branches located at. Data collected from questionnaires will be used in percentage form as the primary data for making analysis. It is a stringent research methodology based on a perception based survey which would include parameters like brand awareness, brand image/perception, brand recall value, brand performance and brand association. The process for preparing the questionnaires for the brand tracking survey is by interviewing 100 people (random sampling) on what they feel are important attributes or features that they look for while selecting a bank for opening a CASA account. The next step is to select the features that have been desired by maximum number of people asked. These features are to be included in the questionnaire along with the other questions for tracking the brand image of HDFC bank. By multiplying the rank given by interviewees to the importance level of the attribute, a clear idea can be drawn as to where HDFC bank stands as compared to its competitors and in which areas the bank need to work upon. Also, the local taglines of HDFC Bank in different cities for example, Gujarati in Surat, Marathi in Aurangabad and so on has been included in the questionnaire for indentifying the understanding that people, of that particular region, have about the local tagline. In order to prepare the questionnaire to study the impact of marketing collaterals in branches, the most common marketing collaterals have been identified and included. The questionnaires are prepared with the aim of identifying the importance and effectiveness of each marketing collateral and the problems faced by the visitors in using these collaterals. For providing more clarity, both the questionnaires prepared are attached with this report. The entire data derived from the questionnaires regarding both the projects, is coded and saved in EXCEL sheets so that it can be included in the banks MIS and can be used by the bank in future whenever required. CITIES AND BRANCHES VISITED TILL DATE Lists of cities that have been visited for Brand Tracking of HDFC Bank is as follows: 1) Aurangabad People outside the branches of HDFC banks competitors i.e. ICICI bank, SBI and AXIS bank were interviewed using questionnaires that were prepared. 2) Surat Semi-urban regions near Surat city were visited i.e. Bardoli and Amroli. 3) Madhya Pradesh Semi-urban regions of M.P were visited i.e. Khandwa and Harda. 4) Rajkot Semi-urban regions of Rajkot were visited i.e. Wankaner, Metoda and Una. A list of branches of HDFC Bank in Mumbai that were visited to conduct the study on impact of marketing collaterals in branches is as follows: Hughes Road branch Sandoz house branch Khar Road branch Borivali branch Vashi branch Andheri branch Sanpada branch Zaveri branch APMC 2 branch Kandivili branch EXCEL sheets containing the entire information of the cities and branches visited along with the data collected is attached with this report. DATA FINDINGS OF MARKETING COLLATERALS SURVEY List of branches visited: Hughes Road branch Sandoz house branch Khar Road branch Borivali branch Vashi branch Andheri branch Sanpada branch Zaveri branch APMC 2 branch Kandivili branch Total number of people interviewed: 200 Data collected is as follows: 1) How often do you visit the branch? a) Very often 48% b) Less often 28% c) Rarely 24% 2) How much time do you spend in the branch at every visit? a) 5 to 10 minutes 17.5% b) 10 to 15 minutes 34% c) 15 to 20 minutes 20.5% d) Above 20 minutes 28% 3) Which of the following collaterals attract your attention the most? 4) Do you often spend time reading these collaterals? a) Yes 67.5% b) No 32.5% 5) Do you find it easy to read them? a) Yes 94% b) No 6% 6) If yes, does it induce you to inquire about it? a) Yes 75.5% b) No 24.5% 7) If no, what are the obstacles that prevent you from reading it? a) Location of the collateral 2.5% b) Font size/colour 2% c) Too much text matter 12% d) Language 0.5% e) Other issues 6% f) No issues 77% DATA FINDINGS ON BRAND TRACKING Cities Visited: Aurangabad, Surat (Bardoli and Amroli), Madhya Pradesh (Khandwa and Harda) and Rajkot (Una, Wankaner and Metoda) Total Number of peopleinterviewed: 200 Data collected is as follows: (The data provided is divided into three sections i.e. in terms of all the data collected, data collected from customers and data collected from non-customers) 1) Banks that the people were aware about are as follows: All data: HDFC bank 26.3% ICICI bank 21.8% State Bank of India 18% Axis bank 15% Other 18.8% Customers: HDFC bank 28.57% ICICI bank 19.72% State Bank of India 16.32% Axis bank 12.92% Other 22.44% Non-customers: HDFC bank 25.60% ICICI bank 22.51% State Bank of India 18.54% Axis bank 15.67% Other 17.66% 2) Public opinion about each bank with regards to the attributes mentioned as follows: a) Trust All data Customers Non-Customers b) Customer friendly staff All data Customers Non-customers c) Speed of services All data Customers Ranks ICICI HDFC SBI AXIS Impact of Marketing Collateral in Banks Impact of Marketing Collateral in Banks INTRODUCTION About HDFC Bank: HDFC Bank was incorporated in August 1994, and, currently has a nationwide network of 2000 Branches and 5,471 ATMs in 996 Indian towns and cities. Differentiate to lead: Trust is a bankers greatest currency and a great banking and financial services brand can be built only on a strong foundation of trust. That pretty much has been HDFC banks story as it emerged from the image of a state owned housing finance corporation to a slick new age universal bank. Incorporated in 1994, the banks contribution to the bustle of post liberalization has been incredible. The banks service offerings include a spectrum of innovative products in retail banking, wholesale banking, the capital markets and many more areas growing consistently at 25-30 percent for over a decade. This has been driven by HDFC banks decision to adopt technology as its backbone. Not only did the technological revolution cut down costs but most significantly it enhanced the customer experience. The experience fostered trust and confidence among customers and the virtuous feedback loop catapulted HDFC bank into the league of elite private sector banks in the country. HDFC banks biggest differentiator from others is its robust set of policies that they worked on backed by quality service. Clear de-risking policies in a high risk Indian market have paid rich dividends to a brand run with great vision and strategy. When others concentrated on numbers, HDFC bank concentrated on quality. That made them an extremely respected bank to deal with. Power Creation: With the vision of being one-stop financial superstore in mind, the bank operates in three segments: Personal Banking, Wholesale Banking, and NRI Services. The Personal Banking segments provides various deposit products, exclusive banking for high net-worth individuals including Wealth Advisory, Private banking and Personal loans such as auto, personal, home, gold, business loans and more. This segment also is the distribution point for third party financial products, such as Mutual Funds and Insurance. In the space of Personal Banking, HDFC banks credit Cards are also enormously trusted. Here as well some well-crafted strategies of the past have yielded brilliant results for the bank. One of the key success factors for HDFC bank is clear de-risked business strategies that not only ensure the right revenue inflow but a loyal customer base. The Wholesale Banking segment provides loan and transaction services to large corporate organizations, emerging corporate organizations, small and medium enterprises and institutional customers. It also offers deposit and transaction banking products, working capital and term finance, foreign exchange products and the like. Other services include trade services, cash management, money market, custodial, tax collection and electronic banking. In addition, it provides correspondent bank services to co-operative banks, private banks, foreign banks and regional rural banks and investment services for non-resident Indians. Communication Strategy: The positioning strategy in recent years has been to position the bank as a one-stop financial supermarket. The objective of the communication has not just been acquisition of new customers, but also creating product awareness, enhancing usage and providing value-adds to customers. The campaigns from HDFC bank have always focused on that and their tagline ‘We Understand Your World only carries the legacy forward. Advertisement campaigns are aimed at highlighting how a product fulfils an identified customer need. The communication showcases the customer benefit first showcasing the banks commitment towards excellence in customer service facilitated through various means, especially technology. The bank also compliments its visual media presence with below the line activities including innovative programmes such as the Merits Scholarship plan which received high acclamation. Magical factors: As a brand, HDFC bank remains committed to India and enhancing the financial service space for everyone in the country. HDFC bank plans to bring financial viability in the next five years to 10 million families at the bottom of the pyramid through supporting microfinance programmes which can be driven by the bank through self help groups rather than just relying on microfinance institutions. The relentless pursuit of efficiency through technology also makes the bank a customer favourite. Their latest innovation is the ‘My Favourite features at ATMs which help customers reduce the time they spend at the ATM. The feature enables the consumer to customize his most often used withdrawal amount thereby speeding up the process by about 40%. It is the focus on little things also that has made HDFC bank such a customer centric bank and is the heart and soul of the brand. Brand Ethos: HDFC bank has always been about making customers comfortable thereby earning their trust. Whether it is through offering transparent products with no hidden fine print or through technological enhancements, HDFC bank has always paid attention to understand customer needs, reinforcing the trust it holds among customers. Its current tagline â€Å"We Understand Your World† is only apt in the sense that if theres one word youd like to associate with HDFC bank it has to be ‘understanding. What is a Brand? The word brand is derived from the Old Norse â€Å"brandr† meaning to burn. It refers to the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products. When the technique of branding first started, it was meant to make identifying and differentiating a product easier. Over time, brands came to embrace a performance or benefit promise, for the product, certainly, but eventually also for the company behind the brand. Today, brand plays a much bigger role. Brands have been co-opted as powerful symbols in larger debates about economics, social issues, and politics. The power of brands to communicate a complex message quickly, with emotional impact and the ability of brands to attract media attention makes them an ideal tool in the hands of activists. Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and relates to key constituencies i.e. customers, staff, partners, investors etc. Brand identity and image Brand identity is the outward expression of a brand, including its name, trademark, communications and visual appearance. Because the identity is assembled by the brand owner, it reflects how the owner wants the consumer to perceive the brand and by extension the branded company, organization, product or service. This is in contrast to the brand image, which is a customers mental picture of a brand. The brand owner will seek to bridge the gap between the brand image and the brand identity Brand awareness Brand awareness refers to customers ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions and link to the brand name, logo and jingles etc., to certain associations in memory. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs and what products and services are sold under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products. Brand awareness is of critical importance since customers will not consider your brand if they are not aware of it. Brand Tracking The role of brand tracking methodologies is to monitor the health and the value of your brands. These are the business equivalent of taking your temperature or reading your pulse they can tell you quite reliably (within statistically-dictated tolerances) whether you are ill or well, and even how ill or how well. They can also point to certain symptoms. However, if you want to know how to get better, you may have to go to see a doctor (or, in this case, a consultant/marketing research agency using sophisticated diagnostic and prognostic techniques) Effective brand management relies on getting timely and accurate information from the target audiences. Brand tracking involves designing a program of measurement that is completed on a regular schedule to allow for trend analysis and comparison. Some of the key metrics that are involved in tracking a brand include: Brand awareness and familiarity Brand perceptions Brand positioning Delivery on brand promise Perceptions of competitive brands What are marketing collaterals? Marketing collaterals consists of printed materials that describe a business and its products and services. Marketing collateral includes brochures, posters, banners, standees and other printed materials produced by or for an organization. Types of the marketing collaterals used in HDFC bank are displayed as follows: MARKETING COLLATERALS WINDOW GLAZINGTENT CARDS LCD TVSTANDEE BANNERLEAFLETS POSTERNOTICE BOARD DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT Impact of marketing collaterals in branches: Every bank has several branches spread wide all over. As we enter a branch we witness many informative items such as banners, posters, standees, leaflets, window glazing, etc. These are known as marketing collaterals. These collaterals are put up with the intention of being read and used by every individual, customer or non-customer, whosoever enters the branch for whatever purpose. They carry information regarding new offers, schemes, rates, changes in banking operations, RBI implications, list of services provided, etc. These are meant to grab customer attention and to probe them into enquiring about the information displayed. It not only helps in improving sales opportunities but also helps in spreading information about the bank and its services. By observing and studying how effective these collaterals actually are, we could do a cost-benefit analysis and also provide recommendations on improving the effectiveness and usefulness of these collaterals by making desired modifications. The project involves observing visitors and also using questionnaires to identify the effective usage of marketing collaterals in the branches of HDFC bank spread over Mumbai city. Brand tracking of HDFC bank in semi-urban regions of India: A brand is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. It is very difficult to understand the perception that people have about a particular brand. The role of brand tracking is to monitor the health and the value of a particular brand. It can tell you quite reliably how are the brand performing and what is the image of the brand, as perceived by the people. Brand tracking can point out the reasons why a brand is not performing well and can also recommend suggestions on improving the brand image. In this project, I will be using questionnaires to interview already existing customers as well as non-customers in semi-urban areas of selected cities of India about how they feel about HDFC bank and its services. Interviews would be done face-to-face or door-to-door. Analysis will be made from the data obtained and the current brand image in the minds of people can be formed. Accordingly, suggestions can be provided on how the brand image can be improvised. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT Impact of marketing collaterals in branches: HDFC bank has 1780 branches and 5231 ATMs in 833 Indian towns and cities. Every branch has several marketing collaterals placed with the intention of spreading awareness about the bank and for improving sales. HDFC bank incurs expenses to put up these marketing collaterals. If the collaterals do not help the bank up to the desired extent at which the bank requires then it is considered that the bank is making losses on these marketing collaterals. The core objective of this project is to study the usefulness of marketing collaterals and to identify the obstacles that are faced by the customer/visitor in utilizing these collaterals. Thus, changes can be suggested in order to improve the utility of these marketing collaterals. Brand tracking of HDFC bank in semi-urban regions of India: A brand plays a very vital role in the sales of any company. The image that people have about a certain brand influences them to make decision regarding whether to use a certain product or service of that particular brand. Thus, in order to improve sales, it is very important to improve the brands image in the minds of people. Brand tracking is a methodology which helps in tracking and identifying the brands image i.e. what people perceive about the particular company. Identifying the brands image is very helpful in placing marketing strategies. The objective of this project is to track the image of HDFC bank in the minds of its customers as well as non-customers in semi-urban markets of India and identifying the banks brand position as compared to its competitors. BENEFITS TO THE ORGANIZATION With the help of this survey, HDFC Bank can identify how much impact its each marketing collaterals has on the customers and which are the collaterals which are not helpful or fail to induce enquiries from the customers. Also the reason behind the collaterals not being attractive are found out and accordingly modifications are suggested. Thus, the effectiveness of the marketing collaterals at various branches of Mumbai city can be increased. The brand tracking survey would help HDFC Bank to identify what people in semi-urban regions perceive about it. Also it can know where it stands as compared to its competitors and what people understand about HDFC Banks local taglines. The brand awareness, visibility, likability and its recall value is calculated. Future marketing strategies can be designed using this information. Apart from these core objectives, HDFC Bank can also use the database collected by the survey for generating leads and other such purposes. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY As the method of communication used for the survey is face-to-face or door-to-door, the limitations include limited geographical flexibility, high cost and difficulty in call back or follow-up. The entire surveys, research, analysis and decisions are based on the primary data collected by interviewing people from different cities. So the project is highly reliable on the perceptions, thoughts and ideas of people, which are ever changing. Also measuring the cognitive, affective and behavioural components of an attitude is a limitation. The project on brand tracking is limited to the semi-urban regions of India and does not include the urban cities. RESEARCH PROCESS ADOPTED Both the projects that have been selected are research based projects. To study the impact of marketing collaterals in the branches of HDFC bank in Mumbai city as well as for tracking the image of HDFC bank in semi-urban regions, a research had to be made which followed a process that is divided in 7 steps which are as follows: The entire research process has been designed keeping these 7 steps in mind. Accordingly, a schedule was formed and the stipulated time frame was decided to complete the tasks of the schedule. This helped complete the projects in a smooth and systematically planned manner. THE SCHEDULE OF TASKS IS AS FOLLOWS METHODOLGY USED The methodology adopted for researching on both the projects is by collecting primary data through questionnaire method. Customers as well as non-customers are interviewed using questionnaires on face-to-face basis by visiting different semi-urban regions of a few cities where HDFC bank has its branches located at. Data collected from questionnaires will be used in percentage form as the primary data for making analysis. It is a stringent research methodology based on a perception based survey which would include parameters like brand awareness, brand image/perception, brand recall value, brand performance and brand association. The process for preparing the questionnaires for the brand tracking survey is by interviewing 100 people (random sampling) on what they feel are important attributes or features that they look for while selecting a bank for opening a CASA account. The next step is to select the features that have been desired by maximum number of people asked. These features are to be included in the questionnaire along with the other questions for tracking the brand image of HDFC bank. By multiplying the rank given by interviewees to the importance level of the attribute, a clear idea can be drawn as to where HDFC bank stands as compared to its competitors and in which areas the bank need to work upon. Also, the local taglines of HDFC Bank in different cities for example, Gujarati in Surat, Marathi in Aurangabad and so on has been included in the questionnaire for indentifying the understanding that people, of that particular region, have about the local tagline. In order to prepare the questionnaire to study the impact of marketing collaterals in branches, the most common marketing collaterals have been identified and included. The questionnaires are prepared with the aim of identifying the importance and effectiveness of each marketing collateral and the problems faced by the visitors in using these collaterals. For providing more clarity, both the questionnaires prepared are attached with this report. The entire data derived from the questionnaires regarding both the projects, is coded and saved in EXCEL sheets so that it can be included in the banks MIS and can be used by the bank in future whenever required. CITIES AND BRANCHES VISITED TILL DATE Lists of cities that have been visited for Brand Tracking of HDFC Bank is as follows: 1) Aurangabad People outside the branches of HDFC banks competitors i.e. ICICI bank, SBI and AXIS bank were interviewed using questionnaires that were prepared. 2) Surat Semi-urban regions near Surat city were visited i.e. Bardoli and Amroli. 3) Madhya Pradesh Semi-urban regions of M.P were visited i.e. Khandwa and Harda. 4) Rajkot Semi-urban regions of Rajkot were visited i.e. Wankaner, Metoda and Una. A list of branches of HDFC Bank in Mumbai that were visited to conduct the study on impact of marketing collaterals in branches is as follows: Hughes Road branch Sandoz house branch Khar Road branch Borivali branch Vashi branch Andheri branch Sanpada branch Zaveri branch APMC 2 branch Kandivili branch EXCEL sheets containing the entire information of the cities and branches visited along with the data collected is attached with this report. DATA FINDINGS OF MARKETING COLLATERALS SURVEY List of branches visited: Hughes Road branch Sandoz house branch Khar Road branch Borivali branch Vashi branch Andheri branch Sanpada branch Zaveri branch APMC 2 branch Kandivili branch Total number of people interviewed: 200 Data collected is as follows: 1) How often do you visit the branch? a) Very often 48% b) Less often 28% c) Rarely 24% 2) How much time do you spend in the branch at every visit? a) 5 to 10 minutes 17.5% b) 10 to 15 minutes 34% c) 15 to 20 minutes 20.5% d) Above 20 minutes 28% 3) Which of the following collaterals attract your attention the most? 4) Do you often spend time reading these collaterals? a) Yes 67.5% b) No 32.5% 5) Do you find it easy to read them? a) Yes 94% b) No 6% 6) If yes, does it induce you to inquire about it? a) Yes 75.5% b) No 24.5% 7) If no, what are the obstacles that prevent you from reading it? a) Location of the collateral 2.5% b) Font size/colour 2% c) Too much text matter 12% d) Language 0.5% e) Other issues 6% f) No issues 77% DATA FINDINGS ON BRAND TRACKING Cities Visited: Aurangabad, Surat (Bardoli and Amroli), Madhya Pradesh (Khandwa and Harda) and Rajkot (Una, Wankaner and Metoda) Total Number of peopleinterviewed: 200 Data collected is as follows: (The data provided is divided into three sections i.e. in terms of all the data collected, data collected from customers and data collected from non-customers) 1) Banks that the people were aware about are as follows: All data: HDFC bank 26.3% ICICI bank 21.8% State Bank of India 18% Axis bank 15% Other 18.8% Customers: HDFC bank 28.57% ICICI bank 19.72% State Bank of India 16.32% Axis bank 12.92% Other 22.44% Non-customers: HDFC bank 25.60% ICICI bank 22.51% State Bank of India 18.54% Axis bank 15.67% Other 17.66% 2) Public opinion about each bank with regards to the attributes mentioned as follows: a) Trust All data Customers Non-Customers b) Customer friendly staff All data Customers Non-customers c) Speed of services All data Customers Ranks ICICI HDFC SBI AXIS

Brand Awareness Essay

Extent to which a brand is recognized by potential customers, and is correctly associated with a particular product Expressed usually as a percentage of target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of advertising in the early months or years of a product’s introduction.( Noel. K, Francoise. R. 1995), Brand awareness, In general, means the extent to which a brand associated with a particular product is documented by potential and existing customers either positively or negatively. Creation of brand awareness is the primary goal of advertising at the beginning of any product’s life cycle in target markets. In fact, brand awareness has influence on buying behavior of a buyer. (Noel. K, Francoise. R. 1995), Brand awareness can be measured by showing a consumer the brand and asking whether or not they knew of it beforehand. However, in common market research practice a variety of recognition and recall measures of brand awareness are employed all of which test the brand name’s association to a product category cue, this came about because most market research in the 20th Century was conducted by post or telephone, actually showing the brand to consumers usually required more expensive face-to-face interviews (until web-based interviews became possible). (Noel. K, Francoise. R. 1995), this has led many textbooks to conceptualize brand awareness simply as its measures, that is, knowledge that the brand is a member of a particular product category, e.g. soft-drinks. Examples of such measures include: Brand recognition – Either the brand name or both the brand name and category name are presented to respondents. Brand recall – the product category name is given to respondents who are asked to recall as many brands as possible that are members of the category. ï‚ §Top of mind awareness – as above, but only the first brand recalled is recorded (also known as spontaneous brand recall). There has been discussion in industry and practice about the meaning and value of various brand awareness metrics. Recently, an empirical study appeared to put this debate to rest by suggesting that all awareness metrics were systematically related, simply reflecting their difficulty, in the same way that certain questions are more difficult in academic exams (Robert W. P. 1971), Brand recall Brand Recall is the extent to which a brand name is recalled as a member of a brand, product or service class, as distinct from brand recognition. Common market research usage is that pure brand recall requires â€Å"unaided recall†. For example a respondent may be asked to recall the names of any cars he may know, or any whisky brands he may know. Some researchers divide recall into both â€Å"unaided† and â€Å"aided† recall. â€Å"Aided recall† measures the extent to which a brand name is remembered when the actual brand name is prompted. An example of such a question is â€Å"Do you know of the â€Å"Honda† brand?† In terms of brand exposure, companies want to look for high levels of unaided recall in relation to their competitors. The first recalled brand name (often called â€Å"top of mind†) has a distinct competitive advantage in brand space, as it has the first chance of evaluation for purchase. (Jonathan, 1982) Brand Recognition Brand Recognition is the extent to which a brand is recognized for stated brand attributes or communications In some cases brand recognition is defined as aided recall – and as a subset of brand recall. In the case, brand recognition is the extent to which a brand name is recognized when prompted with the actual name. A broader view of brand recognition is the extent to which a brand is recognized within a product class for certain attributes. Logo and tagline testing can be seen as a form of brand recognition testing. For example, if a product name can be associated with a certain tagline, logo or attribute (safety and Volvo; â€Å"Just do it† – Nike) a certain level of brand recognition is present. (Jonathan, 1982) What Does Brand Awareness Mean? The likelihood that consumers recognize the existence and availability of a company’s product or service Creating brand awareness is one of the key steps in promoting a product. Investopedia explains Brand Awareness Brand awareness is an important way of promoting commodity-related products. This is because for these products, there are very few factors that differentiate one product from its competitors. Therefore, the product that maintains the highest brand awareness compared to its competitors will usually get the most sales. For example, in the soft drink industry, very little separates a generic soda from a brand-name soda, in terms of taste. However, consumers are very aware of the brands Pepsi and Coca Cola, in terms of their images and names. This higher rate of brand awareness equates to higher sales and also serves as an economic moat that prevents competitors from gaining more market share. Definition: A gauge of marketing effectiveness measured by the ability of a customer to recognize and/or recall a name, image or other mark associated with a particular brand. Examples: In today’s most competitive atmosphere, it is critical for retailers to maintain and build on their brand awareness, as well as reinforce the value proposition of their market. (Barnard. N, 1997) 7 Ways to Build Brand Awareness To some, branding might not feel like a tangible aspect of running a business. It can’t be seen like a product on the shelf, or counted like a cash drawer at the end of the night. But, branding is the reason people pay three times more for a product at one store over another. (Houston 1992), Good branding is the product of a clear vision, and nobody knows more about vision than small business owners. But, with limited resources, creating a brand identity can be tricky. Fortunately, building brand awareness on the Internet doesn’t need to take a lot of money or resources. Here are seven strategies to build your business brand: Define the vision. Before moving ahead with the web site, create a brand positioning statement. â€Å"This isn’t just, ‘What kind of web site do we want to be?’ This is ‘Who are we?’† says Harley Manning, vice president at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., a technology and market research firm that advises on the effects technology has on consumers and businesses. Good brand statements typically include the company’s mission, vision and values. â€Å"It’s succinct. It’s typically something that will fit on a page easily,† he says. Build a brand worth believing in. â€Å"Do you so believe in what you’re creating that you would trademark it?† says Andrea Fitch, (president and CEO of Red Carpet Creations, Inc., and national president of the Society for Marketing Professional Services, both based out of Alexandria), Va. Really consider what kind of brand could represent the business through the next d ecade. â€Å"Don’t have a logo that in five years you’re going to be tired of and discard for another,† she says. Remember, the web site is the brand. â€Å"A web site is not just a communication medium,† Manning says. â€Å"It is actually a channel that must deliver on the promise.† Essentially, a web site should embody the promise that it makes to customers. If, for instance, a business claims to be innovative, the web site should look fresh and modern. Create a cohesive experience between all mediums. Before she launched her company’s new web site, Fitch made sure it would be an event that her potential clients would never forget. Red Carpet Creations mailed 4,000 silver tubes containing scrolls that looked like rolled-up carpet. Inside the scrolls was an announcement about the web site’s launch. Once online, the web site was an extension of the invitations because it followed through on the themes of red carpet imagery and references to visitors being treated like a VIP. Customers should easily be able to recognize the company’s brand, whether it is print, online or some other form of media, Manning says. Don’t sacrifice creativity. Once the brand’s guidelines are established, creative choices must bring those attributes to life, Manning says. Don’t let the company’s brand become so dominating that there is no room for new thoughts and ideas. Brand should be the jumping-off point for interesting ideas, not the place where every new idea dead-ends. Fitch stresses that a sense of fun and whimsy will only enhance the likelihood that people will take an interest in the web site. Don’t communicate brand at the expense of delivering. While a web site can be a significant tool for building brand awareness, clarity and functionality are paramount. â€Å"Just be careful not to let the communication about your brand get in the way of delivering your message,† Manning says. People should be able to understand how to navigate the site without knowing a thing about the company’s catch phrases. â€Å"You can’t frustrate and annoy people into liking your brand (Houston, 1992), Listen to the customers: They determine a brand’s true value. Pay attention to customer feedback about the site because, ultimately, it’s the customers’ opinion that counts. When it comes to building a brand, a company can incorporate everything from signature colors to catch phrases, but at the end of the day, it’s the consumer who decides what a brand is really worth. â€Å"It’s not what you say [about] yourself, it’s what others say of you, How do consumers make decisions? This question is at the core of much of marketing examination over the past 60 or 70 years. As marketers manipulate the various principles of marketing, so do the consumers they seek to reach-choosing which products and services to buy, and which not to buy, choosing which brands to use, and which brands to ignore. The focus of this paper is to examine the major decision-making mo dels, strategies, and theories that underlie the decision processes used by consumers and to provide some clarity for marketing executives attempting to find the right mix of variables for their products and services. Three Decision-Making Models Early economists, led by Nicholas Bernoulli, John von Neumann, and Oskar Morgenstern, puzzled over this question. Beginning about 300 years ago, Bernoulli developed the first formal explanation of consumer decision making. It was later extended by von Neumann and Morgenstern and called the Utility Theory. This theory proposed that consumers make decisions based on the expected outcomes of their decisions. In this model consumers were viewed as rational actors who were able to estimate the probabilistic outcomes of uncertain decisions and select the outcome which maximized their well-being. However, as one might expect, consumers are typically not completely rational, or consistent, or even aware of the various elements that enter into their decision making. In addition, though consumers are good at estimating relative frequencies of events, they typically have difficulty translating these frequencies into probabilities. This Utility model, even though it had been viewed as the domina nt decision-making paradigm, had serious shortcomings that could not be explained by the model. (Herbert S, 1950) proposed an alternative, simpler model. This model was called Satisficing, in which consumers got approximately where they wanted to go and then stopped the decision-making process. An example of this would be in the search for a new apartment. Under the Utility theory, consumers would evaluate every apartment in a market, form a linear equation based on all the pertinent variables, and then select the apartment that had the highest overall utility score. With Satisficing, however, consumers might just evaluate apartments within a certain distance to their desired location, stopping when they found one that was â€Å"good enough.† This theory, though robust enough to encompass many of the shortcomings of Utility Theory, still left significant room for improvement in the area of prediction. After all, if a marketing executive can’t predict consumer behavior, then what use is a decision-making paradigm? Simon and others have extended this area in the investigation of the field of bounded rationality. Following Simon, additional efforts were made to develop better understandings of consumer decision making, extending beyond the mathematical optimization of Utility Theory and the somewhat unsatisfying Satisficing Theory. In the late 1970s, two leading psychologists, Daniel. K and Amos. T, developed Prospect Theory, which expanded upon both Utility Theory and Satisficing Theory to develop a new theory that encompassed the best aspects of each, while solving many of the problems that each presented. Two major elements that were added by Kahneman and Tversky were the concepts of value (replacing the utility found in Utility Theory) and endowment, in which an item is more precious if one owns it than if someone else, owns it. Value provided a reference point and evaluated both gains and losses from that reference point. Additionally, gains and losses have a marginally decreasing increase from the reference point. For example, there is a much greater value for the first incremental gain from the reference point than for subsequent gains.

Parliamentary Ombudsman Essay

The Ombudsman deals with issues that had resulted in questions in Parliament. The Ombudsman is the custodian of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. Schedule 2 of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, requires of certain institutions to assist the Ombudsman in disclosing information on request. However there are fifteen exemptions that regulate the release of the information under this Code (Ministerial Accountability And Parliamentary Questions).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ombudsman investigates complaints from Members of Parliament that certain information that had been withheld as per the requirements of the Code, was to be revealed. The office of the Ombudsman has to deal with important papers and take decisions by exercising proper judgment. The office of the Ombudsman attempts to resolve complaints before any official action is initiated with regard to them, as such the work of the Ombudsman is informal or unofficial. There are certain restrictions that prevent the active participation of the Ombudsman. In 2005, it was declared that the Information Commissioner was to be bound by the provision of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and should act within the scope of those provisions. Another drawback is that several departments do not cooperate with the office of the Ombudsman and depict reluctance to accept its recommendations. There was an absence of cooperation between the office of the Ombudsman and other departments in resolving complaints. Furthermore, changes in the activities and role of the Ombudsman are subject to legislation (Ministerial Accountability And Parliamentary Questions).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 sets out the job description, powers and responsibilities of the Commissioner. The institution of the Ombudsman is autonomous and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  neither reports to the government nor is it a public servant. The Queen on the endorsement of Letters Patent appoints the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s responsibility is to inquire into complaints referred by members of the public in the event of their having sustained loss or injustice due to maladministration by the government departments or other public agencies. These complaints have to be forwarded by a Member of Parliament. The complainants have to   first lodge their complaints with the concerned department and facilitate the concerned officials to act on the complaint before its transmission to some other agency. Not all matters are dealt with by the Ombudsman, because certain complaints are more appropriately redressed by an appeal to a tribunal or by filing a case in a court of law. Many departments can decide on the basis of their discretionary powers. For instance the Legal Aid Board and the Planning Inspectorate are empowered to take independent decisions. If it can be established that a discretionary decision entailed maladministration, then the Ombudsman can intervene and question such acts of maladministration. The Ombudsman can also investigate administrative decisions taken on behalf of courts and tribunals but not the decisions taken directly by courts and tribunals (Parry, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The rulings of the Ombudsman are subject to judicial review as in the case of ministerial decisions. In 1994, a court affirmed this important fact in a case. Under the judicial review, it is ascertained if the application of the legislative provisions had been done correctly, while taking a decision. However, the decisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner are rarely subjected to the judicial review process. In April 2004, the High Court rejected a judicial review petition of the representatives of the Equitable Members Action Group, who were contesting the decision taken by the Ombudsman with regard to the regulation of Equitable Life (Parry, 2004). The Ombudsman does not act as courts or tribunals. The Ombudsman’s duty is not to mediate or negotiate as in the case of alternative dispute resolutions. Although the Ombudsman is a distinctive platform for taking important decisions, it is not an alternative in the process of decision making. In R v Secretary of State for Pensions, on behalf of Bradley and others, judicial review was sought due to the refusal of the authorities to provide information relating to pension schemes. In that case, Justice Bean opined that the Ombudsman exercises very wide discretion under which the Ombudsman can permit a public adversarial hearing in order to educe facts. However such discretionary power of the Parliamentary Ombudsman or the Local Government Ombudsman is subject to Parliament discretion (R v Secretary of State for Pensions, on behalf of Bradley and others, 2007).   In the event of the occurrence of maladministration or failure to provide service the Ombudsman intervenes and decides the further course of action to be undertaken for effecting redressal. Despite the fact that the decisions of the Ombudsman are final, the courts can initiate a judicial review on these decisions (Principles of Good Administration).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Ombudsman comes to the rescue of individuals in order to provide redressal of their complaints against the activities of the government agencies’ activities and other entities. Several types of Ombudsmen are established by legislation. The foremost amongst them is the Parliamentary Commissioner.   There are other authorities who act as ombudsmen such as the Health Service Commissioners who deal with complaints lodged against the Health Service and the Local Commissioners or Local Government Ombudsmen who investigate complaints against local authorities. They resolve complaints by making the necessary recommendations to the departments against whom the complaints had been lodged. They can make public recommendations but they do not possess the power to enforce such recommendations. The Parliamentary Commissioner inquires only into complaints, which are lodged by a Member of Parliament. The general public can approach the Local Government Ombudsmen directly or through a local representative. Individuals are initially required to bring their complaints to a Councillor or an MP. Subsequently, if no action is initiated or if the action initiated is unsatisfactory then the complaint is forwarded to the Ombudsman (Ombudsman, 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the responsibility of the Members of Parliament to ensure that the general public has access to relevant authorities, in order to secure redress for maladministration or poor service. However, if they fail to get satisfactory redress or action from those mechanisms then they can approach the Ombudsmen (The Ombudsman – who are her customers?).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ombudsmen can resolve most of the complaints received by them. Efforts have been undertaken in the United Kingdom to attain a general cooperation among several Ombudsmen. There are certain barriers to this laudable objective. Some Ombudsmen are affiliated to the outdated legislative framework, their actions are subject to legislation and there is no direct access. The MPs have to forward complaints to the Ombudsmen if problems arise with public servants. Hence, the citizens need to have direct access to the office of Ombudsmen. There are a number of problems in reforming institutional aspects, in the context of the devolution and decentralization of powers. In the present scenario of multi agency service provision, a coherent complaint handling procedure is urgently needed (The Ombudsman – who are her customers?).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to eliminate potential restraints, there should be a Cabinet Office review of the activities and responsibilities of public sector ombudsmen. There should be institutional reform and the legislative framework should be modified to suit modern day challenges with regard to the operational scope of the Ombudsman (The Ombudsman – who are her customers?).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee or the PACS had acrimoniously criticised several departments for maladministration and inefficiency. Some of these departments were the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, the Child Support Agency and the Legal Services Commission. In its report, based on the findings of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the PACS pointed out a number of shortcomings in government bodies. The report criticised the obsolete IT systems of these departments, their failure and unanticipated delays in responding to questions relating to the Hinduja brothers’ case and the queries raised by the Member of Parliament, Peter Mandelson (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The PACS pointed out the failures of administration, departmental apathy and the negative influence of political parties on the administrative process. It also exhorted the Government to respond to the report and initiate immediate action (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Home Office was also criticised for its reluctant and indifferent behaviour towards the Code on Access to Government Information. The Home Office had failed to carry out a decision of the Ombudsman when the latter ruled that the former had to reveal information regarding the number of times Ministers had declared their interests. This was the first time that a government department had refused to comply with the Ombudsman’s ruling. The PACS considered this to be a dangerous development. The Committee criticised the then Cabinet Secretary for failing to disclose the information on the specious claim that it was beyond the purview of the Ombudsman (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Home Office was further criticised for its indifferent response to the Ombudsman’s inquiries and his request for papers that relate to the case of the Hinduja brothers and Peter Mandelson MP. There were several repeated failures to reply to the Ombudsman’s letters coupled with extraordinary delays and the supply of incorrect and unrelated files to the Ombudsman Office. As such, it could be construed as a conspiracy to withhold the called for information and constituted an administrative failure in the Home Office. The PACS had recommended to the Government that it should immediately initiate action to correct such maladministration and to reform the entire Ombudsman system (Public Administration Select Committee).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The number of complaints with regard to tax credits, to the Parliamentary Ombudsman is gradually increasing. Nearly twenty – six percent of the total complaints pertain to tax credits. They fall under three categories, namely, the design of the system, mishandling and failures in handling complaints and unjust recovery of overpayments (Ombudsman says that HMRC is in danger of Getting it Wrong on Tax Credits, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The designing part of the system is a process which Parliament and the government have to consider. The principles of the annualised system are difficult to comprehend by the individuals. Under the present system, overpayments and underpayments are inevitable and take place despite the best possible administration. This leads to the dissatisfaction among individuals and gives rise to several complaints. Such dissatisfaction and distress are often experienced by the low income group families, who are required to return the debts unexpectedly. In some cases, they may be required to repay the debt after a long period of time had elapsed (Ombudsman says that HMRC is in danger of Getting it Wrong on Tax Credits, 2007).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The British Constitution had provided an important position to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. The fundamental role of the Ombudsman is to provide efficient and productive redress to the complainants against acts of maladministration by the government bodies. In achieving this efficient alternative redress provider status, the Parliamentary Ombudsman requires mutual cooperation between several departments and the office of the Ombudsman. However, the reality is otherwise and resistance and apathy are exhibited by several governments department, while responding to the inquiries of the office of the Ombudsman. For instance, during the period 2005 to 2006 the Parliamentary Ombudsman was compelled to submit a special report when the findings of the Ombudsmen were rejected by several government departments (Kirkhamn, Sep2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Parliamentary Ombudsman submitted a special report with regard to the investigation in to the proceedings of the ex gratia schemes for the British groups engaged by the Japanese during the World War II. The Special Report was submitted to the Parliament under section 10(3) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967. This report discussed the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s powers and their legal aspects in quite some detail. It also discussed the functions of the ombudsman and its powers in interpreting the inquiry process. It also focussed on the power of ombudsman to investigate acts of maladministration by government bodies. In one particular instance, the Ministry of Defence had challenged the authority of the ombudsman in investigating claims of maladministration against it and held that this constitute trespass into its authority. This Ministry contended that such a prerogative was solely the province of the courts and not that of the ombudsman (Kirkhamn, Sep2006).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This Special Report clearly established the authority of the government bodies and public authorities and the extent to which the ombudsman could conduct investigations into their alleged acts of maladministration. The conclusion to be reached from these developments is that the parliamentary ombudsman has become more or less redundant and does not serve any useful purpose. Moreover, this body cannot compel any government department to comply with its decisions (Kirkhamn, Sep2006). Another drawback with the ombudsman system is that the person, who lodges a complaint, has to wait for a considerable period of time, prior to any decision being taken with regard to the complaint. A number of cases were observed to have been abandoned by the complainants due to this inordinate delay. In comparison, the judicial process is much faster. Moreover, the ombudsman system cannot compel the government bodies to accept its decision. On an average, the time taken to take a decision by the ombudsman, in respect of a complaint, was around two years (Caplan, 2006. P. 203). References Caplan, R. (2006. P. 203). International Governance of War – Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction. Oxford University Press. Kirkhamn, R. (Sep2006). Challenging the Authority of the Ombudsman: The Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Special Report onWartime Detainees. Modern Law Review , Vol. 69 Issue 5, p792-818, 27p; DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2230.2006.00610.x; (AN 21979909). Ministerial Accountability And Parliamentary Questions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmpubadm/1086/108603.htm Ombudsman. (2004). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from In Dictionary of Politics and Government: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6505736 Ombudsman says that HMRC is in danger of Getting it Wrong on Tax Credits. (2007, June). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from Press release: http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/news/press_releases/pr2007_06.html Parry, K. (2004, June 8). Ombudsman decisions: right of appeal. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from Parliament & Constitution Centre Standard Note: SN/PC/3079: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-03079.pdf Principles of Good Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2007, from http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/pdfs/pga.pdf Public Administration Select Committee. (n.d.). Pasc Attacks â€Å"Disturbing† Evidence Of Government Administrative Failure. Retrieved November 25, 2007, from Session 2002-03. Press Notice No.8: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/public_administration_select_committee/pasc_pn_8.cfm R v Secretary of State for Pensions, on behalf of Bradley and others, (2007) EWHC 242 Admin (2007). The Ombudsman – who are her customers? (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http://www.bioa.org.uk/otherinfo/AnnAbraham-LakemanLecture.pdf   

Analysing Business And Islam Ethics Religion Essay Example

Analysing Business And Islam Ethics Religion Essay Example Analysing Business And Islam Ethics Religion Essay Analysing Business And Islam Ethics Religion Essay In Islam, the difference between moralss and jurisprudence is really narrow. There is a considerable convergence between the same. The Prophet Muhammad gave a discourse on the twenty-four hours of the last pilgrims journey which outlines some of the basic Islamic rules. Some parts of the discourse are reproduced here: O People, impart me an attentive ear, for I know non whether after this twelvemonth, I shall of all time be amongst you once more. Therefore listen to what I am stating to you really carefully and Take THESE WORDS TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.O People, merely as you regard this month, this twenty-four hours, this metropolis as Sacred, so see the life and belongings of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful proprietors. Hurt no 1 so that no 1 may ache you. Remember that you will so run into your LORD, and that HE will so think your workss. ALLAH has forbidden you to take vigorish ( involvement ) , hence all involvement duty shall henceforward be waived. Your capital, nevertheless, is yours to maintain. You will neither inflict nor suffer any unfairness. Allah has Judged that there shall be no involvement and that all the involvement due to Abbas ibn Abdal Muttalib ( Prophet s uncle ) shall henceforward be waived ISLAM AND BUSINESS ETHICS: A Freedom of Enterprise Islam gives complete freedom to economic endeavor. Each person in an Islamic society enjoys complete freedom in the earning of his support. He can get down, manage and form any sort of concern endeavor within the bounds set by the Islamic Shariah. However, freedom does non and must non run without a sense of duty. An person is free to prosecute his economic activities provided he respects the codification of behavior prescribed for the profession, which loosely means choosing things lawful and eschewing affairs improper. The dictates of the Holy Quran and the instructions of the Prophet ( southwest ) service to put a graduated table in everybody s head to separate between the lawful and the improper agencies of earning, and to forbid or disapprove of all things that are either morally incorrect or socially unacceptable. Islam, as a affair of rule, prohibits all activities which may do injury either to the bargainers or the consumers in the market. It encourages the prevalence of free market where everyone earns his nutriment without authorities intercession. However, it puts certain restraints in order to extinguish the incidence of unfairness and look into malpractices and improper operations Islamic Tenets Concerning Business TransactionsA Islam demands a certain type of behavior from the economic agents the consumers and the manufacturers. The behavior prescribed for the economic units of the society are so devised as to take to a happy province of personal businesss, which is the ultimate end of Islam. An Muslim market is characterized by certain norms that take attention of the involvements of both the purchaser and the marketer. There are a figure of regulations of ethical subject in Islamic commercial minutess without which concern contract would be regarded as missing flawlessness in the visible radiation of the codification of good manners, decency and ethical excellence. Some of these dogmas are as follows: A Keenness to Gain Legitimate ( Halal ) Net incomes Islam places great accent on the codification of lawful and improper in concern minutess. Many Quranic poetries disapprove the unlawful pickings of the belongings. Says the Holy Quran: A Do non devour one another s belongings wrongfully, nor throw it before the Judgess in order to devour a part of other s belongings sinfully and wittingly. ( 2:188 ) A Do non devour another s belongings wrongfully unless it be by trade based on common consent. ( 4:29 ) A The Prophet ( southwest ) endorsed the importance of legitimate ways of gaining in the undermentioned words: A Asked what signifier of addition is the best? [ the Prophet ] said, A adult male s work with his custodies, and every legitimate sale . ( Ahmad, No: 1576 ) A A Thingss legitimate and bastard are clearly defined in Islam A tradition of the Prophet ( southwest ) provinces: A A A clip will come upon the people when one will non care as to how he gets his money whether lawfully or illicitly. ( Bukhari, No: 1941 ) A Foremost among the unacceptable concern patterns strongly condemned in Islam is Riba. Riba ( involvement ) , by definition, is the excess amount the usurer charges from the borrower for deferred payment. Islam has forbidden all signifiers of Riba since it involves both subjugation and development. The Holy Quran says: A A Allah has permitted trading and out Riba ( vigorish ) . ( 2:275 ) A Devour non Riba doubled and re-doubled. ( 3:130 ) A O you who believe! fright Allah and give up what remains of your demand for usury if you are so trusters. If you do it non, take notice of war from Allah and his Apostle: but if you turn back you shall hold your capital amounts ; cover non unjustly and you shall non be dealt with unjustly. ( 2:278 ) A The Sunnah is every bit emphasized in denouncing Riba.A The Prophet ( southwest ) is reported to hold said: A May Allah direct down His expletive on the 1 who devours Riba and the 1 who pays it and on the two informants and on the individual composing it. ( Ahmad, No: 624 ) A Harmonizing to the Quranic instructions there is a clear differentiation between echt concern net incomes and involvement ; while the former is recommended and desirable, the latter is hated and undesirable.A A Trade through Mutual Consent Common consent between the parties is a necessary status for the cogency of a concern dealing. It, hence, follows that a sale under coercion is non acceptable in Islam. A sale dealing is to be regarded as legal merely if it is made through the common consent of the parties concerned. Taking advantage of person s predicament and bear downing high monetary value is besides a signifier of monetary development and as such forbidden in Islam. The Holy Quran says: A O you who believe! eat non up your belongings among yourselves in amour propres: but allow at that place be amongst you traffic and trade by common good will: nor kill [ or destruct ] yourselves: for verily Allah has been to you Most Merciful. ( 4:29 ) A sale is a sale merely if it is made through common consent. ( Ibn Majah, No: 2176 ) A Truthfulness in Business Minutess Islam encourages truthfulness in concern minutess and raises the position of a true merchandiser. The true merchandiser [ is rewarded by being ranked ] on the Day of Resurrection with Prophetss, veracious psyches, sufferer and pious people. ( Tirmidhi, No: 1130 ) The marketer and the purchaser have the right to maintain or return the goods every bit long as they have non parted or till they portion ; and if both the parties spoke the truth and described the defects and qualities [ of the goods ] , so they would be blessed in their dealing, and if they told prevarications or hid something, so the approvals of their dealing would be lost. ( Bukhari, No: 1937 ) A A Trustworthiness in Business Minutess The sense of common trust demands that the pros and cons of trade good be revealed to the purchaser so that he purchases the trade good in full satisfaction. Says the Holy Quran: A O you trusters! Do non bewray Allah and the Messenger, nor wittingly, bewray your trusts. ( 8:27 ) A Generosity and Leniency in Business Minutess One should be indulgent and generous in bargaining. The Prophet ( southwest ) invokes Allah s clemency therefore: A May Allah s clemency be on him who is lenient in his purchasing, merchandising, and in demanding back his money [ or debts. ( Bukhari, No: 1934 ) A A Honoring and carry throughing Business Duties Islam attaches great importance to the fulfillment of contract and promises. Islamic instructions require a Muslim bargainer to maintain up his trusts, promises and contracts. The basic rules of truth, honestness, unity and trust are involved in all concern traffics. O you who believe! Fulfil [ your ] duties. ( 5:1 ) A The Muslims are bound by their judicial admissions. ( Abu Daud, No: 3120 ) A A In order to safeguard the involvement of both the purchaser and the marketer it is desirable, harmonizing to the Islamic instructions, to clearly specify all the necessary inside informations refering the concern trade. Each concern contract should clearly stipulate the quality, the measure and the monetary value of the trade good in inquiry. Therefore, in a concern contract the offer and credence should be made between the parties concerned on a trade good which is with the purchaser and, which he is able to present. A Fair Treatment of Workers Islam puts certain conditions and limitations to rid of the opportunities of resentment between the employer and employees. A Those are your brothers [ workers under you ] who are around you, Allah has placed them under you. So, if anyone of you has person under him, he should feed him out of what he himself eats, clothe him like what he himself puts on, and allow him non put so much load on him that he is non able to bear, [ and if that be the instance ] , so impart your aid to him. ( Bukhari, No: 2359 ) A A I will be foe to three individuals on the Last Day: one of them being the 1 who, when he employs a individual that has accomplished his responsibility, does non give him his due. ( Bukhari, No: 2109 ) A The rewards of the laborers must be paid to him before the perspiration dries upon his organic structure. ( Ibn Majah, No: 2434 ) A Prohibited Matters in Business TransactionsA Another facet of concern moralss is the assorted signifiers of unethical concern patterns a Muslim man of affairs must avoid in his concern traffics. Some of these prohibited and unwanted concern patterns are as follows: A Covering in Prohibited ( Haram ) Items Covering in improper points such as carrion ( dead meat ) , hogs and graven images is strongly prohibited in Islam. Dead meat would intend the flesh of any bird or carnal dead from natural causes, without being decently slaughtered in an Muslim manner. Likewise, trading in porc or alcohols and sale of graven images and statues is non permitted in Islam. A A A Allah and His Messenger made illegal the trade of alcoholic spiritss, dead animate beings, hogs and graven images. ( Bukhari, No: 2082 ) A A A Sale of Al-Gharar ( Uncertainty, Risks, Speculation ) In Islamic this refers to the sale of a trade good or good which is non present at manus ; or the sale of an article or good, the effects or result of which is non yet known ; or a sale affecting hazards or jeopardies where 1 does non cognize whether at all the trade good will later come into being. Such a sale is purely prohibited in Islam because the quality, whether good or bad, is non known to the purchaser at the clip. Randomly Repairing the Monetary values Islam grants absolute freedom to bargainers provided they adhere to the codification of lawfulness. It does non, hence, promote the pattern of price-fixing and leaves the bargainers to gain the net incomes from each other within the lawful bounds. O Messenger of Allah! Monetary values have shot up, so repair them for us. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah said: Allah is the One Who fixes monetary values, withholds, gives extravagantly, and provides, and I hope that when I meet Allah, none of you will hold any claim on me for an unfairness sing blood or belongings. ( Tirmidhi, No: 1235 ) A A Hoarding of Foodstuff The Arabic word for billboard is Ihtikar. It means storing groceries or keep backing them in outlook of rise in their monetary values. Sometimes, a smattering of bargainers runing in the market purchase the full measure of an point, rice for illustration, and shop it up with the object of selling it subsequently at the clip of scarceness to pull maximal net income out of it and to order the monetary values. The consumers are left with no pick but to buy the article concerned from the 1 who hoards, as he is the lone 1 in the market who holds it. Sometimes, a bargainer hobnobs with the providers who will merely sell their ware to him. As a consequence, he holds the full stock of the indispensable points that other bargainers do non possess. He is, hence, in a place to order his footings in the market and sell them at an extortionately high monetary value to the needy people.A No 1 caches but the treasonists ( i.e. the evildoers ) . ( Abu Daud, No. 2990 ) A A The importer [ of an indispensable trade good ] into the town will be fed [ by Allah ] , and the hoarder will hold [ Allah s ] expletive upon him. ( Ibn Majah, No: 2144 ) A Exploitation of one s Ignorance of Market Conditions It is similar moving as the in-between adult male, taking advantage of people understanding of the market to derive maximal net income for yourself. The Prophet ( southwest ) has prohibited this pattern through a figure of instructions. A tradition reads: A A A town inhabitant should non sell the goods of a desert inhabitant. ( Bukhari, No: 2006 ) A Al-Najsh ( Trickery ) The term Al-Najsh means an action in which a individual offers a high monetary value for something, without meaning to purchase it, but merely to rip off or victimize another individual who truly means to purchase it. The individual rehearsing it may join forces with the marketer to offer high monetary values in forepart of the purchasers simply as a agency to rip off them. This type of deceitful dealing is wholly prohibited in Islam. The Prophet ( southwest ) is reported to hold said: A Do non harbor enviousness against one another ; make non outbid one another [ with a position to raising the monetary value ] ; make non bear antipathy against one another ; make non bear hostility against one another ; one of you should non come in into a dealing when the other has already entered into it ; and be fellow brothers and true retainers of Allah. ( Muslim, No: 4650 ) A Islam forbids person to offer a higher monetary value for a trade good after the trade has been accomplished between the parties. Obviously he is offering a higher monetary value in order to botch the understanding reached between the parties. As a consequence of this offer the purchaser may experience tempted to call off his contract to sell it at a higher monetary value. It may give rise to differences and dissensions between brothers. Hence it is purely prohibited in Islam. A Cheating and Fraud in Business Minutess The bargainers and business communities by and large have a inclination to actuate the clients by following deceitful concern patterns. Islam strongly condemns all such patterns in concern minutess ( Al-Ghashsh ) . The Messenger of Allah has commanded the trusters non to indulge in cheating and deceitful patterns in concern minutess. Sale of dead animate being, doubtful and obscure minutess, pull stringsing the monetary values, selling the points belonging to a desert inhabitant by a townsman Al-Najsh ( hocus-pocus ) , false eulogium and privacy of defects are all illustrations of cheating and fraud i.e. Al-Gashsh. The Prophet ( southwest ) has strongly condemned all such patterns in a figure of traditions and the truster to abstain from them. A The marketer and the purchaser have the right to maintain the goods or return them every bit long as they have non parted. He besides said that if both the parties have spoken the truth and described the defects every bit good as the virtues thereof ( the goods ) , they would be blessed in their trade. If they have told prevarications or concealed something, so approvals of their dealing would be lost. ( Bukhari, No: 1937 ) A A Cursing The bargainers frequently take resorts to cursing to stress that their points are of good quality. They claim qualities in the ware, which do nt be. They try to carry the purchasers to buy their trade good by raising Allah s name. Cursing in concern for such intents is out in Islam, be it false or true. A Cursing [ by the marketer ] may carry the client to buy the goods but the trade will be deprived of Allah s approval. ( Bukhari, No: 1945 ) A Giving Short Measures Another signifier of fraudulence is to pull strings weights and steps. It refers to the act of taking full steps from others and giving them short steps in your bend. Giving short steps was a common unease blighting the pre-Islamic yearss. The community of the Prophet Shuayb ( southwest ) was known for rehearsing it with impunity.. One of the poetries says: And O my people! give merely step and weight, nor withhold from the people the things that are their due: commit non evil in the land with purpose to make mischievousness. ( Hud 11:84-88 ) A A Covering in Stolen Goods Almighty Allah has declared thievery improper and warned of terrible penalty such as cutting the manus of the stealer from the carpus articulation if the necessary legal conditions for the award of penalty are met. Even if the stealer escapes worldly punishment and gets off with stolen goods, it is non allowable for a Muslim to knowingly purchase or sell these points. The stolen points are neither to be bought nor sold by those who know the world. : A The 1 who knowingly purchases a stolen good, is a spouse to the act of wickedness and the shame. A Decision In modern times concern moralss has become a major subject of treatment among concern communities and other related organisations. Each and every society has evolved ethical and moral codifications of behavior for concern minutess. However, the Western secular ethical values are by and big supposed to be useful, comparative, situational and devoid of any religious sanctioning power. The Islamic ethical codifications, on the contrary, are humane instead than useful or comparative. They are good for all times and absolute and do nt acquire old as believed by people. Encyclopedia Britannica comments about Umar: The stating with which he began his reign will neer turn antiquated: By God, he that is weakest among you shall be in my oculus the strongest, until I have vindicated for him his rights ; he that is strongest I will handle as the weakest, until he complies with the jurisprudence . It would be impossible to give a better general definition of the map of the State. Ethical and moral codifications in Islam are portion of the overall Islamic religion and detecting them will non merely take to a happy province of personal businesss in this universe but besides holds the promise of multiplex returns in the Hereafter. Islamic ethical and moral codifications therefore create a sense of duty and answerability in the heads of the trusters, be they purchasers or Sellerss. Our attempt been to show the Islamic position refering concern moralss. As we saw, the ethical codification of Islam is multidimensional, far making and comprehensive. Islamic ethical model is repeatedly stressed throughout the Holy Quran, and the instructions of the Prophet and embrace all domains of life including concern fiscal traffics and duties. The cardinal codifications of moral behaviors such as truthfulness, trustiness, generousness and lenience, attachment to concern committednesss and contracts, just intervention of workers, turning away of evil patterns ( such as fraud, cheating, fraudulence, billboard of grocery, developments, giving short steps etc. ) provide, to a big extent, the general background of Islamic concern moralss. A BIBLOGRAPHY Book Lectures on Ethical motives, Dr. Sabahuddin Azmi, Ph. D. ( Economics ) , Lecturer, College of Islamic Banking, World Al-Lootah University ( Internet ) , Dubai.A Islamic Business Ethics, Rafiq Issa Bekun. Web sites: www.islamonline.net makkah.wordpress.com/ /some-key-business-ethics-principles-in-islam www.islamicperspective.net/Pictures/Essay % 20File/a6s2s2.pdf

Cynodictis - Facts and Figures

Cynodictis - Facts and Figures Name: Cynodictis (Greek for in-between dog); pronounced SIGH-no-DIK-tiss Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Epoch: Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (37-28 million years ago) Size and Weight: About two feet long and 5-10 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Long, narrow muzzle; low-slung body    About Cynodictis As has happened with so many other once-obscure prehistoric animals, Cynodictis owes its current popularity to its cameo appearances on the BBC series Walking with Beasts: in one episode, this early carnivore was shown chasing away a juvenile Indricotherium, and in another, it was a quick snack for a passing Ambulocetus (not a very convincing scenario, since this walking whale wasnt much bigger than its presumed prey!) Until recently, it was widely believed that Cynodictis was the first true canid, and thus lay at the root of 30 million years of dog evolution. Today, though, its relationship to modern dogs is more dubious: Cynodictis seems to have been a close relative of Amphicyon (better known as the Bear Dog), a type of carnivore that succeeded the giant creodonts of the Eocene epoch. Whatever its ultimate classification, Cynodictis certainly behaved like a proto-dog, chasing down small, furry prey on the boundless plains of North America (and possibly digging them out of shallow burrows as well).

Computer literacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Computer literacy - Essay Example These make of computers are expensive and mainly used for specific operations and applications that need huge amount of information and calculations. They are used in weather forecasting among many other places where supercomputers are needed such as nuclear energy research, geological data analysis, and electronic design. Mainframe computers- it is a powerful computer used by several users thus referred to as a multi-user computer. These computers got their names after the small â€Å"minicomputers† emerged in the early 1970s. Today, the mainframe computers are very large. They are very expensive since they can support several hundreds of users at the same time. In different ways, it can be said that mainframe computers exhibit superior characteristics compared to supercomputers since they can support several programs simultaneously. On the other hand, supercomputers have the advantage of executing single programs at a faster rate compared to mainframe computers. Minicomputers- these are midsize computers used for applications. Their main uses includes engineering, desktop publishing, development of software and many other applications that needs moderate amount of power to compute. Personal computers-they first came to existence in 1970s. They are small, inexpensive and designed to be used by individual users. The first types of personal computers to come to the market were the Apple II. Personal computers are categorized depending on size and chassis. The chassis is also referred to as the metal frame, which serves as the structural support for electronic components. Personal computers evolved to a point where small portable computers came to being. There are different types of personal computers including Tower model-in this computer, the mass storage, motherboard and the power supply are on top of one another in a cabinet. This is opposite of what exists in the desktop models where these computer components are in a compact set of box. Tower

Paper of fact how the death penalty costs more than life in prison Essay

Paper of fact how the death penalty costs more than life in prison - Essay Example Thre had been 550 executions carried out since the reinstitution of the death penalty (Radelet and Borg 43). The death penalty is considered to be a method of deterrence, the primary reason for the argument for the death penalty in the 1970s centered on this debate. However, this has been denounced as a viable excuse for the death penalty as it is rarely considered as part of the cost/benefit internal discussion of an offender during the commission of a crime that would warrant a death penalty verdict. According to Radelet and Akers, as related in Radelet and Borg, â€Å" in a recent survey of current and former presidents of three professional associations of criminologists (the American Society of Criminology, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Law and Society Association), 85% of the experts agreed that the empirical research on deterrence has shown that the death penalty never has been, is not, and never could be superior to long prison sentences as a deterrent to criminal violence† (45). Therefore, deterrence is not a viable argument for the death penalty. The second argument for the death penalty is incapacitation. ... life in prison went on to commit a murder later on, and ironically, this figure turned out to be the same percentage of those 630 offenders who were discovered to be innocent of the crimes for which they had been originally sentenced to death (46). One way in which the death penalty provides context is in consideration of the nature of law and race relations. The statistics show that since the new laws have been put into place, the death penalty is far more likely to be put into place by an average of three to four times more often when the victim is white. There is a less bias when the offender is concerned, but more often it is within the racial nature of the victim (Radelet and Borg 48). The nature of law, unfortunately, has shown that race is a defining factor in the treatment of an offender, whether it be through their own race or through that of their victim. Because law is subjectively applied, race has an effect in the decisions of the judicial branch of government. In additi on, it has been very rare that anyone of any means has been sentenced to death, making the death sentence relative to the poverty of the offender (Geraghty 209). However, the best argument that has come into existence, one that covers a vast number of issues in regard to the use of the death penalty as a punitive measure, is that concerning the financial costs of the issue. One of the reasons that is often given, by a factor of 11%, in support of the death penalty is because there is a belief that a death sentence is cheaper than supporting a life sentence of incarceration. However, the estimates in 1988 for the overall costs of an execution were 3.2 million, with it costing a mere 600,000 for life in prison (Radelet and Borg 50). While these figures are more than likely very different 20