Verification of MBTI Type Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Verification of MBTI Type - Essay Example The ESFP personality profile was also chosen as the hypothesized one based on the description of the ESFP given by Myers and Briggs – â€Å"Outgoing, friendly, and accepting. Exuberant lovers of life, people, and material comforts. Enjoy working with others to make things happen. Bring common sense and a realistic approach to their work, and make work fun. Flexible and spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments. Learn best by trying a new skill with other people.† The test results that came back were ISFP – which matched the hypothesized profile on all but the first variable. The MBTI measures an individual's preferred modes of experiencing stimuli, and responding to them along four dichotomous variables. Each alphabet of the personality profile code stands for the dominant aspect of one variable. The first variable is Extraversion – Introversion; which attempts to understand the direction of focus of the individuals’ attentions. The report shows a preference towards introversion; signifying a tendency to look within and share significant events with a few close people rather than many acquaintances. The results also suggest that the individual would prefer to work alone, and prefer their own space. The hypothesised result on this variable was Extraversion – an assumption not supported by the test results.

Examine and reflect how the practice of entrepreneurship today, in an Assignment

Examine and reflect how the practice of entrepreneurship today, in an ultra competitive environment, - Assignment Example An entrepreneur is not a surveyor having the apt maps and data at one’s disposal, but rather an explorer that has a hunch that something marvelous exists, at the very next turn. It is about the ability to take risk, about trying new permutations and combinations, about exploiting the till now ignored resources and above all, a willingness to face and manage any possible resistance and opposition (Welsch 32). May sound conservative, but, in a way, all entrepreneurs could be deemed to be destructive. However, it is a destructive attitude with an innovative and creative bent of mind. Certainly, entrepreneurship gives way to innovation, which alters, recombines and realigns the already existing values and way of doing things. All entrepreneurs have a discontented heart. They know that going by the scarce resources at their disposal; it is only creativity and ingenuity that will help them to be a success. So, most of the entrepreneurs shatter the available stereotypes and models of doing business, and replace them with something new and untried (Assudani 197). Therefore, entrepreneurship and a creative rebellion go hand in hand. Truly speaking, an entrepreneur is to be considered an entrepreneur only so long as one is committed to innovation and change (Assudani 197). It is all about recombining and reformatting the available information and resources in ways that escaped the attention, or p ut to question the gumption of earlier generations. Hence, by their very nature, most of the entrepreneurial initiatives are bound to come across resistance and opposition. In the contemporary times, good business is about creating the right balance between innovation and tradition. While entrepreneurship helps a business break into new and untried grounds, tradition helps keep it on a sound and stable footing. Inability to manage and reconcile innovation and

The Role of Food Essay Example for Free

The Role of Food Essay According to my Nutrition through the Life Cycle textbook, food is an essential need for humans and provides nutrients, energy in the form of calories, and other substances that are necessary for both good health and growth (Brown, 2). Even though this concept is very straightforward and well known among everyone, it is important to understand that there is more to food than meets the eye. Besides its vital role in ensuring that the energy demands of the human body’s continuous physiological processes is met, food can be very symbolic and capable of fulfilling a large variety of roles in an individual’s life. When examining the role of food in terms of the life cycle of an individual, it is important to note that it is always changing and will be different based on the person. In addition to satisfying our personal nutrition requirements, food is capable of revealing our individual characteristics, personal values, or even valuable information about our society as a whole. Out of the many different stages of the life cycle, there will be three stages in particular that I will be focusing on; they are: childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Childhood is often one of the most fun, memorable, and enjoyable stages of an individual’s life. Not only is it a time when an individual begins to build upon the knowledge they’ve acquired from toddlerhood; it is a time when a large number of friends can be made. This leads to one of the many roles food can serve in this stage of life, which is its role in the act of establishing and maintaining friendships. One perfect example of this role in action is during lunch hour in school. When it is time for lunch at school, all of the children congregate together and have the opportunity to socially interact and bond with one another while eating. At this time, children may even offer a portion of their lunch to their peers and use that moment as an opportunity to converse with others and establish friendships that may last a lifetime. In addition to having a social role, food can serve as a learning aid for the child when it comes to defining the traditions and heritage of their family. Parents often expose and introduce family traditions or specific items passed down from previous generations to their children; which may involve food. For example, a certain type of food or recipe (such as a special homemade cake or pie) that is significant or symbolic to a family can be passed down from the parents and presented to their child. Once the child is introduced to this specific kind of food, they will obtain and learn valuable information pertaining to the overall uniqueness, identity, history, and values of their own family. This information contributes significantly to the development of the child’s personal identity in future stages of their life cycle (such as adulthood) as well as their self-worth. Adolescence can be quite a hectic (but memorable) stage in an individual’s life. Just like how the overall way of life around this time has changed, the role food plays in this part of the life cycle has as well. At this point in time, food can often be used to relieve stress or be used as an aid to cope with the challenges life brings. For example, a teenager may binge on chips, cookies, and ice cream to help alleviate the stress of applying to colleges or studying for any upcoming exams that they have. Even though this method of dealing with stress isn’t necessarily the best way, I believe it is fairly common. I know I definitely used food as a coping mechanism during my adolescent years; but I have changed my ways and no longer do so. At this stage of the life cycle, not only does food play a role in stress relief, it also can play a role in the expression an individual’s religious beliefs and faith. Since most individuals at this age still live at home with their parents, most will typically continue to practice their family’s religion and depending upon how religious they are, may even chose to follow the dietary customs or guidelines that are specific to their religion. For example, teenagers that are Jewish may consume matzo during the week of Passover. By consuming matzo during this religious holiday, the teenager showcases to others how meaningful the religion of Judaism is to them and their dedication in following its overall customs and beliefs. The last stage of life that I will be discussing is adulthood; which is a rather lengthy part of the life cycle. During this time, the overall quality of life has changed even more and an individual is now in full control of their destiny. Besides the sudden increase in the opportunities and freedom experienced by those in this stage, the number of roles food can have is now abundant. One possible role food has in the life of an adult is a source of fun and entertainment. This can include a celebration for a significant milestone or event achieved by one or more individuals (such as a birthday or marriage), eating contests, parties, and cooking shows on TV. For example, when there is a wedding reception and banquet, a full three course meal composing of extravagant foods may be served and conclude with the ceremonial cutting and consumption of a specially decorated wedding cake. The cake itself not only celebrates the marital bond between a man and a woman; it is very symbolic and a common tradition followed by most in our society. One other role food can serve in an adult is a method of expressing both creativity and artistic skill. Cooking can be viewed as a form of art due to a massive number of ways foods can be prepared or combined. Foods exhibit a large of colors, can be plated or decorated beautifully, and baked goods can even be shaped in unique ways. For example, at the world famous Boudin Bakery in San Francisco, bakers demonstrate their artistic skills by molding sourdough bread dough into the shapes of animals (such as turtles and lobsters) and baking them. Another example includes a pastry chef decorating a birthday cake by adding and shaping the frosting at certain areas of the cake to look like flowers. In my life, food serves a large number of roles with one of the biggest being the fact that it identifies both my family heritage and culture. My grandparents emigrated from Eastern Europe and the Balkan region (specifically Belorussia and Serbia) and brought along with them their knowledge of the various food delicacies that are specific to their cultures. For example, my grandmother from Serbia regularly prepares and cooks traditional Serbian foods such as pita (hand-rolled dough with cheese and meat), stuffed peppers, and sarma (boiled cabbage stuffed with ground beef and rice). In fact, whenever I go back home, she always makes these foods for me to enjoy; even though it takes a lot of time to prepare them. Overall, these specific foods remind me of home, my childhood, and represent my cultural contribution and background to the diversity of our society. In my life, food also serves as a method of celebration and a reward for reaching special milestones or achieving goals. For example, when I received an acceptance letter from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at the University of Colorado, I enjoyed a fabulous steak dinner with my family and indulged on an enormous slice of chocolate cake. I always watch what I eat and try to make healthy choices, but that day was an exception because I accomplished a major personal goal. As you can see, food serves more than just a physiological and nutritional purpose. It has roles in portraying our personal religious beliefs, culture, family backgrounds, societal traditions, bonds with others, and unique personal skills. Food can even have a psychological role in people and serve as a coping mechanism in times of great stress. While this list or possible roles is rather lengthy, it is tiny compared the possible number of roles food can have to an individual throughout their lives; especially when considering the many different stages of life. Although there may be some role overlap, the role food plays in the life of a child could be different than in another stage of life (such as adolescence and adulthood). With that in mind, the next time you are in a restaurant or eating centre, take some time to observe what people of all ages are eating and how they are acting. You will see first-hand the importance and significance of food beyond the scope of nutrition and physiology in our way of life. Works Cited: Brown, Judith E. Nutrition Basics. Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, CENGAGE Learning, 2011. 2-3. Print.

Corporate Social Responsibility In The Banking Sector Finance Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility In The Banking Sector Finance Essay Since ancient times banking practices have always played a significant role in the development and progress within an economy. Banks facilitate financial transactions by collecting deposits from savers and lending loans to those in need of credit. Thus, it enables those that have surplus funds to meet with those who need further funds for expansion and investment purposes. However, it is often the case that mismatches occur between the period at which a depositor wants to save his money and the period at which a borrower would be able to pay up the amount owed by him. Therefore, as an intermediary a bank has to find ways with which to manage the mismatch between short term liabilities of the bank (such as deposits) and long term assets (such as loans). First and foremost a bank needs to be perceived as being trustworthy and thus needs to gain the publics confidence in order to attract financing. It is needless to say that if a particular bank were to go bankrupt, apart from its shareholders, the general public would also suffer considerably. The collapse of a bank might result in the loss of lifetime savings of individuals and families which were held at the particular bank. This would consequently undermine peoples confidence in the financial sector and drive other people to withdraw their money from their own banks which may in turn result in having other sound banks facing serious difficulties to cater for high volumes of withdrawals since a bank in its own nature of doing business holds only a percentage of the funds acquired by depositors and invests the rest in less liquid assets with longer maturities (such as mortgage loans). It is therefore of prominent importance that for an economy to prosper and grow, and thus for the general wellbeing of the whole community, there needs to be at its core a sound and efficient financial system and that the general public also perceives the system to be sound and trustworthy. In trying to address this issue policy makers have sought to achieve healthy financial systems and to promote public confidence through numerous legislations and regulations. In fact, the financial market is one of the most regulated markets in any economy, particularly the banking sector so as to minimise the risks that a bank is exposed to. For decades banks were severely restricted with respect to the services offered to clients, as well as methods allowed for financing and investments. This hindered the ability of banks to be competitive with other financial institutions that were not classified as banks and that had more lax regulations which enabled them to offer a wider range of services and take up more risks to finance their operations. Because the highly regulated financial environment was stifling competition between banks and non-banks, regulators loosened up their regulatory requirements so as to create a level playing field for all the financial institutions. With more lax regulations banks are able to take up more risks and offer a wider range of services to clients meaning also that banks have higher risks to fail or that the publics confidence will be more prone to be undermined because of riskier activities performed by banks. Higher risks and loss of confidence would lead to financial instability and, in some cases, to financial crises where the whole financial market is depressed. This in turn slows down the whole economy since the financial sector is the backbone of an economys financing. It is thought that one of the factors that in fact contributed to the 2008-09 financial crisis was a highly deregulated environment (Shah Gilani, 2005-2011). It is also typical that after financial crises regulators start reviewing their supervisory and regulatory standards and reregulate the industry once again. After the financial crisis of 2008-09 regulators are now imposing new regulations in order to ensure that another world financial crisis is avoided. The new amendments require banks to hold even more capital as a buffer for a given amount of risk it is exposed to than it was already required by law. This process of regulation, deregulation and reregulation is a continuous process that changes as the market itself develops and creates new services and thus is exposed to new risks. Deposit Insurance Agencies are set up for public safety against bank failures. However, in essence it is ultimately the tax-payers themselves that pay the price as the government intervenes to bail-out problematic banks. Because managers running banks are aware of the fact that if the bank fails the government will intervene, it is more likely that they engage in more risky activities and do not exert appropriate due diligence in the running of the business. This problem is known as moral hazard. Thus banks are more likely to engage in hazardous behaviour since if they fail the government will intervene and will not allow the bank to go bankrupt in order to safeguard the public interest. Also, banks are more difficult to have their performance evaluated than other businesses because of the complexity of the business itself. Thus this creates the problem of asymmetric information or, stated in other words, the problem that not everyone has the same opportunities to access the same information. Managers and interns within the banking institution have better information on the performance of the bank than outsiders have access to. This is diminished partially through required disclosure and other regulations that deal with insider dealing in order to promote transparency in the financial markets which again will enhance public confidence. However, it is not the first time that we hear about insider dealings or that disclosure of misleading information was presented to the public. It is therefore clear that although regulation plays an important role in ensuring market stability, efficiency and fairness it is not enough. As John R. Boatright (1999:7) brilliantly describes in his book Ethics in Finance the law is not the only guide within the financial sector. What is legal is not necessarily moral. He then goes on to define the law by saying that it is simply a crude instrument and cannot be used to regulate all financial activities because of their complex nature. Excessive regulation stifles competition, hinders innovation and it is difficult to regulate certain issues that arise within the financial industry such as the issue of conflicts of interests. Therefore self-regulation is nonetheless important in this highly regulated market and the implementation of CSR within the banking industry has yet a unique and special role as much as the role of a bank itself is unique within a community. History: BAnking Practices and Society Banking practices in the past were mainly carried out through the acceptance of gold and deposits to then issue loans with those deposits. Bankers profits consisted mainly in hefty interests received from loans. Bank customers consisted mainly of kings and the papacy during the 1500s up to 1600s and large loans were lent to finance wars and elections. Few can be said with regards to CSR before the 1900s in the implementation of banking practices as is the case with other businesses of the time. However, one may mention the Fugger Family which was one of the greatest banking dynasties after the Medici in the late 16th century. Namely Jacob Fugger established a community for the poor, known as the Fuggerei, which was built in Augsburg in 1519 and is still in use today (Bamber, 2001). This shows evidence of the paternalistic ideology that strongly characterised the economic sphere and business tendencies till the late 1800s. One may also note the great influential power that the banking sector exerted as early as the 16th century as the Fugger family financed Maximilians grandson Charles to bribe his electors; while in the 19th century the Rothschild family financed all of Napoleons enemies. The decisions undertaken by the bankers obviously had an impact on the outcome of events (Bamber, 2001) which shows that from the early stages of the industry banking practices had a strong influence on political, economic and social outcomes. As banking and lending practices were developed, these were not always considered as fair and just as we may know them today. Banks and other financial institutions tended to arbitrarily choose to whom financial services are given, often denying these services to people of colour or the poor. This could be freely done by banks after the process of deregulation giving them more leeway in their practices then before. This discriminatory practice is known as redlining because some bank managers used to arbitrarily mark residential areas occupied by coloured or poor people in red on geographic maps during the 1930s. Areas marked in red were denied financial services and this had a serious impact on urban development since these lacked the funds necessary for investment and developments leading to further urban decay (Boatright, 1999:101). It was not until 1968 that banks were prohibited by law to discriminate on housing lending through the enactment of the Fair Housing Act followed by a series of other regulations thereafter (Hunt, 2005). CSR initiatives developing in the 1950s in the business industry had a ripple affect also on the banking sector were through sanctions and regulations concerning environmental issues on polluting companies banks were also forced indirectly to take action and exercise more attention in the selection of corporate clients in order to safeguard their reputation. The 1980 Superfund in the U.S. and the Directive on Civil Liability for Damage Caused by Waste adopted by the European Commission in 1989 are namely two regulations relating to environmental concern emanating from business operations (IISD, 2010). The Fleet Factors Case of 1990 was one of the first proceedings in the U.S. that directly attributed responsibility for environmental damages caused by their corporate clients as the courts decided that lenders held the capacity to influence the borrowers waste management decisions even if it actually did not do so (IISD, 2010). The UNEP Financial Institutions Initiatives; (UNEP FI) was launched in 1992 with the collaboration of Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, Natwest, Royal Bank of Canada and Westpac in an attempt to garner financial institutions to promote awareness on the pivotal role that the financial sector has in sustainable development and environment protection and to unravel further on the relationship between economic development, environmental protection and sustainable developments (UNEP FI, 2011). During the same year the UNEP Statement by Financial Institutions on the Environment Sustainable development was drafted articulating further the role and responsibility taken over by financial institutions in contributing towards sustainable development in businesses and safeguarding the environment (UNEP FI, 2011). Another Green Paper set out by the European Commission in 1993 required that liability was assumed by the polluter and in case where the responsible party is not identified or unable to pay joint compensation funds financed by the industry should meet such costs on their behalf. The commission addressed also the problems of causation and insurability where more responsibility was exerted upon the shoulders of financial institutions (IISD, 2010). The UNEP was a main contributor to spread awareness and foster a socially responsible attitude in the way business was conducted within financial institutions through international round table meetings and global surveys on the environmental practices of the financial services sector (IISD, 2010). Thus, banks started experiencing more pressure to avoid the so called sin stocks and pay attention to the social performance of corporate clients and not only to financial performance. Many other international guidelines have been developed recently and it is important not to forget to mention the contribution of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is a member of the World Bank Group towards sustainable development and in promoting fair, open and competitive markets in order to fight poverty (IFC, 2010). Their common shared values found on the IFC website are depicted as follows: To fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results. To help people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity, and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors. In 2003 the IFC drafted the Equator Principles, a set of guidelines that may be voluntarily adopted by banks aimed to facilitate and aid these institutions wishing to carry out operations in a socially responsible manner. Essentially, the Equator Principles are nothing more than a financial industry benchmark for determining, assessing and managing social environmental risk in project financing (The Equator Principles, 2006). The Principles are targeted towards the financing of corporate clients whose investment projects are environmentally and socially responsible and include also advisory services offered by financial institutions with regards to project financing.  [1]   Who Cares Wins was an initiative undertaken by the financial industry, the UN Global Compact, IFC and the Swiss Government during 2004 (UN Global Compact, IFC, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, 2009, 2010:3). According to this report, the main aim of this initiative is to support the financial industrys efforts to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into mainstream investment decision-making and ownership practices through a series of high-level meetings with investment professionals. Again, here the goal is that of promoting socially responsible project financing through SRI. The United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative (PRI) are a set of six principles set up in 2005 in collaboration with some of the worlds largest institutional investors (UNPRI, 2011). This initiative was set up in partnership with the UNEP FI and the UN Global Compact. These principles posit the idea that since environmental, social and corporate governance issues may affect the performance of investment portfolios, thus it is important that an investor takes these issues into consideration when making investment decisions and therefore contribute also to the general wellbeing of society (UNPRI, 2011). One may mention numerable banks that are truly committed towards the maxim of doing well by doing the right thing and that actively participate with International NGOs to contribute towards the general wellbeing of communities. Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, and UBS are amongst the most known environmentally and socially driven banks in Europe. For the purpose of this thesis I will now proceed on to scrutinising and analysing the CSR policies of the banks mentioned to then compare them with those policies of three leading Maltese banks namely APS Bank, Bank of Valletta (BOV), and HSBC Malta in a later chapter. All information related to the CSR initiatives undertaken by the foreign and Maltese banks selected was extracted from their respective websites and CSR Reports. The main aim is to evaluate the transparency adopted by the Maltese banks and thus the extent to which they inform the general public in the way they go about their commitments towards society relative to well-establish ed and successful foreign banks. CSR Policies of Foreign Banks This section will give an insight on how some foreign banks known as being committed towards sustainable development, environmental and socially responsible project financing are currently engaging in CSR policies in order to achieve their goals and manage to be profitable and attract business by undertaking such activities given the existing highly competitive environment from other financial and non-financial institutions. For the purpose of this dissertation, the three foreign banks chosen are headquartered within the European Union territory since the Maltese way of doing business is very similar to the way it is conducted in Europe even CSR-wise and therefore it will facilitate comparison between foreign and Maltese banks. Furthermore, HSBC Holdings was selected specifically since it is the parent company of HSBC Malta which will be discussed in detail in the next chapter. Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank is a leading German and European financial institution successfully expanding its business globally with a work force of over 100,000 employees in 74 countries and offering a vast selection of financial services worldwide (Deutsche Bank AG, 2011). Deutsche Bank mission statement can be found on its official website as follows: We compete to be the leading global provider of financial solutions, creating lasting value for our clients, our shareholders, our people and the communities in which we operate. From the mission statement itself we may denote that the bank is committing itself not only towards its shareholders, clients and employees but their mindset is also headed for the benefit of the communities and their social needs. The banking institution has also formulated a set of values which drive its business orientation. One of these values set out on the banks website is trust where the bank claims confidently its trustworthiness, reliability and honesty. Other values mentioned are performance, teamwork, innovation, and client focus. Finally, the bank also promises stakeholders that the corporation will be operating with responsibility, keeping in mind not only current factors and issues in their decision making but also future consequences and factors that may arise due to todays decisions (Deutsche Bank AG, 2010). We may note by glancing briefly at the way the bank presents itself that it already carefully depicts itself as being socially and environmentally responsible in all aspects of its structural organisation. This however, is nothing new as all businesses especially banking institutions wish to be alleged as being ethical, trustworthy, honest and socially responsible so as to foster public confidence in their business. The bank has also received numerous awards or been ranked first for several social, environmental and corporate governance categories during 2010 some of which include Environmental Rankings, Art and Work Awards, and Top Companies that Care among others. In 2011 the bank has already been awarded the Charity Organisation of the Year 2010 and the European Employee Volunteering Awards 2011 (Deutsche Bank AG, 2011). Deutsche bank is renowned for its CSR initiatives internationally nurturing social and environmental awareness while working to alleviate such issues in communities where it operates. According to the banks official website (Deutsche Bank AG, 2011), Deutsche Bank focuses its CSR strategy in the areas of corporate volunteering, social investments, art music and education. The Communications CSR function is responsible of the banks global CSR initiatives followed by the approval of such initiatives by the Chairman of the Management Board (Deutsche Bank AG, 2011). Coordination of CSR operations is prepared at headquarters and then delegated to and implemented locally by the institutions regional teams (Deutsche Bank AG, 2011). This ensures effectiveness and efficiency through its initiatives and as perceived by the bank itself, it makes sure that it is acting as a responsible corporate citizen showing quite clearly that the bank favours and adopts the Corporate Citizenship Theory expl ained in the first chapter of this thesis. Deutsche Bank has set up ten CSR units in total till now dispersed globally which are namely the Deutsche Bank Foundation, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, Corporate Citizenship UK, Deutsche Bank Africa Foundation, Deutsche Bank Asia Foundation, Deutsche Bank Mena Foundation, Alfred Herrhausen Society, Historical Association of Deutsche Bank, Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP), and finally Deutsche Bank Donation Fund (Deutsche Bank AG, 2010). Through these organisations the bank manages its CSR operations worldwide and creates what the bank calls social capital through sustainability, corporate volunteering, social investments, art music, and education (Deutsche Bank AG, 2011); thus, the bank is CSR oriented at all levels of its operational, and organisational structure. Figure 2.1  [2]  : CSR at Deutsche BankFounded: 1992 Budget 2009: à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 3.2 m. The non-profit Alfred Herrhausen Society is the international forum of Deutsche Bank. Its work focuses on new forms of governance as a response to the challenges of the 21st century. The Alfred Herrhausen Society seeks traces of the future in the present, and conceptualizes relevant themes for analysis and debate. It works with international partners across a range of fields including politics, academia, and business to organize forums for discussion worldwide. www.alfred-herrhausen-society.org/en The banks total investments for the year end 2009 amounted to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬81.1 million of which 39% were invested in social investments, 29% were attributed to education and 27% were allocated to art and music (see figure 2.2 below). Deutsche banks investments were mainly targeted towards Germany, with total investments amounting to 45% at the end of 2009, followed by the Americas at 23%, and 12% of these funds were allocated to Asia Pacific and the UK. Deutsche Banks investments in Europe/Middle East and Africa amounted to only 8% of the funds (see figure 2.3 below). Figure 2.2  [3]  Figure 2.3  [4]   Regional split of total CSR investments Share of total investments per area of activity Kate Cavelle, Director of Corporate Citizenship at Deutsche Bank in the UK, stated that the four main reasons why investment banks care about CSR are social responsibility, staff motivation, client and public perception during an interview conducted by The Gateway in 2010. She also argued that at Deutsche Bank it is recognised that the bank should be highly committed towards CSR. In the UK, Deutsche Bank engages in initiatives such as promoting education so that young people may reach their full potential (The Gateway, 2010). Social Investments undertaken by the bank also include work with the homeless and unemployed persons and works closely with several other UK organisations such as the Globe Theatre and Design Museum. The bank also supports young artists through the sale of art acquired by the bank while keeping employee morale high by changing its art collections through time (The Gateway, 2010). Deutsche Bank is also involved in a microfinance programme where loans are granted with lower interest rates to persons who otherwise would not be able to be granted any credit. According to Kate this is also a good and safe investment undertaken by the bank and thus microfinance is beneficial for the business as well. The bank also encourages employees to get involved in voluntary work and helps out in finding activities that employees may engage in (The Gateway, 2010). On another note, according to an article written in the Financial Times of 23rd March, 2011, Deutsche Bank was sued for breaching its duties when the bank sold a complex interest rate product to a corporate client. The bank was fined à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬541,000 to compensate for the damages inflicted on the client as judge Ulrich Wiechers claimed that the bank should have been clearer when advising the client about the risks involved. Apparently the bank is involved in other eight similar cases at the federal court level involving complex financial instruments known as swaps while it has 17 cases at lower courts (The Financial Times, 2011). This may indicate that although the bank is highly committed and publicly declares its commitments towards sustainable business in its operations, there is still some work to be done in implementing such goals in the day to day transactions and operations undertaken by the bank. HSBC Holdings HSBC is one of the largest financial institutions in the world and is headquartered in London. It operates in 87 countries across the globe. According to the banks official website the bank was established in 1865 to cater for the increasing trade between China and Europe and was named after its founder which is The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. The bank offers a wide range of financial services to cater for different customer needs including Personal Financial Services, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Private Banking (HSBC Holdings plc, 2011). The banks values can be summarised into four concise points found on its official website. HSBC is open to different ideas and cultures; connected with its customers, community and each other; and finally dependable and doing the right thing (HSBC Holdings, 2011). The bank is thus promoting itself as embracing an inclusive environment between employees, and has effective and efficient communication throughout all levels of the organisation including communication with its stakeholders while undertaking sustainable and responsible business practices. By managing risks the bank aims at addressing business opportunities in a sustainable manner and by taking into consideration present and future impacts upon the environment and communities, in particular poorer areas (HSBC Holdings plc, 2011). The bank is also enlisted and involved in a number of external organisations among which are the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNEP FI, UN Global Compact, Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Global Sullivan Principles, OECD Principles for Multinational Enterprises and the Equator Principles (HSBC Holdings plc, 2011). HSBC believes that through robust business and sustainable revenues it is also primarily contributing towards the economy, the environment and to the communities and hence, maximising also stakeholder needs (HSBC Holdings, 2011). This statement, in my opinion, is almost synonymous with the arguments put forward in the SVT Theory and Adam Smiths invisible hand that by maximising shareholder wealth, one is also contributing to the benefit of the other stakeholders automatically. The bank is also involved with NGOs so that it may identify how to manage better sustainable risk, while it also works with NGOs to raise financial awareness and help customers on how to manage their finances, thus reducing risks of loan defaulting and keep their home ownership, while of course reducing further the banks risks related to these loans (HSBC Holdings, 2011). According to the banks website, it also engages in SRI investments and responds to several surveys and indices from various organisations. HSBC considers managing the environmental and social impacts of providing finance to our customers as part of business as usual. (HSBC Holdings, 2011). Thus, HSBC describes its commitment towards CSR through the assessment of their corporate clients as being ingrained in the nature of their business, and it seems that the bank acknowledges that this is the right way of doing business. Apart from abiding by the Equator Principles, HSBC has also set up a set of risk policies for sensitive areas such as chemicals, defence, energy etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (HSBC Holdings, 2011). Through its financial services operations the bank is committed to reducing carbon emissions and because climate change impacts directly the banks customers and its own operations, according to the official website, the bank perceives that it is of utmost importance that these issues are included in its strategies. The bank also engages with microfinance institutions (MFIs) which provide loans and other services to cust omers. According to the HSBC official website, in India the bank is working with 11 MFIs to provide for financial services to people in rural and urban areas (HSBC Holdings, 2011). The bank also provides for financial services in rural areas situated in China making it easier for farmers and people living in these areas to access such services. The bank also provides for funds in constructing better water infrastructures (HSBC Holdings, 2011). The bank feels that it is contributing towards the communities it operates in by providing services to clients, employment, meeting its regulatory obligations and other obligations to suppliers, investments in local business and through financial donations or voluntary work and in this way it also secures its success as a bank (HSBC Holdings, 2011). Following to the information found on its website the bank allocated the sum of $100 million to community investments as at the year ending 2009. The bank entered into a partnership with SOS Childrens Villages in 2006 and established Future First to aid less fortunate children around the world with their educational needs. This initiative has expanded significantly throughout the years and over 500,000 children benefit from this programme around the globe (HSBC Holdings, 2011). JA More Than Money is an initiative monitored in promoting financial awareness among the youth and is run by HSBC volunteers. Children attending this educational p rogramme range from seven to eleven years old. The bank has also set up other programmes namely the HSBC Climate Partnership which is a five year programme targeted to reduce climate change and its impacts on society and the environment and HSBC Eco-Schools Climate Initiative to raise awareness in school on climate change and what action can be taken to reduce its impacts (HSBC Holdings, 2011). In the section dedicated to sustainability reporting on the official website of HSBC one may find a number of sustainability reports. The following table was extracted from the HSBC Holdings plc Sustainability Report for 2009 illustrating the implementation of the Equator Principles in the granting of loans. Table 2.1  [5]  : Adoption of Equator Principles in the Granting of Loans The bank granted only 5 loans which fall under Category A, meaning that these loans may have adverse social or environmental impacts that are diverse, irreversible or unprecedented. Although small in number, the bank still granted such loans to its clients, with a total value of 1,296 almost 7 times larger than the value granted in 2008 of 178. In 2009 the Category B and Category C amounted for the most part of loans granted by the bank. Figure 2.4  [6]  : Division of Clients Compliance with HSBC Environmental Policies Most of the clients comply with HSBCs policy totalling 75% and amounting to 82% in loan value while there are still some clients that do not comply at all with this policy even though these are very small in number and even smaller in value. The banks community investments where mainly allocated towards education, which amounted to 45% while 29% where allocated to environmental investments as illustrated in figure 2.5. The bank also encourages employees to engage in voluntary work, and it works towards reducing carbon emissions on its premisses (HSBC, 2009:16). Figure 2.5  

Romeo and Juliet: The Play :: essays research papers

Romeo and Juliet: The Play" Accidentally, incidentally, unintentionally, intentionally; no one ever really knows, but we are for certain one thing: â€Å"the heart isits own fate.† For Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare’s masterpiece play ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ this holds especially true. Romeo and Juliet’s â€Å"misadventure piteous overthrow† is fueled by their love for each other and their determination to be together, no matter what. Romeo and Juliet’s love with stands the hate surrounding them. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the two young lovers’ heartbreaking tragedy. A letter, never meant to even graze the hand of a Montague, was indeed read by a Montague. As fate would have it, a servant gets tangled up on the addresses of the letters to be delivered, notifying recipients of Capulets’ masquerade party, and stops the first pedestrian that walks by, hoping that he would direct them to the correct address. Undoubtedly, the first pedestrian he ran across was Romeo, his kinsman Benvolio in tow. When Benvolio learns word of the party, he is eager to go, while Romeo is reluctant. With a little nagging, Benvolio and Mercutio convince Romeo to go. It takes one glance, one intense, meaningful glance, and Romeo is in like with Juliet Capulet, his loathed enemy. With one kiss, they are both in love with each other, without knowing, tragically seal both of their lives into a tomb of confinement, filled only with their love for each other. Another episode of fate, or rather dramatic irony, happens when Romeo somehow misses getting a letter from Tybalt Capulet, his enemy, challenging him to a duel. Romeo, unknowing of the tragic letter sent to him, but not gotten, goes to tell his friends of his beautiful bride, but, in return, comes face-to-face with none other than Tybalt, his loathed enemy, the kin to his new bride, Juliet. As soon as Romeo shows up, though, he is greeted by Tybalt’s insults, calling him a villain, but instead of stepping up to Tybalt’s challenge, though, Romeo backs down, saying, â€Å"Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting. Villain I am none. Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest not me.† After harsh words are spoken, families are disgraced, and names are scorned, Romeo finally just backs away. Mercutio, though, cannot let his man be put to disgrace, so he decides to defend Romeo’s name.

Advertisement Manipulation :: essays research papers

Advertising Manipulation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Advertisements are located everywhere. No one can go anywhere without seeing at least one advertisement. These ads, as they are called, are an essential part of every type of media. They are placed in television, radio, magazines, and can even be seen on billboards by the roadside. Advertisements allow media to be sold at a cheaper price, and sometimes even free, to the consumer. Advertisers pay media companies to place their ads into the media. Therefore, the media companies make their money off of ads, and the consumer can view this material for a significantly less price than the material would be without the ads. Advertisers’ main purpose is to influence the consumer to purchase their product. This particular ad, located in Sport magazine, attracts the outer-directed emulators. The people that typically fit into this category of consumers are people that buy items to fit in or to impress people. Sometimes ads can be misleading in ways that confuse the c onsumer to purchase the product for reasons other than the actual product was designed for. Advertisers influence consumers by alluding the consumer into buying this product over a generic product that could perform the same task, directing the advertisement towards a certain audience, and developing the ad where it is visually attractive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, a Multi Tap consists of an L-shaped design with four ports to allow for four Playstation controllers instead of the normal two. The Multi Tap is helpful for some Playstation games that allow for more than two people to play. The layout of the Multi Tap advertisement attracts attention when compared to other similar advertisements. The simple, black and white display of the ad stands out when compared to other ads, which are usually bright and colorful. This manner of presenting the information brings about a simplistic alternative to an otherwise complex world. The Multi Tap is then displayed in the center of the ad to draw attention to its unmistakable design. The advertisement makes the readers think that this device is so easy to use; all one has to do is simply plug the Multi Tap into the PlayStation console and start playing. The ad also tells the readers that with less hookup time, the Multi Tap leaves more time to play. The words â€Å"KNOCKOFF MULT I TAPS. NOW YOUR FRIENDS CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY KNOW WHAT A CHEAP BASTARD YOU ARE.† are placed on a black background and emphasized with big, white, bold, capital letters.

A Brawl in Mickey’s Backyard Essay

A Brawl in Mickey’s Backyard was a very complex and controversial case! SunCal wanted to build affordable housing in the resort district however, Disney was opposed to this plan. Disney wants that resort district built up with tourism in mind. Disney would rather see hotels and restaurants to further accommodate their customers. Stakeholders play a vital role in a business! It’s important to consider the opinions and thoughts of both market and nonmarket stakeholders. When we look at this case, there are a lot of stakeholders for Disney that are involved in this. Let’s begin by looking at some of the market stakeholders. These market stakeholders include Disney’s employees, who would benefit from cheaper housing in an area close to their place of employment. Often the employees don’t make very much money and are having to commute longer distances. This affordable housing would’ve greatly helped them. Customers are also another market stakeholder for Disney. The idea is for the customers to feel â€Å"they’re in another world†. Disney is keeping them in mind and trying to make more attractions in the area that make them more appealed to the area. Of the nonmarket stakeholders the most relevant in this case was the community itself and the City Council. In order for that community to thrive in the way it does, it’s important to keep businesses thriving as well. The City Council is involved because it had to be voted on because it was in a resort district. Although I can see both sides have great points, I feel very strongly that the workers for Disney should be able to find affordable living quarters in the near vicinity. I hope that Disney realizes that they should value their employees because the tourist couldn’t be accommodated without them. I think that SunCal should be able to build the affordable housing area in a near vicinity, just not on the resort itself. I also think that Disney should go out of it’s way to help SunCal because this housing will benefit their employees. A Brawl in Mickeys Backyard Essay Q1 The issue in the case of â€Å"A Brawl in Mickey’s Backyard† is that the employees at Disney feel that they are not treated well by the famous theme park owners going so far as to say that â€Å"they want to make money [referring to Disney], but they don’t care about the employees†. The uproar and the sentiment was expressed more vigorously in the opening scene of the case, when dozens of protestors gathered in August of 2007 to stage a kit to express their open displeasure at Disney’s lack of support for their employees. The protest was instigated when a local developer called SunCal arranged to buy 26 acre site in the resort district across the street from the theme park. SunCal plans were to build 1,500 condominiums with 15% of the units set aside for below the market rate rental apartments. Since housing in Anaheim, California [the home to the Disney theme park] was expensive, many of Disney’s 20,000 employees couldn’t afford to live there. The average price of a house in the vicinity was more than $600,000 and a rental of a one bedroom apartment was $1400 a month. Keeping in mind custodians at the park earned an average of $1916 a month so that would leave them with only about $500 of their salary barely enough to sustain them for the rest of the month! Also, keep in mind that restaurant attendants earn around $1166 a month, so a rental is out of the question, which brings us to the fact that only about 18% of the resort employees are able to afford living in the area. The 16400 employees are left to commute long distances by car or bus to get to work. Furthermore, when SunCal wanted to proceed with its plans it had to get permission from the City Council, because its plans for the development were in the resort area. It wasn’t clear if SunCal was going to succeed so it roused a lot of advocates from the employees at Disney as well as affordable housing advocates as well as by other individuals and groups who supported the prospect of reducing long commutes, thus reducing air pollution. However, Disney was in the way. It greatly opposed the plan for several reasons. One of which was that the resort district across the street was just that: a resort district. In the early 1900’s , the city of Anaheim designated 2 square miles across the street from the theme park as a special resort district. The resort area, which was 5% of the city’s area only, produced more than half of its tax revenue by 2007. Therefore the area and any development new or old within it were restricted to serve only tourist needs. This meant tourism related development such as hotels and restaurants, Disney argued, and not affordable housing. Disney argued that it wasn’t against the issue of providing the employees with affordable housing, but it is against it being in the area that is allocated for tourism. Having SunCal go ahead with its plan will affect the area and its theme park subsequently because it will take land away from being allocated to tourists needs [will be explained more fully in Q3]. â€Å"It’s not an either/or† Disney argued â€Å"Anaheim has to address the issue of affordable housing but it also had to protect the resort area! † The two sides quickly formed their own advocates. SunCal advocates formed the Coalition to Defend and Protect Anaheim declaring that â€Å"these new homes would enable many families to live near their places of work and thereby reduce commuter congestion on freeways†. Disney’s advocates on the other hand formed Save our Anaheim Resort District to protect the resort area from non-tourism projects. The City Council was split on the issue, to say the least. The five person council has to decide if it will give permissions for SunCal to proceed to build its development plan in a site located strictly for tourism projects, only because this will solve the affordable housing dilemma, or stick with Disney’s claim that the site was made from the start for tourism projects and disregarding the fact now will only hurt the area and the businesses in it as well the theme park of course. Q2 The relevant market stakeholders are Disney’s stockholders, creditors, suppliers, customers, employees and distributors as well as other resort based owners located within the resort district. The nonmarket stakeholders are the community, government, media, and non-governmental organizations. Q3 The stockholders of Disney will be affected adversely by SunCal plans because it might slow down the flow of tourists to the area and thus affect the theme park’s profits and the stockholders profits, dividends subsequently. They are opposed to SunCal’s proposal solely because the area should be targeted to bring about as much tourists to the area and thus enlarge the theme park’s tourist segment and bring out more potential profit and capital appreciation for the stockholders. The same can be said about the resort based business owners, because they may depend on Disney which is the main attraction for the continuation of their businesses. Fewer developments for tourists, less tourists, lesser incentives for them to come to the area and as such will affect Disney adversely which in return will affect the businesses that depend on it for tourist attractions. Moreover, this will in turn affect the creditors, suppliers, and distributers of Disney. The amount of credit needed to run the theme park will be reduced heavily since there will be fewer tourists to attend to. Fewer supplies will be needed if tourism will lessen in the area and as such there will not be as many supplies being distributed. Therefore, the creditors, suppliers, and distributors are all against SunCal’s proposal because it might affect the success of their business if Disney’s attraction is compromised. This can even affect the employees [at Disney and at the various businesses in the resort area] because they will be impacted in various ways including reduced hours or layoffs and reduced salaries, if tourism in the vicinity decreases. The community, government, media and non- governmental organizations can be all entities that are split on the issue. The community for example, is split between providing a solution for the affordable housing issue [therefore in favor of the proposal], or preserving the area that brings prosperity to a lot of businesses [against the proposal]. The same can be said about the government, to be specific, the chamber of commerce is against SunCal’s proposal because it might lesson the profits that the city reaps [the resort area produces more than half of its tax revenue] and the other side of the government wishes to appease its community and wants Disney to take responsibility for its employees. The non-governmental organizations such as the activists we’ve seen in the first scene of the case and the unions that represent Disney’s affected employees from the long communes’ are in favor of SunCal’s plan. However there might be other unions and activists against the plans, even though they are not mentioned specifically in the case text. Q4 The relevant market stakeholders are Disney’s stockholders, creditors, suppliers, customers, employees and distributors as well as other resort based owners located within the resort district. They all have legal power, in which they can bring suit against a company for damages, based on harm caused by the firm. The stockholders in Disney have Voting Power, of which they can exercise their voting rights based on share ownership. They also have the power to inspect the company’s books and records. The creditors, suppliers and distributors, customers and employees have Economic Power. The creditors may call in loans if payments are not made. Suppliers and distributors may supply or distribute to competitors, or even refuse to meet orders if conditions in the contract are breached. Customers can imitate the suppliers and distributors in which they can switch loyalties and purchase their goods from competitors, or even go to extremes such as boycotting the goods and products if deemed unsatisfactory. The employees can from unions to bargain for their wants, they can even refuse to work or take action and perform strikes. They may even go public and influence the media to adopt their issues.