Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Leadership concept
Nurses are self directed and can solve even the most complex problems with proper leadership and commitment in their practice. It is important for a nurse to work in a cohesive and strong nursing team, as this result in to an effective delivery of client care. In building this empowered nursing team, it is all attributed to the nurse executive. A nurse executive often holds the title of the vice president or is the director. The executiveââ¬â¢s position within an organization is critical in uniting the strategic direction of the organization with the philosophical values and goals of nursing. The nurse executive is a clinical leader and business leader in organization, the person responsible and concerned with maximizing quality care and cost effectiveness. The most important responsibility of the nurse executive is to establish a vision for nursing the lays groundwork which enables the managers and staff to provide quality care. This forms the essence and value of the nursing care and is the foundation of quality practiced nursing administration. It is important for the nurse executive, as leader to expand his or her role from collaboration, coaching, monitoring, communicating, coordinating and coinciding with the staffs and other related health care providers. A nurse executive must serve as the role model that exemplifies the mission and vision of the organization. It is important that the values are diversified and promoted by the nurse executive in order to have a culturally competitive group of health care workers. As a leader, is open to change that would help innovate the staffs and promote creativity which will improve the quality of care they are providing. It is important that she or he demonstrates a sound judgment regarding the decisions and regulation that is formulated in the administration, these should be within the scope of the staffs and as well as coincide to the patients. It is important that as a leader he or she would be able to facilitate the designed delivery of care that is suited with the needs of the patient. The nurse leader should be able to make a strong connection with the group in order to unit the group with one aim: to provide the best quality care to patient in line with the cost effectiveness that is inline with treatment. It is important that the nurse executive delegate the tasks appropriately to the staff in order for them to function accordingly. In most cases, failed relationship with the nurse executive and the staff is one of the reasons why health care services are unmanageable. It is important that the nurse executive and the nurse manager to support each other in order to establish the necessary management structure that would help in attaining the organizational goals and provide the appropriate support to the care delivery staff. Within this created connection of the executives, staffs and members of the health groups it would create an environment that nursing practice would thrive. Involvement of staff is beneficial because with the participation of each member it would help incorporate the knowledge and skills into one. This relationship that is formed within the structure of the nursing administration is important because it is the one that determines the roleââ¬â¢s and task of the members. Some tasks are carried out personally by the nurse executive but it is important that she is still able to delegate tasks to its member. The leader should be able to interact. Through this interaction, relationships are built and this would be dependent on the tasks that will be formulated by the role holder. This relationship building is the foundation of trust on the members of the organization which is beneficial in carrying out the tasks needed. Each member of the health organization should be entitled to give their perceptions and understanding regarding the current health administration and in turn as the nurse executive she or he should be able to accumulate this and present a substantial form of management. Rosemarie Rizzo Parseââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"human becoming theoryâ⬠abides with three themes: meaning, rhythmicity, and transcendence. The first theme is ââ¬Å"meaningâ⬠which means that people participate in creating something if it is real for them through their self expression and the values that they have. As a nurse executive, she or he must be able to consider the values and individual perceptions of the members of the team. With this she would be able to understand them and in turn would be able to recognize the needs and improvements. The culture and climate is often the key to how the members will be able to act accordingly. The culture is the routines, rules and how they do things that have been past on by the past and former leaders. The climate on the other hand is the perceptions and behavior of the members. This influences individual and team motivation that is why it is important that the nurse executive to do things according to the values attributes, skills and priorities which would also consider the ethical rights. It is important that the behavior of the leader is well founded with this so she would be able to have her staffs involvement and they in turn with participate to what she asks them to do. The second theme is ââ¬Å"rhythmicityâ⬠which means that the self can limit or set the opportunity that emerges which can either be a way of moving or being apart from others. The nurse executive should know when or which opportunity to grab. These opportunities should be with the scope of its members and should also be within the patients needs. The concern should be base on the people in which he or she is in control of. The nurse executive cannot have a one way approach of addressing the needs of the administration because it may not coincide with the needs and understanding of the staffs, it is better that they are both able to acknowledge their concerning by having two way system. The executive listen to the ideas of the members as the members do the same with regards to the ideas of the executive. The third theme is ââ¬Å"transcendenceâ⬠which means that one must be able to cope up with the changes that are on going and would be able to stand out in it. A nurse executive should be open to change and is open for improvements whether it is regarding the attitudes and behavior or the organizational structure of the administration. She or he as well should be open for this change because in order for her to be an effective leader the change should start from her in order for her members to that too. Decentralized management is the type of structure that enables the nurse executive to have a greater collaborative effort, increased competency of the staff and ultimately a greater sense of professional accomplishment and satisfaction. The decision making is move by the nurse executive to the manager going to the staff. It is important that as a nurse executive she or he would be able to voice out the concern of his or her member in order to have a centralized decision making. The nursing administration is very much dependent on the roles of this nurses that is why the role of the nurse as an advocate is important in order to motivate the staffs and involve them to health care innovations that would help improve the quality of nursing care. As a leader it is important that she would be able to identify the process that needs to be improved. Set her vision and mission that her members could be able to understand, and she could easily facilitate on. In order for them to act she should be able to provide the needed materials and methods in order to carry out the tasks and solve problems. As a leader she should be able not only to carry out the task but carry it out on herself as well, a good leader knows and shows how things could be done. It is important that despite the hardships and differences each one has a good leader and advocate of health should encourage her members in promoting and improving the quality of health care delivery. References: Executives, A. O. O. T. N. (2007). Nurse Executive. 2007, from http://www.nursesource.org/executive.html Theory.com, R. (2007). Human Becoming Theory. Perry, P. (2001). Fundamentals of nursing 6th edition: Mosby Inc. Ã
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
The Language of Performing Arts
On being given the task of creating and performing a song based on the stimulus provided, it seemed doable and was approached by my group and I with enthusiasm and determination. We achieved roughly what to set out too. With some effort and contribution, every member of the group provided a vital input into the making of our final piece. Although all group members could have put in more effort to provide a more tidy finish to the performance, I believe the song written was of a good quality. When given the stimulus our group came up with several ideas based on ââ¬Å"Of Mice and Menâ⬠for lyrics, although only those who knew the play were inspired by this particular stimulus. The other stimulus was ââ¬ËDustbowl Days' by Nicole S.Porter and this again provided vague ideas for lyrics. The group however took more specific ideas from ââ¬Å"Dustbowl Daysâ⬠and used ââ¬ËLife' as a topic for the song, the lyrics were then written around this. As far as music is concerned the group decided that the lyrics could not be written out until chords and melody were fitted into place. As I was the most experienced with music in the group it was my job to find chords that created a sad yet effective pattern for a deep and meaningful song. After tampering with a E, D flat minor, G sharp minor, B chord progression for the verse I finally came up with just a simple A minor, F change over. Then every eighth bar a G fitted well. The rhythm was straight and of a moderate tempo, we decided working with a straight 4:4 rhythm would be easiest and besides that would fit our song better too. We practised improvising melodies over these chords until the group agreed on one fitting better than the others. To do this we took notes from the chords and practised singing them over the top of the chord to try and create a sad yet beautiful sound, this was achieved by holding the first note of the first chord of each verse and then using notes which fitted into the scales of both chords for the rest of the verse. Two members of the group then wrote the lyrics while I taught the other two members the chords and appropriate piano and guitar parts. We felt we wanted to include more instruments to give a thicker texture to make the song deeper. The piano part consisted of a simple set of notes (A, C, E, F) linking each chord before each change over. These harmonised very well as the notes were taken from the chords. The timbre of our song was very important to all members of the group and we decided that the lead guitar should be dominant and of a more clear sound so in order to do this the rhythm guitar used palm muted power chords while the lead clearly picked the notes from the chords. This did not only prove more practical but also have a more calm and tranquil effect as intended due to the songs nature. We then decided we wanted to try and make the audience ââ¬Ëfall in love' with our song, this was ambitious but in order to do this we intended to take advantage of the G chord every eighth bar and create a hook from it, this we achieved and although the singers did not harmonise with each other they did harmonise with the chord creating a hook line. A chorus proved quite difficult to make as our verse had come to us so quickly we were puzzled as to what to do. As the verse was in a minor key we decided the chorus should be in a major key. We came up with possibilities for a chorus and decided it should definitely consist of C major as the first chord as this fitted the well with the song. Certain members of the group then wrote more lyrics and insisted they had to be the lyrics for the non-existent chorus; this made writing it an even trickier job. After agreeing to all meet up and work on the chorus during a free block only two of the members of our group turned up, this added insult to injury and we finally decided as a group we shouldn't spoil our song by adding another melody and set of lyrics which were of poorer standard to the verse' and instead we should simply just have a guitar picking chords C, D Bb, and G. This didn't turn out to be too badly and fitted the song well, and after speeding the tempo of the chorus up it fitted the song well. The transition from verse to chorus was immediate and very smooth, and then from chorus to verse it was paused with a two beat rest. As far as the performance of the song went it could have been better, the picked intro went as planned as with the fist verse and chorus, but one of the members of our group had decided to change the structure of our song at short notice, therefore the song did not end properly as not all group members had been informed of the removal of one of the verses. The part of the song that did go to plan was played pretty well and with little mistakes. Intentions were met as far as the audience were concerned although our mistake was noticeable it was not really commented upon. Little feedback was given but the audience responded all the same as the general tranquillity of the song was felt by most. If we got the chance to make and perform a song again I would insure more harmonising was done to create a deeper feel in timbre, and possibly more instruments were used including drums to maintain time. I would also ensure all group members were at rehearsals as appose to just two, this would mean more work could be put in to a shorter space of time.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Nokia Swot Analysis
Nokia SWOT Analysis Strengths Strong brand image is Nokia's core asset. The company continues to strengthen its brand equity through various marketing campaigns. Nokia's brand was the fifth most valued brand in the world according to the top 100 best brands list compiled by InterBrand in 2009, and was the only mobile phone manufacturer in the top 10 best brands list. A strong and highly visible brand enables the company to command a premium for its products and differentiate itself from competitors. The company has been the leading player in the global mobile devices market since 1998.The company's strong market position, besides enhancing the brand image, provides economies of scale in operation. Nokia has the unique production technology, strong technical strength, perfect quality control system. Nokia has an great advantage over other rivals. Nokia, as a company with a 150-year history, has abundant marketing experience, first-class customer service and outstanding large-scale pur chasing skills. Nokiaââ¬â¢s mission is simple: Connecting People. Its goal is to build great mobile products that enable billions of people worldwide to enjoy more of what life has to offer.Its ideas of the new products are from the consumer's needs, expectations and dreams, based on detailed market analysis and classifications of consumers. The Nokia-Microsoft partnership brings together two global businesses with highly complementary sets of assets and competencies. The strategic partnership sees Nokia smart phones adopting the new Windows 7 operating system, with the Symbian platform gradually being sidelined. The goal is to establish a third ecosystem to rival iOS and Android. Weaknesses The company's high-end product portfolio is weak compared to its competitors.The company's high-end products are mainly offered through the N-series range of multimedia computers. While, the company's multimedia products feature music players, cameras, pocket computers, gaming consoles and na vigation devices, it lacks appealing touch screen functionally and sleek designs compared to products of its competitors. Nokia also faces significant price competition in this market as phones are being offered at lower price or free, when purchased with a contract. Although the company has been the leading player in the global mobile devices market, the market shares in its other industries are being reducing.Opportunities The company launched Ovi Life Tools (Nokia Ovi Sheng Huo Tong), which offers a range of information services covering healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment. Launch of new innovative services will enable the company to enhance its customer base thereby increasing its revenues in the coming years. The company made several strategic acquisitions in the recent years. The company's strategic acquisitions enhance its offering and enable it to record revenue growth from new offerings, while providing competitive advantage.It allows high bandwidth applica tions, is expected to increase with the growing need for advanced data and video services. New growth markets where cell phone adoption still has room to go, including India and other countries. Threats Nokia faces intense competition in all the segments of the communications market it operates. In the low-end mobile devices segment, the company has been facing competition South Korean mobile device companies such as LG and Samsung, while it continues to compete with Motorola and Sony Ericsson, among others.In the high end mobile devices/smart phones segment, the company is facing intense competition from Apple, RIM, HTC, and Samsung. The company operates in more than 150 countries across Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific and is exposed to risk from changes in foreign currency rates. Nokiaââ¬â¢s business and results of operations are from time to time affected by changes in exchange rates, particularly between the Euro, the companyââ¬â¢s reporting currency, and other currencie s such as the US dollar, the Japanese yen and the Chinese Yuan.And European debt crisis brings great impacts on the world, especially Europe where Finland located. Late in the game in 3G creates a risk to be displaced by leaders like Motorola, LG, NEC and others. The market is fast changing, the consumersââ¬â¢ expectations vary. The development tendency of mobile phone is big screen, high resolution, touch screen, intelligent system. But NOKIA touch screen support software is very few. Besides its intelligence system needs to be further ascent. Trapped in the fluidity of the mobile phone business, and missed the latest innovation and trendy design.
The Quality of Construction Sector in the Middle East Essay
The Quality of Construction Sector in the Middle East - Essay Example Currently the Gulf alone has at least two trillion worth of active building projects. Leisure oriented construction is taking place as most of the Middle East countries develop a strategy of becoming major holiday destinations for the developed economies. The Middle East construction industry spending is projected to reach five trillion dollars in the next ten years, which translates to an eighty percent growth rate. The huge budgetary allocations and investments done by the United Arab Emirates government in the construction industry is commendable and this results to a huge number of construction jobs in the country. Due to the huge investments in the construction industry, construction companies in the Middle East are adequately preparing to deal with the skills shortage in the industry and thus fill in the positions of structural specialists, environmental consultants, quantity surveyors, cost-engineering supervisors, planning engineers and concrete framework designer among other s (Gorgenlander, 2011). In 2010, the Saudi Arabia government allocated one hundred and forty- seven billion dollars for to the construction sector. Due to such huge budgetary allocations, Saudi Arabia is the largest construction market in the Middle East. Being the largest non-oil economic sector, the construction sector in Saudi Arabia is driven by, new mortgage laws that favor investment, high population growth, an increased demand by the foreign investors, high liquidity and low-interest financing (Iqbal, 2001). The government regulations in Saudi Arabia that ease the process of residential mortgages has ensured progressive development within the Middle East region. The potential for construction projects has been strengthened by the development of finance support to the consumer market. Qatar has committed more than one hundred billion US dollars to be used in the construction industry (Sayed, 1997). Construction professionals around the world have caught the attention of the ic onic structures in the Middle East such as the Burj Arab and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The growing population in the Middle East is seeking high quality, cost-effective living and amenities in the region. This rapid growth in the construction sector in the Middle East is echoed by the seventy-three huge construction projects such as Burj Khalifa, Al Reem Island, Dubai Metro, Dubai Mall and Meydan Race Course that Malaysia is undertaking across Middle East (Kazi, 2005). Several countries in the Middle East such as Iran have developed large-scale construction industry. This is attributed to the war that resulted to the destruction of many of the countryââ¬â¢s structures and social amenities hence the need for restructuring and rebuilding. The success in the construction sector in the Middle East has been attributed to the privatization of the sector. The construction industry in the Middle East is strengthened by oil rich countries in the region especially in the United Arab Emira tes, the rise in oil income, the growth of non-oil sector, the tax-free environment and attractive salaries especially to the imported work force. However, the restart of Iranââ¬â¢s nuclear weapon program, the continued conflicts in the Gulf Cooperation Council region hence the worsening of security and the worsening of the international financial risks have greatly influenced negatively on the construction industry in the Middle East (Chiang, Raftery, & Anson, 2005). Poor construction
Sunday, July 28, 2019
3DCS & 3DMS part A Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
3DCS & 3DMS part A - Coursework Example development as it seeks to infuse aspirations, develop interpersonal and other required skills and make the employees equipped of the necessary skill set which makes them adept to handle their job responsibilities and grow in their career and life. As stated earlier, relationship between mentor and mentee is more on personal lines than formal based. This is so because it is not dependent on any specific task or outcome and as such, involves many outcomes and learning processes. Some of the key aspects in the mentor and mentee relationship are: Mentor mentee relationship is free from implied or open authority as enjoyed by coaches. This is so because coaches are deputed for some specific outcomes and its achievement is crucial to their training purpose. However, mentoring is a relationship free of power and based on mutual trust and respect as both the mentor and the mentee tend to gain from each other. While a coach can insist on the compliance, a mentee has full rights to decide upon the relationship tenure, intensity and focus. In a nutshell, self-selection is the initiator in the mentor mentee relationship where mentee picks up the mentor as contrasted to coaching where coach selects the trainee. The relation being an open and trusted one, objectivity substitutes subjectivity in the outlook of both the parties. When both of them learn from each other, it is essential that no single entity tries to impose oneââ¬â¢s opinion or belief onto the other and provide complete freedom to think and act. A mentor is supposed to advise more than mere telling or commanding. In this light, it is imperative that the mentor is aware and knowledgeable of the best interests of the mentee. This is advantageous to allow the mentee think on exact lines as whatever will be advised by him will be taken seriously by the mentee. Thus, only such advises should be put forth which are sure to be accepted and relevant to the interest and situation for the mentee. Mentoring started off as
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Health Policy Advocate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Health Policy Advocate - Essay Example ices that are most effective and efficient, restoring more volunteerism to the health care sector, empowering community rating and no-fault health care insurance with tiered premium systems insured facing continuing high-risk behavior, practice labor substitution for those process steps that can be made routine, increasing the supply of health care provider to levels available to everyone in the society, empowering primary care providers to control utilization and self-referral and increasing use of information technology to avoid waste and medical error (McLaughlin, 375-388). When advocate follow above levers and apply them to improve health care, there is a possibility of a positive direction towards achieving a universal health coverage that is efficient and effective. Having affordable health care services as the fulcrum of an advocate goal to improve health policy, health insurance acts as the most appropriate measure because it insurers health care consumers from any economic consequences. High cost of health care has been the main hindrance to patients accessing effective medication since many people in the society are low-income earners. It will provide solution to the opaque of information on quality and price by providing relevant information for effective heath care to the hands of the consuming public. As advocate, at some point we will have achieved a health system policy that improves patient-physician relationship that reaches an appropriate balance between industrialization and professionalism (McLaughlin,
Friday, July 26, 2019
Financial Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words
Financial Decision Making - Essay Example The company can also increase or improve on its sales so that however much the payments are, the receipts will still be more in order to for the company to meet its current liabilities. In case of surplus, the company can plough back the surplus into investment and in order to increase future sales hence better future receipts. Net Present Value is the difference between the present value of the cash inflows and the present value of the net outflows. Project cash flows are discounted using an appropriate rate which is the minimum rate of return required by the investor. In the case of these two projects; Alpha and Beta projects, the discounting rate is 10% which is used to calculate the discounting factors with the formula 1/(1 + r)n where r is the discounting rate and n is the number of years. The appropriate cash flows are the after tax cash flows, therefore the net cash flows should be estimated on the after tax basis. However, in these projects, there was no tax involved and no p roject had a residual value after the completion period of 5 years. Computation of cash flows requires a special treatment of non-cash expenses such as depreciation though in these projects, there is no depreciation considered. However, in case of depreciation, it has an indirect effect on the cash flow since it is a tax deduction expense. The general criteria for Net Present Value is that the project with a negative net present value should be undertaken since it increases the wealth of the shareholders and a project.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
People Resourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
People Resourcing - Essay Example Different organisations have different ways of allocating jobs and responsibilities to their workers. In many instances, the manufacturing process of a company will be divided into separate tasks that can be carried out by a number of employees. Specialised job responsibilities will allow organisational managers to match employees with tasks that are based on their competencies. This allows for employees to be able to focus on their specific areas of expertise. For instance, a corporation ought to employ engineers to carry out any design responsibilities and business experts cater to promotional aspects instead of giving more responsibilities to the present workers who might have some small talent in any of these areas. The law of comparative advantage verifies that this specialisation will end up yielding a higher output than would be achieved if the company used the existing workers to carry out these extra tasks. With specialised job assignment, every worker is trained to finish j ust one basic function. This is much more cost effective than would be the case if all the workers were trained to be able to work efficiently in more than one task. For example, if a corporation has need of an engineer and a semi skilled worker for tasks at the production line, specialised, in contrast to broad task assignment gives the company the chance to employ one partially skilled worker and one engineer (Von Krogh, 2003). With broad task allocation, the education level needed is typically of the highest level. Therefore, it will be more expensive for the corporation to employ two employees with college degrees than just one. Specialised task assignment is more cost effective than broad task assignment. Specialised task assignments have just one impediment are. This is the fact that they do not retain the knowledge used in some of the creative processes included in the process of manufacturing a product. For instance, if a companyââ¬â¢s engineers have to plan for and creat e a new copier but do not take part in the production and advertising functions, they will not have the necessary feedback to create successful merchandise. This feedback will be traduced in consumersââ¬â¢ needs and future market opportunities. In addition, if just one employee is responsible for the assemblage, it is a likely thing that a worker will conduct his or her job with less care than if there were other workers. Also, to cut coordination costs, the functions of specialised workers have to be corresponding. For example, a firm can establish the procedures as well as methods needed to process a definite number of products in a given period of time so that technicians can make use of the same procedures to make other products. This calls for good coordination to exist between various product units. An organisationââ¬â¢s managers also have to ensure that the workers remain focused on their specific functions instead of the overall function of ensuring that the goods they produce are sold. For instance, the performance of the production division of a company could be assessed on the basis of the number of manufactured units, while the marketing divisionââ¬â¢s performance might be based on the number of transactions made; but if the quality of the goods is compromised, the sales numbers will begin to decline even though the marketing divisionââ¬â¢s performance stays high. Workers are more likely to develop closer
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Composite Role Rating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Composite Role Rating - Essay Example Measurement tools viz., rating forms, observational checklists or questionnaires are used to obtain measures (numbers) that are valid and reliable (Arreola, 2007). In the hypothetical Impact Matrix (Appendix A) that I have prepared, I have used typical activities that university teachers engage in namely, Teaching, Scholarly Activity, and Service as the 3 major roles to evaluate faculty performance. Under ââ¬ËTeachingââ¬â¢, the role components identified are ââ¬Ëinstructional deliveryââ¬â¢, ââ¬Ëinstructional designââ¬â¢, ââ¬Ëcontent expertiseââ¬â¢ and ââ¬Ëcourse management.ââ¬â¢ In my impact matrix, students, being the target entity, will be the sole judge for instructional delivery skills. This component is best evaluated through the following list of desirable attributes of faculty teaching performance whereby ââ¬Å"the instructor creates an intellectually stimulating environment by : demonstrating interest and enthusiasm in the student learning proce ss; demonstrating effective communication skills: writing, speaking and listening; eliciting responsible student participation; â⬠¦being available to students outside of class time to discuss course materials; â⬠¦and returning student work in a timely mannerâ⬠(Clarke University Faculty Evaluation Manual, 2008, pp 4-5). These are qualities in a teacher that are especially needed for effective guidance of students in their academic course work; therefore, I have assigned 35% as the source impact. With an arbitrary source rating of 4, the weighted rating works out to 1.4 (as shown in Appendix A). The ratings are based on a 5-point performance scale which is: 1 (Unacceptable); 2 (Satisfactory); 3 (Good); 4 (Very Good); and 5 (Excellent). For the instructional design component, students (source impact weight, 10%); peers (15%); self (10%) all contribute the data. The weighted rating from all these sources adds up to an arbitrary value of
California Health and Human Services Agency Essay
California Health and Human Services Agency - Essay Example Another criterion is to examine the currency of information on the site by looking for updated details on documents and links. Lastly, the coverage of the site shows that the objective of the site is clearly to be used as information updates only, and in no way presents any biasness towards any agencies or boards. Since the inception of the internet, many human services agencies have developed official websites to promote and create awareness for their organizations. One such agency is the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS). This paper will examine and analyze the value and relevance of this website to its target audiences using the criteria set out by the Wolfgram Memorial Library (WML) from Widener University. According to WML, there are five crucial criterions that can be used to determine the efficacy of the information on the site, and they include authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage. (WML, 2009) The homepage for the CHHS website contains a welcome message by the Secretary, Kim Belshe, in addition to the vision of the agency, which informs "all Californians, especially those most at risk or in need (that they) have the opportunity to enjoy a high quality of life as measured by the sound physical, mental, and financial health of children, adolescents, and adults; strong and well-functioning families; safe and sustainable communities; and dignity for all." (CHHS, 2009) It is clear that CHHS is responsible for the contents of the page because the agency logo is visibly presented. To mark its affiliation with the State of California, there is a copyright mark and a link to the official website on every page. There is also a link to the website for the Governor of California. (CHHS, 2009) While the vision of the agency is stated, the agency goal is not quite as transparent. The closest form of explanation is perhaps under the link "About Us" which spells out the "responsibility f or administering major programs," (CHHS, 2009) and includes the contact information like the agency address and telephone number, which verifies the legitimacy of the agency. However, it is worth noting that an email contact is not provided for enquiries. This may be an indication that the site is meant more as a source of information rather than a site that promotes dialogue. The legitimacy of the website is well established with links to independent websites for all twelve departments and one board. However, at the time of writing this analysis, there was an error linking to the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (CHHS, 2009), which indicates a lack of quality control. Without an email contact available, the audience is then forced to either call the agency, or make the extra effort to look for this site online. If CHHS were meant to be only as a source of information, the agency's objective as an official site that "administers state and federal programs for health care, social services, public assistance, and rehabilitation," is clear. (CHHS, 2009) All links are directed to independent department sites that provide a more comprehensive presentation of each program's agenda. For example, the link to the Department of Community Services and Development details this department's programs and resources. (CSD, 2009) Any document or links in the website that highlight specific programs are also presented according to the most recently published so
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
All information is in the document, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
All information is in the document, - Essay Example the main features in the film is that is characteristic of an urban setting is the firearms that are used in the action and bloodshed combats in the plot of the film. In a rural Asian setting, the main weapon to combat enemies was the sword. This is what is used in most Asian action traditional movies and the martial arts of Tai Kwando are employed. In this film however, modern firearms with live bullets are used in the action scenes. These are cocked and fired by pulling the trigger which gives the film an all modern aura. Another element of modern setting in the film was depicted with the occupation of Sung Tse-Ho. Hoââ¬â¢s principle job was printing and distributing fake bank notes of the US dollars. The fact that printing in itself was done is a very modern element. Traditionally primitive forms of writing were the only forms of permanently inscribing information on a piece. The bank notes also implied that the main form of exchanging goods and services or for trading was monetary which is different from the traditional barter trading system. In addition to that it depicts the presence banks in the film setting which are only characteristic of modern settings. Very few rural settings have a bank anywhere in the vicinity. This made a great impact in the lives of the dwellers and visitors of the area. They got to enjoy the services associated with banking such as borrowing of loans, keeping money safely in a personal account, saving money through savings accounts that earn interest and the like. T he dwellers and visitors also got job employments that are associated with banks such as being bank tellers, being bank watchmen and women and being cleaners. The younger brother of Ho, Kit, aspired to be a policeman. This is an influence that he got as a dweller of an urban setting. Policemen are a typical feature of an urban setting. They mascaraed the streets in their uniforms with some even holding gins or pistols. These are likely to look cool for a young man
Monday, July 22, 2019
Philosophy Paper Essay Example for Free
Philosophy Paper Essay One of the most heated debates that troubled the church in the Middle Ages was the question of universals. This question goes back as far as Platoââ¬â¢s Forms. It has to do with the relationship between the abstract and general concepts that we have in our minds (what is the relationship between Chair with a capitol ââ¬Å"Câ⬠and chair with a small ââ¬Å"câ⬠? ). And from this, two radical viewpoints emerged, realists and the nominalists. The realists followed Plato in insisting that each universal is an entity in its own right, and exists independently of the individual things that happen to participate in it. An extreme form of realism flourished in the church from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. Among its advocates were John Scotus, Erigena, Anselm and William of Champeaux. On the opposite side were the nominalists and they held that universals were just names, and therefore, have no objective status apart from that which is fabricated in the mind. Nominalists, such as Gabriel Biel and William of Occam (see O section), said that the individual is the only existing substance. Unfortunately, their treatment of nominalism removed religion almost entirely from the area of reason and made it a matter of faith beyond the comprehension of reason. 1 And here lies the significance of the French theologian Peter Abelard (1079-1142). Between the two extremes, Peter Abelard proposed a more moderate form of nominalism. Though critical of the idea of the separate existence of universals, he nevertheless believed that resemblances among particular things justified the use of universals for establishing knowledge. More specifically, Abelard proposed that we ground the similarities among individual things without reifying their universal features, by predicating general terms in conformity with concepts abstracted from experience. This resolution (which would later come to be known as conceptualism) of the traditional problem of universals gained wide acceptance for several centuries, until doubts about the objectivity and reality of such mental entities as concepts came under serious question. Thomas Aquinas favored a moderate realism which rejected the view that universals exist apart from individual entities in favor of the view that they do indeed exist, but only in actual entities. 2 Anaximander (Milesian School): Anaximander (610-547/6 B. C. ) was one of the three key figures that comprised the Milesian School (the three prominent figures associated with the Milesian School is Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes). Together, they worked on problems concerning the nature of matter and the nature of change, and they each proposed a different material as the primary principal. 3 Anaximander seemed to be quite modern in his view of reality. He believed that the world was cylindrical like a drum, and that the earth rested on nothing. He also invented an undefined non-substance, called the apeiron, a neutral, indeterminate stuff that was infinite in amount. Anaximenes (Milesian School): Anaximenes (546 B. C. ), the other member of the Milesian School, returned back to the idea that everything derives from a single substance, but suggested that substance was air. Though it is likely his choice was motivated by wanting to maintain a balance between the two views of his predecessors, Anaximenes did provide solid grounds for his choosing; first, air, has the advantage of not being restricted to a specific and defined nature as water, and therefore more capable of transforming itself into the great variety of objects around us. Second, air is a more likely source of this variety than Anaximanderââ¬â¢s apeiron which seems too empty and vacuous a stuff to be capable of giving rise to such a variety and profusion. 4 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury: In (452 A. D. ), twenty-two years after Augustineââ¬â¢s death, Rome fell, bringing on a period of conquest and chaos, and degree of order was ultimately realized through the emergence of feudalism. The church, which had managed to survive the social and political upheaval, gradually assumed responsibilities that previously had been relegated to the civil government. This involvement in government led in turn to the secularization of the church. Bishops became ministers of the state, and church dignitaries became warriors. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, many within the church were so involved with the secular world that a movement led to the emergence of the monastic life as a force within the church. Those who wanted to escape the temptations of the secular world and pursue holiness were naturally drawn to the monasteries and among those who followed was Anselm (1033-1109), the archbishop of Canterbury. The greatest Christian thinker between Augustine and Thomas Aquinas was Anselm (1033-1109). He was born to a wealthy family in northern Italy, whom, to their disappointment, left home in (1056) to fully dedicate his life to God. Following a period of travel, he arrived at the Norman Abbey at Bec, where he took his monastic vows in (1060). Within a few years, he became prior of the abbey, abbot in (1078), and then archbishop in (1093), which he held until his death. His writings range from treatises on logic to an explanation of the divine inner logic of the atonement in Cur deus homo. Anselm stood in the tradition of Augustine and Platonic realism. 5 Following the tradition of Augustine, he held that faith precedes and leads to understanding, and, like many other medieval thinkers he drew no sharp distinction between philosophy and theology. In his famous ontological argument for the existence of God, Anselm presents a defense based on the fact that it is self-contradictory to deny that there exists a greatest possible being. 6 He claims that the more universality, the more reality. And from here it follows that if God is the most universal being, he is also the most real; if He is the absolutely universal being, he is also the absolutely real being, ens realissimum. He has, therefore, according to the conception of Him, not only the comparatively greatest reality, but also the absolute reality. A reality in which no greater can be thought. 7 Aquinas, Thomas: By common consent the greatest philosophical theologian of the Middle Ages was Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). Everything about him was big. In his later years his voluminous writings, massive in scope, won him the title of the Angelic Doctor. His life was dedicated to the intellectual defense and propagation of the faith, as he understood it. It was during his teaching career (1252) in Paris that Aquinas, being drawn into the critical debates of his day, started battling the objections posed against Aristotelianism and its place in the university. By this time, Plato was known only through the imperfect translations of the Timaeus, the Phaedo, and the Meno. Islamic Jewish thinkers were much better acquainted with Aristotle, and for nearly two centuries they had been wrestling with questions posed by Aristotelianism to religious faith. For Aquinas and his Christian contemporaries the issue was doubly acute. On the one hand, there were questions posed by Aristotleââ¬â¢s way of thinking. On the other hand, there were the answers already given by Islamic and Jewish scholars which were hardly acceptable to a Christian thinker. Aquinas decided to face the problem head on. He made his own study of Aristotle, on whom he wrote extensively. He also made his own study of non-Christian thinkers. He subjected all ideas to rigorous scrutiny, giving due recognition to the truth of ideas, wherever they came from, but giving his own evaluation of every issue, point by point. In all, Aquinas produced about a hundred different writings. His work ranged from philosophical commentaries to hymns. 8 Aquinasââ¬â¢ main works are two massive Summae or compends of theology and philosophy. The Summa contra Gentiles was designed as a textbook for missionaries, and the Summa Theologiae has been described as the highest achievement of medieval theological systematization and is still the accepted basis of modern Reformed theology. In Aquinasââ¬â¢ proofs (what later came to be known as the Cosmological and Teleological arguments), certain facts about nature are compelling evidences of Godââ¬â¢s existence. He argues, accordingly, that nothing can adequately account for the fact of motion or change. Rejecting the idea that change or motion is simply an ultimate, mysterious fact of nature neither requiring nor permitting any explanation except God, its Unmoved Prime Mover. Furthermore, in his five arguments, Aquinas suggests that the Christian belief in God is completely consistent with the world as we know it. Aquinasââ¬â¢ arguments, known also as the Five Ways are sometimes referred to as the proofs of the existence of God. But this is not necessarily correct because Aquinas did not try to prove the existence of God by rational argument, but to provide a rational defense for an already existing faith in God. His primary reason for believing in the existence in God is Godââ¬â¢s revelation of Himself. Aquinas expects his readers to share the same faith. He does not expect that he will have to prove anything to them first. This point is important because many critics accuse believers of grounding their faith in outdated arguments, such as Thomas Aquinas. It is proper, therefore, to respond to such criticisms by pointing out that they are based on a superficial reading and on a serious misunderstanding of how individuals come to faith. 9 The basic principal guiding Aquinas throughout the Five Proofs is the principal of analogy, which holds the world as we know it mirrors God, its creator. The structure of each of Aquinasââ¬â¢ proofs is quite similar. Each depends on tracing a casual sequence back to its ultimate origin and identifying this ultimate origin with God. The first begins with the observation that things in the world are in motion or change. Second is the concept of causation. The third concerns the existence of contingent beings. The fourth deals with human values, and lastly, is the teleological argument, in which Aquinas explains how the world shows clear traces of intelligent design. Natural processes and objects seem to be adapted with certain definite objectives in mind. They seem to have purpose. They seem to have been designed. Arguing from this observation, Aquinas concludes that it is rational to believe in God. 10 Aristotle: Aristotleââ¬â¢s thought, like his mentor Plato, embodied the concept of arete, which taught that human excellence in all things was an important goal that should direct human purposes. For Aristotle, that excellence ideally exemplified the defining quality of human nature, the pursuit of reason. Attracted by science and believing that the universe could be explained, Aristotle greatly valued the work of Thales of Miletus, and accepted his concept that the physical universe operated rationally and in a way that was knowable to human beings. From Anaximander, Aristotle took the view that a balance of force existed in nature that made things what they were. Aristotle was also knowledgeable about the atomic theory of Parmenides and was intrigued by the question of what was stable and what was changing. Indeed, these Greek scientists had a significant influence on Aristotleââ¬â¢s intellectual search to examine and explain reality. 11 For Aristotle, the world in which we live is the world that we experience through our senses. Unlike those who followed Plato, Aristotle believed that we live in an objective order of reality, a world of objects that exist external to us and our knowing of them. Through our senses and our reason, human beings can come to know these objects and develop generalizations about their structure and function. Truth is a correspondence between the personââ¬â¢s mind and external reality. Theoretical knowledge based on human observation is the best guide to human behavior. And, while human beings have various careers, they all share the most important factor, the exercise of rationality. Reason gives human beings the potentiality of leading lives that are self-determined. Congruent with his metaphysical and epistemological perspective, Aristotleââ¬â¢s ethical theory portrays the good life as that of happiness (eudaimonia). He believed that the ultimate good for the human being was happiness, activity in accordance to virtue. The virtuous life is one in which actions are part of a consciously formulated plan that takes a mean, a middle ground course, avoiding extremes. 12 For example, true courage would be the choice that avoids the extremes of cowardice and rashness. And what decides the right course to take is the virtue of prudence (phronesis). Good is the aim of every action but, given the fact that goods can be ordered in relation to one another, there must be a highest good to which practical wisdom directs us. And if the possession of any good is what makes us happy to some extent, the possession of the highest good is the highest happiness, the ultimate goal of all our actions. 13 At this point, it is difficult to resist the thought that Aristotleââ¬â¢s notion of the intellectual life being the gateway to happiness and virtue is not an shallow one. But, though there are some elements in his presentation that are unclear, this much is clear; that this happiness, which is the possession of the good, is ultimately an act of contemplation, or ofà beholding, the good. But to contemplate the good is to enter into union with it. Therefore, if contemplating on god means entering into union with the life of the gods, this is the highest activity of man and his ultimate happiness. The conclusion of the Ethics is one with the Metaphysics, in which the ââ¬Å"divine elementâ⬠in a man coincides with the ââ¬Å"possessionâ⬠of god by an act of thought, called contemplation, which is the ââ¬Å"most pleasant and bestâ⬠we can perform. In Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle says, What choice, then, or possession of the natural goods ââ¬â whether bodily goods, wealth, friends, or other things ââ¬â will most produce the contemplation of God, that choice or possession is best; this is the noblest standard, but any that through deficiency or excess hinders one from the contemplation and service of God is bad; this man possess in his soul, and this is the best standard for the soul. 14 With statements like this one canââ¬â¢t help but wonder what Aristotleââ¬â¢s response would have been if he would have had the opportunity to serve the one true God, who is worthy of such adoration and praise. Whatââ¬â¢s more, Aristotle categorized virtues as either moral or intellectual. Moral virtue, though not easy to define, is a habit by which the individual exercises a prudent choice, one that a rational person would make. Moral virtues tend to moderation, falling between excess and inhibition. They focus on the concrete actions a person performs and the measured sense he has regarding them: ââ¬Å"to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way. â⬠A good action thus exhibits due proportion, neither excessive nor defective, but midway between them. This is Aristotleââ¬â¢s doctrine of the mean. Peculiarly, a virtuous action is one that lies between too much and too little. To give another example, in regard to the feeling of shame, modesty is the mean between bashfulness and shamelessness. Not every virtue, however, is a mean, and so not every action is to be measured in this way. Nonetheless, every action should and can at least be measured in its rightness by the virtue of prudence or, in a larger sense, by ââ¬Å"practical wisdom. â⬠15. Furthermore, one of Aristotleââ¬â¢s most significant contributions to the Western world is his Poetics. His earlier works, Physics and Metaphysics contain important statements about art and nature, and Rhetoric, written after Poetics, distinguishes rhetoric as a practical art and has had a strong influence on literary criticism. His Poetics, nonetheless, is particularly important because Aristotle is addressing Platoââ¬â¢s doctrines on ideas and forms he came to disagree with. In Poetics, it was Aristotleââ¬â¢s intention to classify and categorize systematically the kinds of literary art, beginning with epic and tragic drama. Unfortunately, not all of the poetics survived, and it breaks off before the discussion of comedy. Nonetheless, our sense of Aristotleââ¬â¢s method is established. He is the first critic to attempt a systematic discourse of literary genres. 16 Augustine (Saint), of Hippo: One of the greatest thinkers of not only the early church, but of all time is Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A. D. ). His writings laid the foundation not only for Western theology but for later philosophy as well. His three books On Free Will (388-395), set out a doctrine of creation, evil and the human will which was a superior alternative to the type of thinking that had attracted so many to Gnosticism and Manichaean dualism. His response to the Donatist schism in the church set the pattern for the Western doctrine of the church. His writings on the subject of Pelagianism clarified, as no one before him and few after him, the crucial issues in the question of grace and free will. His major theological writings include On the Trinity (399-419), which presented better models for thinking about the Trinity than those of the Greek fathers. Augustineââ¬â¢s book On the City of God (413-416) was a reply to those who blame the church for the fall of Rome, in which it gave both a panoramic view of history and a theology of history in terms of the basic conflict between the divine society and the earthly society. 17 Interestingly, Augustine put forth a theory of time that Bertrand Russell would later pronounce superior to earlier views and much better than the subjective theory of Kant. Augustineââ¬â¢s account of how we can learn language provided Wittgensteinââ¬â¢s starting point for his Philosophical Investigations. In answering skepticism Augustine put forth an argument which anticipated Descartesââ¬â¢ cognito ergo sum without falling into the pitfalls commonly associated with the argument. Furthermore, Augustine believed that philosophical reflection may correct mistaken notions, lead to a grasp of truth, and serve to clarify belief. But rational reflection is not a substitute for the beatific vision of God. For it is the apprehension of God alone which transforms human life and alone satisfies our deepest needs. Though Augustine was deeply influenced by Platonism and Neoplatonism, he never was simply a Platonist. His view of the soul stands in the Platonic tradition, but he repudiated the doctrines of pre-existence and transmigration. Augustineââ¬â¢s view of the transcendent spiritual reality might also be said to have affinities with Plato, but Augustines approach was not an attempt to erect an edifice of Christian theology on either Platonic or Neoplatonic foundations. Rather, it was to state the Christian worldview in a theological and philosophical system that cohered as a unified whole. 18 (B) (back to top) Bentham, Jeremy: In nineteenth century Victorian England two contrasting systems were developed by Jeremy Bentham and Herbert Spencer. Utilitarians Bentham and John Stuart Mill applied naturalistic presuppositions in their worldview. Herbert Spencer applied the concept of evolution. And Ernest Mach prepared the way for logical positivism in his strongly anti-metaphysical scientific approach. The antithesis of the Kantian ideal is utilitarianism, an ethical theory founded by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). Bentham was a hedonist. Taking the good to be pleasure, Bentham proposed a new model for morality in his principal of utility, which holds that ââ¬Å"Actions are right in proportion to the amount of happiness it brings; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. 19 Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism. The ends justify the means since actions are judged on the results they bring, not on the personââ¬â¢s intentions or motives. For Kant, the end result was not important in determining the rightness of an action, rather, it was motive. 20 In its simplest form utilitarianism teaches that the right action is the one that promotes the greatest happiness. Modern utilitarianism dates from Thomas Hobbes in the seventeenth century, but its antecedents date as far back as (341-270 B. C. ) to the philosophy of Epicurus of Samos. The theory of utilitarianism actually held little influence until John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) who popularized the term and produced the classical Victorian exposition of the doctrine. Mill used the principal of utility to critique all social, political, and religious institutions. Anything that did not promote the greatest happiness of the greatest number was to be challenged and reformed. For this reason social and religious institutions that curtail individual liberty should be reformed. This is necessary, argued Mill, in order for freedom of belief, association and expression to be safeguarded. 21. Different conceptions of happiness separated Millââ¬â¢s version ââ¬Å"Better a Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied,â⬠which recognized qualitative differences between different kinds of pleasure, from Benthamââ¬â¢s forthright attempt to reduce all questions of happiness to the mere presence of pleasure or pain. Benthamââ¬â¢s version aims to render the basic concepts of ethics susceptible of comparison and measurement, but this was not the goal in Millââ¬â¢s presentation of the system. 22 A hedonistic utilitarian like Bentham would say that the sole consideration is the quantity of pleasure that an action produces. A problem with this approach, however, (as if it wasnââ¬â¢t obvious) is that it draws no distinction in principal between an evening spent at the bars or one spent having quality time with your spouse. It all depends upon the tastes of the person. Berkley, George: George Berkeley (Irish, 1685-1753) was one of the three greatest British empiricists of the eighteenth century (Locke and Hume being the other two). Though his father was an Englishman, Berkley always considered himself Irish. He was an early subjectivist idealist philosopher, who argued that all qualities of objects exist only in the mind of the perceiver. His famous theory is often summarized, esse est percipi, ââ¬Å"to be is to be perceived,â⬠and is still important to modern apologetics (due to the method he used in demonstrating the necessity of an eternal Perceiver). Berkleyââ¬â¢s argument was that the phenomena of visual sensation can all be explained without presupposing the reality of the external material substances. Interestingly, Berkley was also a bishop of an Anglican church, and was the only important philosopher to visit America before 1900. He came hoping to start a missionary training college for evangelizing to the Indian tribes of New England. 23 Berkley disagreed with Locke in that there is a material substance lying behind and supporting perceptions. He also disagreed with his treatment of the representative theory of perception, that material objects are perceived mediately by means of ideas, and the mind does not perceive the material object directly, but only through the medium of the ideas formed by the senses and reflection on them. ââ¬Å"If we know only our ideas,â⬠reasoned Berkeley ââ¬Å"then we can never be sure whether any of them are really like the material qualities of objects, since we can never compare the ideas with them. â⬠For that reason, he denied the ultimate existence of material substance believing that the Spirit is the only metaphysical reality. 24 (D) (back to top) Derrida, Jacques: Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) was a French literary critic and founder of the school called deconstructionism. His (1966) lecture Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences delivered at Johns Hopkins University, played a significant role in ushering American critics into the era of poststructuralism. Particular influences on his thought include Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Freud. He wrote prolifically, and had a great influence on not only literary criticism but in sociology, linguistics, and psychology as well. Derrida regarded philosophical and literary texts as already containing the seeds of their own deconstruction. This means that in any work the author unwittingly includes contradictions, blind spots, and unjustified assumptions. The main purpose and task of the deconstructionist, according to Derrida, is to simply bring these contradictions to the surface. 25 Beginning in the Victorian Age, a paradigm shift slowly spread throughout Europe that set the groundwork for modern theory. Unlike the revolutionary movements of the Renaissance and Romanticism, which were in part reactionary, this paradigm shift that marked a radical break from the past had little precedent. Nonetheless, it marked a rejection of long-held metaphysical and aesthetic beliefs that most theorists from Plato to Coleridge took for granted. Until the modern period, most of the great Western philosophers have been logocentric in their thinking, and Derrida is one of the ones responsible for this definite break from the past, bringing forth the notion that meaning is never fixed. Dr. Louis Markos, a Christian Professor at Houston Baptist University, made some interesting comments on Derrida in one of his lectures on deconstructionism. He said that Derrida reads the history of Western metaphysics as a continual search for a logos or original presence. This logos is sought because it promises to give meaning and purpose to all things, to act as a universal center. Behind this search is a desire for a higher reality (or full presence). Western philosophy since Plato has simply renamed this presence and shifted this center without breaking from its centering impulse. Even Saussureââ¬â¢s structuralism sought a center, and though he broke from the old metaphysic, he still used its terminology and binaries. Furthermore, Derrida deconstructs all attempts to posit a center or to establish a system of binaries. Instead, he puts in their place a ââ¬Å"full free play of meaning. â⬠26 Democritus (see Leucippus): Descartes, Rene: The first great continental rationalist27 was Reneââ¬â¢ Descartes (Frenchman, 1596-1650). For it was he who defined the terms and laid down the agenda for the continental rationalist school of thought. But in a sense, the world that Descartes produced, by the exercise of pure reason, was a fairly straight forward affair ââ¬â Descartes does preserve ââ¬Å"the selfâ⬠in a recognizable form, as well as both ââ¬Å"Godâ⬠(even though it is not a terribly human sort of God) and the material world in a broadly speaking recognizable form (even though it might be a material world deprived of some of its more vivid and colorful attributes). Nevertheless, the worlds created by the application of the procedure of rationalism start from some self-evident propositions (like Euclidââ¬â¢s geometry) and then carry out processes of absolute, straight forward deduction from these self-evident propositions and what that led to in the case of Spinoza and Leibniz is something very far removed in both of them from the ordinary understanding of the world. To some extant, Descartes, by comparison with them, is in the business of saving the appearances. Whereas both Spinoza and Leibniz say that what the world is really like is very different from what it appears to the ordinary person to be. Nonetheless, there is still in both cases (Descartes and Spinoza and Leibniz) an underlying reality that philosophy can tell us something about reality even if common observation cannot. 28 His two chief philosophical works were Discourse on Method (1637) and his Meditations (1641). His ideal and method were modeled on mathematics. He is sometimes portrayed as the first modern philosopher due to his break with the traditional Scholastic-Aristotelian philosophy and for introducing a new mechanistic science. 29 In refurbishing the medieval proofs for the existence of God he was drawing upon the legacy of the Middle Ages. Like the Medieval philosophers, he was interested in metaphysics, and to the end of his life, Descartes remained a nominal Catholic. But there is a sense in which Descartes represents a new departure. Descartes (so it seems) was interested in God not for his own sake, but the worldââ¬â¢s. God is invoked as a kind of dues ex machine to guarantee the validity of our thoughts about the world. 30 Nonetheless, Descartes takes his place as a Christian thinker by resting cognitive truth on the personal truth of God, and laying the blame for error not on God but on the exercise of the human will. Descartes successors eventually lost their reliance for truth. George Berkeley retains it by tracing directly to God all the ideas we receive from outside the mind and Leibniz by making each mind mirror eternal truths in the mind of God. But many Enlightenment thinkers, and many empiricists today who share some of Descartesââ¬â¢ rational ideals or the correspondence theory of truth, talk to truth independently of God as if it were a self-sustaining ideal and as if human reason were a purely objective and impersonal activity. Descartesââ¬â¢ failure was not in the relation he saw of truth to God, but in the lack of relation he saw between manââ¬â¢s rational capacity for knowing truth and his personality as a whole. 31 (F) (back to top) Fibonacci: His real name was Leonardo Pisano (Italian, 1170-1250) but he is better known by his nickname ââ¬Å"Fibonacciâ⬠(filius Bonacci), which means ââ¬Å"son of Bonacci. â⬠A striking example of Fibonaccis genius is his observation that the classification of irrationals given by Euclid in Book X of the Elements did not include all irrationals. Fibonacci is probably best known for his ââ¬Å"rabbit problem. â⬠Leonardo Fibonacci began the study of this sequence by posing the following problem in his book, Liber Abaci, ââ¬Å"How many pairs of rabbits will be produced in a year, beginning with a single pair? â⬠32 The analogy that starts with one pair of rabbits who give birth to a new pair from the first month on, and every succeeding pair gives birth to a new pair in the second month after their birth. Fibonacci shows that this leads to the sequences 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, and so on. As one can see, each term is the sum of the two previous terms. For example, 2 + 3 = 5 and 3 + 5 = 8, and the farther and farther you go to the right of this sequence, the ratio of a term to the one before it will get closer and closer to the Golden Ratio. Additionally, this same principal also applies to that of the Golden rectangle. The connection between the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci series is fascinating, and is very simple to understand. If you take a Golden Rectangle, and cut off a square with side lengths equal to the length shorter to the rectangle side, then what remains is another Golden Rectangle. This could go on forever. You can just keep cutting off these big squares and getting smaller and smaller Golden Rectangles. Consequently, the idea with the Fibonacci series is to do the same thing in reverse. You start with a square (1 by 1), find the longer side, and then add a square of that size to the whole thing to form a new rectangle. Therefore, when we start with a (1 by 1) square the longest side is one, so we add another square to it. As a result, we have accumulated a (2 by 1) rectangle. Then the longest side is 2, so we connect a (2 by 2) square to our (2 by 1) rectangle to get a (3 by 2) rectangle. As this continues, the sides of the rectangle will always be a successive Fibonacci number, and eventually the rectangle will be very close to a Golden Rectangle. To translate in more illustrative terms, the ratio of two successive numbers in the Fibonacci series, as aforementioned, if divided by each number before it, will result in the following series of numbers; 1/1 = 1, 2/1 = 2, 3/2 = 1. 5, 5/3 = 1. 666, 8/5 = 1. 6, 13/8 = 1. 625, 21/13 = 1. 61538. The ratio that is settling down to a particular value is the golden ratio or the golden number, which has a value of approximately 1. 618034. 33 Fichte, Johann Gottlieb: Johann Gottlieb Fichte (German, 1762-1814) was one of the major figures in German philosophy in between Kant and Hegel. He was regarded as one of Kantââ¬â¢s most talented philosophers, but later developed a system of his own transcendental philosophy called the Wissenschaftslehre. Fichte had immense influence on his contemporaries, especially during his professorship at the University of Jenna, a position he held for five years (1794-1799) before taking up a profes.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Evaluation of Banking Services for International Students
Evaluation of Banking Services for International Students ABSTRACT The main aim of the study was to evaluate the major banking institutes in Newcastle and distinguish the services and account types offered to international students. For the study, four banks were selected among which three were United Kingdom based and one was an international bank. The banks included in the study were HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and National Westminster (NatWest). By using two questionnaires; one from the international students and other from the bank personnel, the present study assessed the important factors that were considered significant in selecting the bank and the importance of students as customers for the banks. The results suggested that there was little different in the basic facilities offered by the four banks, but Lloyds TSB was the most popular among the international students due to its variety of student accounts. In conclusion, the research offered an insight into the management and the marketing strategies that banks can make use of to attract in ternational students as potential customers. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The aim of the present study was to evaluate the major banking institutes in Newcastle and distinguish the services and account types offered to international students. For the study, four banks were selected among which three were United Kingdom based and one was an international bank. These banks were: HSBC Lloyds TSB Barclays National Westminster (NatWest) The researcher compared the services, interest rate, few charges and the ease of accessibility of these banks to the international students with they region they resided and attended their respective colleges or universities. The topic of the present research was selected by the researcher because the issue of how international students select their banks in Newcastle has been given considerable attention by researchers. The reason for this is that most international students who come to Newcastle are without local bank accounts and in the long run most students need such a facility to work on completing transactions such fees payments, living expense, accommodation and fulfillment of other financial needs. Investigating such information would assist banks to recognize the suitable management and marketing strategies required to attract new students as customers and keep hold of existing ones (Kaynak Kucukemiroglu, 1992). The relevant literature indicates that a great deal of research effort has been put into investigating the bank selection decisive factor for international students in the United Kingdom. Researches on bank management and marketing are not a new phenomenon. In fact, a lot has been written on the subject of bank management and marketing with the bulk of the literature relating to banking behavior of general customers. A broad range of marketing paradigms related to customers has been examined, including market segmentation, attitudes, purpose, inclinations, bank loyalty, bank selection choices, bank representation, bank service value, contentment and multiple bank users (Garland 2002). One marketing concept related to customers that has fascinated abundance of researches has been the thought process of customers or the grounds on the basis of which customers decide to interact with particular banks (Anderson, Cox Fulcher, 1976; Evans, 1979; Kaynak, 1986; Boyd, Leonard White, 1994). A thorough examination of the present literature ascertains the generalization related to the thought process of retail customers. The population of interest in the vast bulk of such custo mer researches has been the general customer. Only a few of researches have intended for younger age groups such as the undergraduate section of the market though over past few years, the bank management have started to take vast interest in this section of the population (Mokhlis, Nik Mat Salleh 2008). Even though greater parts of undergraduate students are unemployed and their earning comes largely from educational loans, they offer an exceptional business opportunity for banks. First, in regards to their buying power, the student segment is growing and has turned lucrative (Ayadi 1996). With the development of educational services in United Kingdom, the amount of international students in further and higher education has been increasing rapidly over the years. Secondly, students are expected to require a bank account to settle their tuition fee or parental funding and might be taking care of their personal financial matters for the first time (Kaynak Whiteley 1999). Those students who do not yet hold bank accounts would be required to open one as they begin college because all transactions are done through the students bank accounts. Regardless of their comparatively basic banking requirements, students are considered an important segment in the market at the level in the buying cycle where they might be more receptive to marketing strategies from financial institutions (Thwaites Vere, 1995). Another important feature of the student market is the possibility for above-average profitability. Lewis (1982) suggested that banks understood that à ¢Ã¢â ¬ÃÅ"it is important to attract students to open accounts when they begin college, in the expectation that they would stay with the after graduation, and be lucrative, in the long run, for the bank. The fundamental reason for this observation is that college student is the section of the population who has the likelihood of earning a larger income than any other section of the population. As stated by Duncan, Smeeding Rodgers (1992), only individuals who are studying have a considerably greater probability of rising from the low income strata into the middle class. Specially, as contrasted with non-graduates of similar age group, graduates usually secure more highly paid jobs, achieve a more developing career and thus, grow a need for a greater variety of personal financial services as they go by their own life cycle. The ski ll to build up an existence in the student market through suitable attainment and maintenance strategies is thus expected to have an effect on banks future market share and revenue (Thwaites Vere, 1995). International students signify as a significant market for financial institutions such as banks. The skill to value, comprehend and deal with the precise needs of this segment section of the population is now a vital market reality (Cicic, Brkic, Agic, n.d). Bankers can no longer maintain their conventional belief that only business and salary earning customers will bring revenue to the bank. They must understand that student customers are also possibly lucrative market section and prospect market earnings will be attained by banks only if they target this up-and-coming section and win them (Grady Spencer 1990). Banks that would get hold of student segment must know the significant factors that decide the basis upon which students choose between financial institutions (Kaynak Yavas 1985). Bank marketers must be capable of discerning what is central to student customers in the market and how their force compares with those of their competitors (Cicic, Brkic, Agic, n.d). United Kingdom has an extensive history of inviting international students to educate themselves in its colleges and universities. According to UCAS (2009), à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã
âIn the UK in 2009 there were 1.8 million full-time undergraduate students in higher education, which included over 104,000 international students.à ¢Ã¢â ¬? The rapid growth in the amount of international students in the past few years has become a significant supply of export revenues, and it surely has the ability for further rapid growth. It had been recommended that provided with the right support, the amount of international students studying in UK universities could more than double in the next few years (Higher educations importance goes well beyond teaching 2009). There are numerous factors involved in offering of student accounts in nearly all financial institutions. It might be due to growing the customer base or acquiring the new customers in the budding stage. In the contest to get hold of more and more customers and attract the younger generation, the financial institutions are offering various types of products and services. International students studying in the United Kingdom need to look after numerous things once they have arrived at their respective colleges and universities. These include accommodation, health, money matters, registration, etc. But the first and the foremost duty of a student on arriving in United Kingdom is to open his or her account in order to carry out the required financial transactions. Even though, the student cannot open a bank account until he or she has arrived and enrolled at the college or the university, but Barclays now offers a bank account that can be opened before arriving in United Kingdom (International Student Handbook 2009). In order to open a bank account, an international student needs to first decide on the bank and the account that he or she requires. Some banks offer first-time students a Student Account with special advantages. However, each bank offers different facilities, and the student would need to compare and decide which one will be best for him or her (International student: banking Information 2009). Once the bank has been chosen, the student needs to take his or her passport along with his or her student visa to the chosen bank. If the student belongs to EU, then he or she is also required to take the national photo identity card as well (Opening a UK bank account 2003). Furthermore, the banks also require a letter or certificate from the university confirming the students United Kingdom study details. Moreover, in order to open an online or a telephone account, the bank may require more proof of the students identity (You can bank on it: opening a bank account in the UK 2004). The reaso n for banks requiring proof of ID is because the law of UK states that all financial services companies must do everything they can to ensure their services are not being used for financial crime. Because of this, banks must avoid accounts from being opened under fake identities. They must ask each and every individual who wants to open or operate a bank account for documents to prove their identity (International student opening a UK bank account, n.d) As Newcastle has gained the one of the top most position in the United Kingdom for further education, therefore the need for the student to open bank accounts to carry out their financial transactions has risen as well. This is because most international students who come to Newcastle are without local bank accounts and in the long run most students need such a facility to work on completing transactions such fees payments, living expense, accommodation and fulfillment of other financial needs. Thus, the banks have recognized the significance of international students as potential customer and it is due to this fact, the banks in Newcastle are aiming to improve their clientele by attracting students to open bank accounts in their respective bank through different marketing strategies and incentives. As a result, numerous bank representatives are seen roaming around in the first week of the academic year in various universities and colleges marketing their benefits to the potential cu stomers. These bank representatives provide students with information regarding various services and benefits that are offered at their respective banks. They would also provide information regarding the different accounts that can be opened at the banks. The most common type of accounts are: Deposit account or à ¢Ã¢â ¬ÃÅ"basic account Current account Student account The banks also offer a number of facilities to their customer to make their financial transaction more convenient and easier. These facilities include: Cash withdrawals available at Post Office Debit Card ATM ATM Card Direct Debit Online Banking Telephone Banking 1.1 Research Aims The basic aim of the research was to: Find the cheapest bank account students can open. Compare HSBC, Lloyds Plc, Barclays and NatWest in Newcastle for their international student services. Availability of banks/ATMs within the student area of Newcastle. 1.2 Research Objectives The objectives of the present research were to: Evaluate the best account type to open for international students. Investigate the majority of bank accounts used by international students. Investigate the reason for international students choosing a certain bank to open their bank accounts. Study the geographic locations and ease of access to the banks within the region designated to students and their life styles. Study the 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion, Place) of the banks. Investigate the importance of students as potential customers for the banks. Find out the marketing and management strategies employed by the four banks. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The banks in todays world are trying to attract students to open their accounts at their banks. The reason for this is that the banks think about it in the long term point of view. To them a student is not a student: a student is an individual who would have a career some day and this particular individual would be a loyal customer, would pay back his or her overdraft (sometimes with charges), need a loan or a mortgage and so on. Therefore, the perception of the student account summed up by the banks, is to facilitate the banking needs of the students who are working towards undergraduates. The basic banking needs that would help students fulfill their financial needs vary from bank to bank as different banks offer different products and services, such as cards, deposit slips and cheques, to its student customer. A small number of researches regarding the subject of bank selection decisive factor of international students in the UK have taken place over the years. Gray (1977) examined student behavior regarding bank services in the UK. He suggested that convenience was the most vital factor affecting the students choice of bank. Another research by Lewis (1982) analyzed the banking behavior in students studying in the UK. A total sample of 716 students in 11 universities and colleges in the Greater Manchester area were inspected for the research. From findings of the study, it was discovered that 92 per cent of students thought they would remain with their current bank until their course finished while 44 per cent considered carrying on with the same bank. Moreover, it was discovered that convenience of site of the bank and its facilities to college was the main factors influencing on students choice of bank. A study by Thwaites and Vere (1995), also taken place in UK, illustrated that nearness of an ATM to the educational institution, free banking service and student offers were the main three reasons used by students in choosing the banks to deal with. The present study was focused on researching the main facilities provided by HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest in their student account. Furthermore, the researcher also studied the extra facilities provided by each of the bank in the à ¢Ã¢â ¬ÃÅ"student account. The study helped the researcher get a general overview of the banking facilities provided to international student that were offered by HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest. Thus, the researcher was able to move forward and decide upon the most feasible and the optimum choice of international students regarding the bank and the bank account. The review of the literature was mainly focused upon the products and services offered by the four banks HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest to international students. Furthermore, the extra facilities that differentiated one bank from the other were also thoroughly studied in the literature review. National Westminster Bank Plc or generally known as NatWest is a part Europes second largest bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. In order to make the students financial transactions convenient and easier, NatWest has fifty five branches in the countrys largest universities. Moreover, NatWest also has 1650 branches that are more than any of the commercial banks in the country. To benefit the students who come to study in the United Kingdom from overseas, NatWest has offered a Blue International Account that charges a fee of 6.95 pounds monthly. This account facilitates international students by offering them an International Student Identity Card (ISIC) which enables the full time students more than 40,000 travel, online and lifestyle discounts within the region and abroad. Furthermore, the Blue International Account provides with a useful guide that contains information on banking in the UK and advice on how to manage finances as a student. The guide is available in 5 different l anguages. NatWest has also made transfer of funds for students easier as now they can easily receive money from their home country and pay their bill online. Moreover, the bank also offers both online and telephone banking to international students to keep a check of their finances during any part of the day. NatWest also offers the students mobile phone top-up facility along with mobile phone banking and text alerts regarding the finances. Another significant aspect of Blue International Account is insurance which allows students to insure mobile phone and other gadgets. Also, the bank offers the students an Orange SIM card for the mobile that dials to more than 50 countries for 5p per minute. NatWest also provides it student customers with discounts like saving 1/3 on rail fares if the students age ranges between 16 and 25 all the way through Great Britain for a whole year. Also, if the tickets are booked through the NatWest Box Office, then students receive a 25% discount on tick ets to the plays, concerts and other events (Advantage Blue International: student option 2010). The worlds à ¢Ã¢â ¬ÃÅ"local bank, HSBCs international network comprises of over 9800 offices in 77 countries along with 59,000 Link ATMs in the United Kingdom (HSBC Passport 2010). The bank offers a dedicated package known as the Passport Account for international students with 24 hours access to their money but with no credit or draft facilities. Students holding a passport account at HSBC are charged 6 pounds a month for a period of 12 months after which renewal of the account is mandatory (HSBC Passport 2010). The bank further provides passport holders with a Western Union Gold Card on which the students can earn points and make saving on transaction fees when sending money bank home. Also students can receive a discount of 4 pounds on international money transfer fee. The Passport Account at HSBC also offers its students customers with both internet and telephone banking. Moreover, the bank provides the students with Maestro Debit card and Direct Debit or standing orders and access to saving accounts with high interest (Comparison of banking facilities offered in Oxford by the major banks 2009). There is a special UK relocation service offered by the bank with relocation advice in eight different languages. The students can also receive a UK SIM card with 10 pounds of free credit along with low cost international calls. International students can also open a Basic Account at HSBC which is easy to comprehend and administer. The benefits of opening a Basic Account are that firstly, students can check balances, get statements and make withdrawals of up to 200 pounds with their basic bank account card at HSBC bank cash machines in UK. Secondly, students can also access up to 200 pounds per day over Post Office counters with basic bank account card and PIN numbers. Regular bills can be paid; standing orders and direct debits can be set up on the account. Also students can enjoy free internet and telephone banking (HSBC Passport 2010). The Lloyds TSB Group is a renowned UK-based financial service organization that offers complete banking and financial services in both United Kingdom and abroad. There are thirteen branches of Lloyds within the designated area for international students within Newcastle (Student Account 2010). There is a variety of Lloyds TSB student accounts to select from, depending on the requirements and situations. It has the most number of accounts available to offer to international students for free and minimum of 7.95 pounds monthly is charged for silver account and accounts such as gold have a higher fee rate with more facilities (Student Account 2010). The Lloyds Student Account has been presented with 5 Star Rating by Defaqto for its outstanding variety of attributes and advantages. There are three types of student accounts that students can choose from at Lloyds (Student Account 2010). Firstly, the Student Account offers a Debit Card and a Master Card. Also it provides with a free NUS Ex tra card and a years free mobile phone insurance. The students can receive up to 75 pounds cashback and free music downloads while using the Lloyds Student Bank Account. The facilities of internet banking, phone bank and free text alerts is also offered along with the benefit of saving the change in which surplus cash is moved into a savings account each month (Comparison of banking facilities offered in Oxford by the major banks 2009). Another type of student account offered is the Islamic Student Account which carries the same benefits as the Student Account but with the guarantee that the money will be held in reserve in accordance with Shariah (Islamic Law). Moreover, the student is given the option to utilize other non-Shariah benefits if they wish. The third type of bank account offered to students is the Graduate Account which receives a Classic credit card with at least Ãâà £500 credit limit. The facility of internet banking is also provided and commission-free travel mo ney is given as well (Student Account 2010). Barclays is one of the worlds top most banks. Their status has been created on over 300 years of services. Barclays is an international bank with its branches in more than 60 countries. Barclays offers an International Student Account known as the iBank Student that can be opened before arriving in United Kingdom (iBank Student and foreign student bank accounts with Barclays Wealth International 2010). iBank Student is offered for a small monthly charge of Ãâà £5 and a opening balance of Ãâà £1,000. The iBank Student account is an international account also available in sterling, US dollar and euro. The VISA debit card can be connected in sterling and is accepted in 22 million locations around the world (iBank Student and foreign student bank accounts with Barclays Wealth International 2010). Students can also receive discounts up to 25% on Hewlett Packard laptops, desktops and accessories. The account offers easy access and a savings account in which funds can be deposited a nd withdrawn whenever the customer wishes. The savings account can also be opened to earn higher interest by the student (Comparison of banking facilities offered in Oxford by the major banks 2009). The student can also gain access to complete collection of savings and investments or balances of Ãâà £10,000 or more. International telephone and online banking is available 24 hours to operate money in diverse currencies and time zones. The bank also offers expert advice from our mortgage advisers to help the student or his or her parents to buy property in UK (iBank Student and foreign student bank accounts with Barclays Wealth International 2010). The literature review on the different services offered by HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and NatWest indicated that all of the banks provide students with the basic services that are required to fulfill the financial transactions, however, the Student Account product is structured in various ways, in accordance with the style, strategy and control affairs of each bank. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Sample The present study was an investigation into student banking arrangements at four major banks- HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest- in the Newcastle area, and recommendations as to which provided the best services to international students. A sample of 100 subjects, including both males and females, ranging from the ages of 18 to 28 years, was drawn from different areas in Newcastle, United Kingdom. All the subjects were international students belonging to Newcastle university dormitories, Northumbria dormitories and Newcastle college campus in Newcastle. Another sample of 40 subjects, both males and females, was drawn from bank personnel of HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest. 10 employees from each bank were drawn as a sample. Further information from both international students and bank personnel was gathered regarding age, gender, education, accommodation, etc. 3.2 Sampling Strategy The sampling strategy employed in the research was Stratified Random Sampling. Stratified Random Sampling also referred as proportionalÃâà orÃâà quotaÃâà random sampling, is separating the population into uniform subgroups and then drawing a simple random sample from each subgroup (Trochim, 2006). The reason for employing Stratified Random Sampling was that it enabled the researcher to draw a sample of international students from the total population and then draw a random sample among the international students to administer the questionnaire. Same was the case with the questionnaire from the banking personnel. For the present study, both primary and secondary researches were carried out. The use of both primary and secondary researches enabled the researcher to not only gather facts and figures about the products and services the different banks offered but it allowed analysis of the arrangements that the banks offered to international students through these products and services. 3.3 Primary Research 3.3.1 Questionnaire for Students A questionnaire was distributed among international students of Newcastle to find out which of the bank accounts was used most by the students. The questionnaire also had questions concerned with why the students chose a certain bank among HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest and what features of that bank attracted them the most. There were questions designed to investigate the geographic locations and ease of access to these banks within the region designated to students and their life styles. The questionnaire was divided into three sections. The first section dealt with gathering the information regarding the student respondent. This section included questions on age, gender, and educational level, how the student was funding his/her education, his/her tuition fee, maintenance cost, etc. The second section of the questionnaire was designed to gain an insight in the respondents history of banking. This section included questions on the number of accounts the student held previously and the type of account he/she held. The next section that is the last section was regarding the respondents experience of banking in Newcastle with the four banks; HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest. The questions in this section also dealt with the importance of different offered services to the respondent, factors that were involved in the students choosing a certain bank. Furthermore, questions on comparison of the four banks in Newcastle that is, HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest on the difference of the services and the type of accounts the respondent held at these banks were also included. 3.3.2 Questionnaire for Bank Personnel Another questionnaire was designed to gather data from the bank personnel of HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest. These questions were related to how important potential student customers were to their organization. Furthermore, the questions also investigated the management and marketing strategies these banks used. This questionnaire was also divided into three sections. The first section of the questionnaire was designed to provide a profile of the bank employee who responded to the survey. Questions on age, gender, the bank they were currently working for and their designation at the bank were included. The next section was regarding the importance of students as customers to these banks. In this section, the banking personnel were asked questions regarding whether it was important to have students as their customers, the type of accounts held by the students, why the students chose their bank over their competitors and the significance of different types of services offered at their banks. The third section was related to the marketing strategies, that is, the 4Ps that the banks used to attract students. This section included questions on the product, price, promotion and place of the products and services offered to the international students. 3.3.3 Consent Letter All the participants in the study were given a consent letter, which gave them the right to withdraw any information at any stage of the research. Also the authority and confidentiality of the people was confirmed 3.3.4 Cover Letter A cover letter was attached to both the questionnaires which explained the aims and objectives of the research to the respondents. It gave information about the time that the questionnaire would take to complete. Furthermore, it explained the privacy and the confidentiality of the information gathered. . 3.4 Secondary Research Secondary research was also employed in the present study. The purpose for this was to gather data regarding each bank from internet, books, articles and international account handbooks. The use of secondary research enabled the researcher to gather information regarding the various products and services offered to international students by these banks. Furthermore, it also enhanced the level of objectivity involved in the research as the data was gathered from other sources. 3.5 Research Design A comparative research design was employed in the study. A comparative research design evaluates two or more groups on one variable (McMillan 1991). This was employed because the research is an investigation in to student banking arrangements at four major banks in the Newcastle area, and recommendations as to which provide the best services to international students; (HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest). Thus, it was a comparison of the four banks as to which offered the best and the cheapest services to international students. 3.6 Procedure In order investigate into student banking arrangements at four major banks- HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest- in the Newcastle area, and recommendations as to which provided the best services to international students, a sample of 100 subjects, ranging from the ages of 18 to 28 years, was drawn from Newcastle, United Kingdom. All the subjects were international students belonging to Newcastle university dormitories, Northumbria dormitories and Newcastle college campus in Newcastle. Another sample of 40 subjects was drawn from bank personnel of HSBC, Lloyds plc, Barclays and NatWest. A comparative research design was employed in the research which is aimed the comparison of two or more groups on one variable (McMillan 1991). Stratified random sampling was used. First of all written permission was taken from the heads of educational institutions and the banks. They were briefed about the research, its significance, time involved and the procedure. Furthermore, the sample populati on was informed and consent forms were distributed. Also the authority and confidentiality of the people was confirmed. Individual testing was carried out. One time approach to the participants was used for data collection. The subjects were administered the questionnaires. The testing e
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