Reflection Paper College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection Paper College - Essay Example This is important because it shifts the focus in the day-to-day activities from the base employee-level to supervisor and middle management and as such, one's skills should be geared to dealing with supervisors. Recognizing the strategic business role that HR plays and "seeing the big picture" of HR within an organization is an important lesson going forward and I believe that such an appreciation will be welcomed and respected by my future employers. Another important learning outcome was the function that the High-Powered Work System of (HPWS) had in guiding HR practices, specifically Staffing and Compensation. Leveraging technology in combination with organizational structure is an essential aspect to the HPWS and as a consequence Human Resources. How to utilize those technologies and developing a structure that seeks to integrate those technologies in a human resources capacity will be an important part of my Human Resources philosophy. Workplace Diversity is more about thriving in a globalized market than achieving Equal Opportunity employment practices.

Labor Relations Essay Example for Free

Labor Relations Essay In reviewing information pertaining to labor unions, there is a plethora of information about unions in the transportation industry. One of the most widely known unions is the teamster unions, which deals with truckers. Labor unions and issues with automotive industry are often seen in the media. The newest transportation industry in American history is the airline industry. As the newest transportation industry that is still vital to American comfort, convenience, and commercial, the airline industry is ripe for workers to organize and demand a greater piece of the profits from operations. In this essay, an effort will be made to review this company in regards to labor relations. Company’s stance toward Labor Delta Airlines was founded by C. E. Woolman, an agriculture extension agent (Anthony, Kacmar, Perrewe, 2010). C. E Woolman was not a banker, venture capitalist or war pilot, as many of the competing airlines were. He didn’t have the aggressive military style that many of the other airline founders had. What C. E. Woolman instilled within the employees at all levels of the organization is that people matter and should be treated fairly and equitably. This philosophy led Delta Airlines to be the leader in customer service from the company’s inception through the many mergers over the years. Through the difficult financial times when other airlines were laying off employees and filing for bankruptcy, Delta continued to pay their people well and keep them employed. There was an exception during the Ronald Allen CEO era of 1987 thru 1997. Human relations took a significant down turn during his tenure as CEO, especially during 1993 and 1994, but Delta decided to part ways with Allen and began repairing those fragile relationships with its employees. Delta Airlines still focuses on the human relations factor and has been able to repair the relationship with its employees; they believe it is their key to success. Despite the corporate culture to take care of its employees, a number of Delta employee departments are unionizing. They feel as though that piece is not being distributed justly. Formulate a strategy for negotiating a labor agreement Human behavior dictates that there will be problems. As a company starts making money, there is always a desire by the employees to acquire more of the profit. On the other hand, management has a desire to retain as much of the profit to be provided to investors and to receive bonuses for their â€Å"supposedly† wise business practices. When one group wants more and another wants to retain, there will be conflict. And this is precisely what is happening at Delta Airline, as well as among many industries in the transportation arena. Employees, seeking to gain an upper hand threaten to strike; however, management must be willing to address the matter through negotiation. The Negotiation Process Fisher and Ury recommend conducting negotiations according to the process of principled negotiation. Their method has four main tenets: 1. Separate the people from the problem. The idea should be for both sides to work together to attack a problem, rather than attacking each other. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to overcome emotional responses and set aside egos. 2. Focus on interests rather than positions. The natural tendency in many negotiations—for example, dickering over the price to be paid for an antique—is for both sides to state a position and then move toward middle ground. Fisher and Ury warn against confusing peoples stated positions with their underlying interests, and claim that positions often tend to obscure what people truly hope to gain through negotiation. 3. Generate a variety of options before deciding what to do. The pressure involved in any type of negotiation tends to narrow peoples vision and inhibit their creativity, making it difficult to find optimal solutions to problems. Instead, Fisher and Ury suggest developing a wide range of possible solutions as part of the negotiating process. These possible solutions should attempt to advance shared interests and reconcile differences. 4. Base the result on objective criteria. No one will be happy with the result of a negotiation if they feel that they have been taken advantage of. The solution is to find and apply some fair standard to the problem in order to guarantee a mutually beneficial result. Fisher and Urys principles provide a good overall guide for the actual negotiation process. In his book, Nierenberg offered a number of other tips and strategies that may be effective in promoting successful negotiations. For example, it may be helpful to ask questions in order to form a better understanding of the needs and interests of the other side. The questions must be phrased diplomatically and timed correctly in order to avoid an antagonistic response. The idea is to gain information and uncover basic assumptions without immediately taking positions. Nierenberg stressed the importance of listening carefully to the other sides responses, as well as studying their facial expressions and body language, in order to gain quality information. Nierenberg noted that good negotiators will employ a variety of means to accomplish their objectives. Small business owners should be aware of some of the more common strategies and techniques that they may see others apply or may wish to apply themselves. One common strategy is forbearance, or patience pays, which covers any sort of wait or delay in negotiations. If one side wishes to confer in private, or adjourn briefly, they are employing a strategy of forbearance. Another common strategy is to present a fait accompli, or come to a final offer and leave it up to the other side to decide whether to accept it. In a simple example, a small business owner may scratch out one provision in a contract that he or she finds unacceptable, then sign it and send it back. The other party to the contract then must decide whether to accept the revised agreement. Nierenberg warns that this strategy can be risky, and encourages those who employ it to carefully appraise the consequences first. Another possible negotiating strategy is reversal, which involves taking a position that seems opposed to the original one. Similarly, feinting involves apparently moving in one direction in order to ivert attention from the true goal. For example, a negotiator may give in on a point that is not very important in order to make the real objective more attainable. Another strategy involves setting limits on the negotiation, whether with regards to time, the people involved, or other factors. It is also possible to change the participation in the negotiation if it seems to be at an impasse. For example, a neutral third party may be enlisted to help, or one or two people from each side may be sent off to continue the negotiation separately. It may also be helpful to break down the problem into small pieces and tackle them one by one. Another strategy might be to trade sides for a short time and try to view the situation from each others perspective. All of these techniques may be applied either to gain advantage or to push forward a negotiation that has apparently reached an impasse. Analyze the principle economic and administrative issues The airline industry is a fast growing sector demonstrating a very strong growth rate. It is associated with a number of social and economic benefits and is a growing contributor to the global inventory (Whitelegg, 2000). Business cycles have a wide reaching impact on the airline industry; during recession, air travel was considered a luxury and therefore spending is cut which leads to reduced prices. The industry creates its impact not just by providing direct employment, but also through the creation of opportunities throughout the travel and hospitality sector of the economy. Jobs in hotels, resorts, restaurants and car rental agencies are all impacted by the airline industry (Global Airline Industry Program, 2011). The airline industry itself is a major economic force, both in terms of its own operations and its impacts on related industries such as aircraft manufacturing and tourism. There are few industries that create the amount and intensity of attention that airlines receive, not only among its participants but from government policy makers and the media as well. The crucial issues on the table vary depending on whether the person is in management or is a worker. For management, the key to retain as much money as possible, while for the workers the goal is to obtain more of the profit. Thus, in management, the argument would be made to show how much money is used to provide employee insurances and benefits, reinvest in equipment and aircraft, general property and liability. On top of that, investors must be repaid. For the employee or worker, this is a stressful environment where the employee needs to be compensated for his work-related stress. Employee paid benefits continues to decrease, and the employee is forced to pay a disproportionate share. Thus, the employee needs more money just to live at a sustainable level. Recommend policies and procedures to administer a labor contract and resolve disputes. It is of utmost importance to resolve conflict expeditiously and justly for all parties involved. Thus, I would recommend the following policies as a means to resolve disputes: When a team oversteps the mark of healthy difference of opinion, resolving conflict requires respect and patience. The human experience of conflict involves our emotions, perceptions, and actions; we experience it on all three levels, and we need to address all three levels to resolve it. We must replace the negative experiences with positive ones. Acknowledge the conflict – The conflict has to be acknowledged before it can be managed and resolved. The tendency is for people to ignore the first signs of conflict, perhaps as it seems trivial, or is difficult to differentiate from the normal, healthy debate that teams can thrive on. If you are concerned about the conflict in your team, discuss it with other members. Once the team recognizes the issue, it can start the process of resolution. †¢ Discuss the impact – As a team, discuss the impact the conflict is having on team dynamics and performance. Agree to a cooperative process – Everyone involved must agree to cooperate in to resolve the conflict. This means putting the team first, and may involve setting aside your opinion or ideas for the time being. If someone wants to win more than he or she wants to resolve the conflict, you may find yourself at a stalemate. †¢ Agree to communicate – The most important thing throughout the resolution process is for everyone to keep communications open. The people involved need to talk about the issue and discuss their strong feelings. Active listening is essential here because to move on you eed to really understand where the other person is coming from. Determine the most likely interest dispute and determine how you could leverage economic pressure to help resolve that dispute. â€Å"There is no way to overstate the role â€Å"leverage† plays when it comes to achieving favorable settlements. Leverage is defined as: â€Å"positional advantage; the power to act effectively; strategic advantage†. Stated more simply, your leverage is whatever power you have† (Cory, 2011). Leverage is usually more about situational advantage than objective strength or power. For example, a single individual or small business may have few resources relative to a large corporation but still have situational advantage by virtue of being able to compel the larger corporation to appear and answer in a favorable venue. Likewise even when there is a legitimate claim which could result in a significant loss to the defendant, if the plaintiff does not have the resources or the fortitude to stay the course, then the defendant has the situational advantage by virtue of being able to delay and wait the plaintiff out. Leverage can be real or imagined. Your actual leverage at any point in time is based only on the other side’s perception of your leverage (which can obviously differ significantly from the actual facts). There are obviously situations where you have an information advantage, such as when you know about a weakness in your case that is not yet known by the other side. In such a situation you will, perhaps only briefly, appear to have more leverage than you actually do. Likewise, you can be at an information disadvantage such as when you mistakenly think that the other side has a stronger case than they actually do. There are also situations where you mistakenly think that your case is stronger than it actually is which occurs when for one reason or another you don’t have all the facts, or when the facts have not been accurately relayed to you. But regardless of your actual leverage, if there is no fear on the other side, you have little if any effective leverage (Cory, 2011).

Faulkners Expression of the Human Spirit Essay -- Literary Analysis

William Faulkner accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in December 1950. During his acceptance speech, Faulkner proclaimed that the award was made not to him as a man, but to his life’s work, which was created, â€Å"out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before† (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html). He felt that the modern writer had lost connection to his spirit and that he must reconnect with the universal truths of the heart—â€Å"love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice† (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html). Through his characters voice and exposure of their spirit, Faulkner solidified man’s immortality by â€Å"lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past† (http://www.nobelprize. org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html). Although some critics have characterized his work as violet, dealing with immoral themes and the miseries and brutality of life; it can be argued that even his most sad and depraved characters express positive virtues and personal strengths. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the portrayal and manifestation of the human spirit in a select few of William Faulkner’s literary characters, showing that they possess both human strength and flaws. So what is the human spirit and why is it significant? It is a somewhat indefinable concept. According to Faulkner the human spirit is the connection to the universal truths of the heart—â€Å"love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice† (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/liter... .../laureates/1949/faulkner-speech.html. 1950. Gwynn, Frederick L. and Joseph L. Blotner, eds. Faulkner in the University: Class Conferences at the University of Virginia 1957-58. New York: Vintage Books, 1959. Hoffman, Frederick J. The Art of Southern Fiction: A Study of Some Modern Novelists. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 1967. Howe, Irving. William Faulkner: A Critical Study. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1975.Orig. 1951. Vintage Books, 1962. Meriwether, James B. and Michael Millgate, eds. Lion in the Garden: Interviews with William Faulkner 1926-1962. New York: Random House, 1968. O’Donnell, George M. â€Å"Faulkner’s Mythology.† William Faulkner: Four Decades of Criticism. Linda W. Wagner, ed. East Lansing, MI: MSU Press, 1973. 83-93. Teske, John A. â€Å"The Social Construction of the Human Spirit.† http://users.etown.edu/t/teskeja/schs.html

China’s One Child Policy †Success or Failure Essay

In 1979 led by Deng Xioping The People’s Republic of China, located in South East Asia, implanted what is called China’s one child policy or (as referred to by the Chinese government) the family planning policy. This policy restricts married, urban couples to bearing only one child and 35. 9% of China’s population is subject to these restrictions, mainly those in urban areas as couples living in rural areas are allowed to have two children, especially if the first child is female or disable, as well as this ethnic minorities are exempt from the policy. However today 90% of all urban children and over 60% of rural children are growing up without any siblings. During Mao Zedong’s rule, the policy in China was â€Å"the more people, the stronger we are† which led to extreme over population (a population verging on 1 billion during 1979/1980) and famines. However when Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978, his policies concentrated on strengthening the Chinese economy and he saw China’s overpopulation as a obstruction in the way of economic development. As well as this the policy hoped to alleviate social and environmental problems (such as stretched resources in certain regions) within the country, however the primary objective of the policy was to decelerate the rate of population growth. The initial goal of the policy was to limit China’s population to 1. 2 billion people by the year 2000. Enforcing the Policy Many of the prevailing criticisms of the One-Child Policy is that it is an abuse of Human rights, and many oppose the core principle of the policy, claiming a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On a provincial and regional level, government agents police the situation, enforcing the regulations. Theoretically speaking, the policy is voluntary, but the government impose punishments and heavy fines on those who do not follow the rules. Parents with extra children can be fined from $370 to $12,800 depending on the region and if this fine goes unpaid, even stricter rules have been enforced in some cases, such as the removal of land, loss of jobs, destruction of homes and not allowing a child to attend school. In one extreme case, a woman in the 1980s pregnant with a second child, was fired from, had a forced abortion, and was then sent to a psychiatric hospital, and was still in a labour camp in the early 2000s. Although this seems extreme, it should be assumed that since this incident, which occurred in the early stages of the policy, most of this behaviour has died out now. However similar, though less brutal cases have been noted. As although the policy is supposed to involve eugenic testing which is policed and enforced through a system of economic disincentives and fines, there have been numerous reports of forced abortion, forced sterilization and infanticide, even in the last decade, for example it was reported that in 2001 an annual quota of 20,000 forced sterilizations and forced abortions were set for Huaiji in the Gundang Province for those who did not adhere to the policy of one child only. However, China banned the use of physical force to for abortions or sterilizations in 2002, but it seems even official law cannot stop the brutalities, as there have been continuing reports of violence against women pregnant with a second or third child. However it’s not just the women who are in danger, if families hide from officials, their relatives were thrown into jail until the white flag was shown; even women with permission for a second child have been subject to violence. In some places the enforcement has been so harsh that the FPA (Family Planning Association) had to give out brochures that detailed the â€Å"seven don’ts† of the policy, which included things such as not beating up people who have unplanned births and don’t burn down their houses. Despite these horrific stories, the enforcement of the policy does vary greatly from place to place, so these stories cannot be generalised to the whole of China. Some provinces contain families with four or five children and can get away with it because the policy is either ignored or the fines can be easily paid. Propaganda: These are just a couple of the examples of hundreds of uses of propaganda used in China to help enforce the one child policy. The first one uses the word â€Å"him† which suggests that as well as advocating the one-child policy, some of the propaganda advocates a son instead of a daughter. Although these are examples of the tamer slogans and statues, there have been ones which bring across a much harsher message; Slogans painted on walls by the roadside have been both terrifying and unsubtle, such as ‘Kill all your family members if you don’t follow the rule! and ‘We would rather scrape your womb than allow you to have a second child’. However the FPC is now saying that a shift is needed in the tone of this propaganda, more towards the one’s shown above. Instead of intimidation, persuasion and encouragement are the new tactics to be adopted, so as to avoid offending the public and causing violence. Impacts of the Policy: This policy was set out to reduce the social, economic and environmental problems that plagued China in the 1970s/80s however has the policy actually performed as well as predicted? When the policy was first introduced, a 1. 2 billion target population was set for the year 2000, however in this year the population was at 1. 27 billion and even this was regarded as an underestimation. The Chinese authorities claim that the policy has prevented over 400 million births since it was introduced over 30 years ago; this is also shown through the declining fertility rate, which has fallen from 2. 9% to around 1. % (recent figures show). However despite this drop, it is difficult to ignore the parallels China has with many other countries around the world that have also experienced significant drops in fertility rates, which leads to speculation around whether the policy is the reason for the decline, or that the government policy that encouraged later marriages and longer intervals between birth and further children had more of an impact. This argument is indeed plausible, as the fertility rate in China dropped from 5% to just below 2% even before the one child policy was introduced and as the graph above shows, the steepest decline was before 1979. Skewed age demographic: Although there is speculation about the cause of fertility rates, a large impact of the one child policy has been a rapid increase in the ageing population of China, it is expected that the population will become disproportionally older well into this century. Today 10% of the urban population is already aged 65 and over, and this is thought to rise to over 15% in a decade, 20% by 2025 and 35% in 2050 if the fertility rates remain consistent. But how prepared is China to cope with such a rapidly ageing population? Before the decline of fertility, the elderly relied nearly exclusively on their children for support, however now the elderly in China will face a lack of young carers. At the time the one-child policy was introduced, the economy at the time still provided support in the way of communes in the countryside and organizations in urban areas. However now that China’s economy has changed and developed this societal support has all but disappeared. This lack of support, coupled with the one-child policy means that extra social and financial pressure on a single child to support their grandparents and their parents. This is known as the 4:2:1 phenomenon, where the 4 represents the grandparents, the two represents the parents, and the one represents the child; this shows that increasing numbers of couples will end up with the sole responsibility of care for their child and their parents. Despite this, the government does offer $6 to poor rural elderly with one child, although it can hardly be considered much help or a substitute for the support of more children. As well as this, over 60s have been reassured of extra provisions they may be able to receive, however many questions have been raised as to exactly how these new allowances will be funded. The imbalanced sex ratio: In 1982, the sex ratio was at 108. 5 boys to every 100 girls, which is already above the normal range, but in 2011 it had reached to 117. boys to every 100 girls and these ratios are not just confined to rural China. The policy has contributed to the sex ratio imbalance in several ways. Some couples who have not yet had a son resort to sex-selective abortions after ultrasound in order to have a child of the preferred gender. Despite the fact this is thought to account for a large proportion of the decline in female births, actual figures are difficult to calculate, as this kind of abortion is ille gal, although it’s known to be very widely carried out. At the same time as this, some females are uncounted, missing or have ‘disappeared’ as they are hidden from the government officials, or not officially registered at birth and this allows for couples to have a second child in an attempt to have a boy instead. Another explanation for the skewed ratio is the potential of infanticide, abandonment or deliberate neglect of baby girls. Although female mortality rates had been declining since 1930, by 2000 this had reserved and excess female mortality has risen since the implementation of the one-child policy. This can be seen to be one of the failures of the olicy and the potentially disastrous social consequences of this ‘female shortage’ have been acknowledged. This shortage is thought to have increased male mental health problems as well as socially disruptive behaviour of the same gender. As well as this, a shortage of women mean the scarcity of brides, and this means that male marriage has once again become an indicator of social privilege, by 2000 27% of rural males were still unmarried at age 40. This scarcity of brides also leads to kidnapping and trafficking of women for marriage, as well as an increase in the numbers of commercial sex workers. However despite this skewed ratio, there is evidence to show that this traditional preference for boys is shifting, as 37% of young urban women claim to have gender preference for their child, and in fact more women voiced a preference for a female than for a male. As well as this, new propaganda has been brought in the encourage families that having a girl is not a bad thing. Economic Impacts: One benefit that has seemed to arisen from the policy is that it has helped to fuel the economic change seen in China over the past decades, as there is not as much competition between citizens, which has allowed more wealth to be spread around. It has also been noted that at the same time of the population growth slowing down, China’s GDP has risen from 550USD to 7000USD, and during this time the growth of the GDP was greater than that of the US, Europe, Japan and India. As well as this is has been noted that the lower fertility rates have enhanced female labour participation, despite this fact, this may be down to the policy that was implanted before the one child policy that encouraged later marriage among other suggestions. It is also uncertain whether this correlation between the two factors necessarily means that the slowed population growth has led to an increase of the countries GDP. The policy is also thought to have a negative impact on the overall economic future of China due to the rapidly aging population, which means more financial dependency is put on adult children to provide for their parents and grandparents (see 4:2:1 phenomenon above). Despite this fact, many studies have concluded that the population transitions that have taken place since the policy was implemented are responsible for 1/6 to 2/5 of China’s economic growth. As well as this, individual savings rates have increased as well since the policy was implemented, and this is thought to be because households have more money and resources that aren’t being spent on multiple children. As well as the strain on household resources being decreased, so has the strain on natural resources since 1980, as it has been estimated (as mentioned before) that there would have been 400 million extra people, which would have been a huge additional strain on resources. According to the State Family Planning Commission, coverage of tap water has increased, and so has the coverage of natural gases. Political Impacts: The Chinese government has had to pay a dear cost politically for the introduction of the one child policy. The reports of forced sterilization and induced abortion have invited hostility as well as resistance from the population and the government have received large amounts of criticisms from the international community, the US in particular have expressed their disapproval with Chinese leaders for their sterilization policies. These physical abuses began to disappear by the end of the 1990s and China shifted its program towards encouraging contraception and providing couples with a wider selection of thee contraceptive methods. This shift in operation may have helped to ease the tension somewhat between the birth control officials and civilians. However by the 1990s, the birthing reporting system has all but collapsed and it is now difficult to trust demographic data that is collected and released from government agencies, as it was also reported that as many as 30% of births were not counted in some areas during the 1990s. These problems with birth registrations have spread to other areas of demographic data-gathering operations such as the population census. The two main agencies responsible for collecting fertility information simply gave up their attempt to provide reliable and detailed information on fertility, and a rough estimate was used as an estimate instead. As well as this the government has required increasing amounts of financial resources to continue the birth control policy. During the 1990s alone, the budget allocation towards birth control programs increased 3. times, and has increased during the beginning of the 21st century. As well as this, to initiate the policy an ‘army’ of birth control officials are needed, and this army has been rapidly increasing, with many on the government payroll. In addition to this, where fertility does not reach a low enough level, local officials are require to spend large amounts of time on the issue, as meeting these birth control goals are major benchmarks used in evaluating the performance and it affects the local officials’ political careers. Success or Failure? – intrusive: Overall, the campaign has been more of a failure than of success. In terms of what it set out to do, the policy was in fact a success as in the years succeeding its introduction the fertility rates did indeed drop and it was thought that over 300 million births were prevented due to the policy (see above). Although undeniably effective in these terms, it seems obvious that the policy has not caught on in other countries also facing overpopulation such as India, who have seen the one-child policy as too intrusive on their populations lives, which is justifiable considering the shocking stories mentioned above of using force to stop women having a second child in a country that advocates a seemingly ‘voluntary’ scheme of fewer offspring. Densely populated countries such as India have used alternative schemes such as women advocacy groups, the increased availability of contraception, female empowerment and greater emphasis on sex education from an early age. As the fertility rate in areas which have adopted these frames of population control have dropped even faster than in China, as well as there being no evidence to say that forced abortion and sterilization is widespread, it begs the question that if China had adopted other methods and used more effective government leadership, would the population growth have decreased faster than using methods which invade couples lives and lead many into a state of fear when they become pregnant? However one problem with placing all the success in the hands of the one-child policy is that it may not just be that which has caused the drop in the fertility rates and in fact there are other significant factors, which were thought to of affected it. One factor that may have affected the fertility rates of women instead of the one-child policy in in China is the fact that with a new economy, many young Chinese had new economic opportunities and rising incomes, which would have directed their attention away from marriage and childbearing, this is backed up by the fact that the ge of first marriage rose in the 1990s, and this was evidence that the changing demographic was not down to the one-child policy. As well as this, the general costs of childbearing also increased, and this may have quashed reproductive desires. However perhaps the most significant factor in this is that as mentioned above the fertility rate dropped more significantly in the years proceeding the policy due to the government’s â€Å"longer, later, fewer† policy which advocated later marriage, longer birth intervals and few births, it must be noted as well that in the policies early years the fertility level hardly affected the fertility rate. If the previous policy had more impact on decreasing population growth then this policy can be seen to be a failure, as it had very little impact but very many negative consequences such as the tough policing of births which sometimes resulted in violent consequences. Despite this, if we can blame the subsequent impacts of declining population growth on the â€Å"longer, later, fewer† policy, then we can say that the policy was not directly responsible for the skewing of the gender ratio and the rapidly increasing population, however this does not make the policy a success, as it is likely that the policy did have some effect on the gender ratio and aging population problems. Despite these factors, it is hard to know for sure whether the one-child policy directly effected population growth decline, as there are many other situational factors, which had the possibility to affect it, in this respect we can deem the one-child policy a failure to a small extent, because it is likely that it did have some affect on the population growth decline.

General Banking Activities of Mercantile Bank Limited

Page 1 of 53 1. 0. Introduction Now a day present world especially the Asian countries are going through an economic recession. Though the Asian economic crisis began few years back and it is somehow tackled today but the 11 September incident aggravated the disorder in the economic infrastructure of our country. Our economy is much dependent on foreign aids. The World Trade Centre incident created a negative impact on our economy as the foreign aids to Bangladesh have been reduced a lot. Therefore the government is trying to deal the economic crisis by generating revenue internally.In this aspect the importance of the financial sector, particularly banking sector is emphasized. But the banking sector of our country is already overburdened with huge amount of classified loans. Government tries to improve the situation. Mercantile Bank Limited was incorporated in Bangladesh as a Public Limited Company with limited liability under the Bank Companies Act 1991on 20 May 1999 and commercia l operation on June 1999. The Bank went for public issue of shares on in 2003 and its shares are listed with Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange. 1. 1. Origin of the Report:This report has been prepared as a requirement of the internship program based upon the Mercantile Bank where my organization supervisor is Anjon Azad, senior executive officer, Dhanmondi Branch, Mercantile Bank Ltd. And my institution supervisor is Abdullah Mohammed Ibrahim Department of Business Administration, Northern University, Bangladesh. My institute supervisor duly approved the topic decided for doing the report. Since the BBA program is an integrated, practical and theoretical method of learning, the students of the program are required to have practical exposure in any kind of business organization in last term of this course.Page 2 of 53 1. 2. Background of the Report: Business world is becoming very much complex day by day. Without sufficient practical experience business become diffic ult and in some cases impossible. The whole world is moving because of Business relation. Business plays a very important role in developing economy of a country. So, in the business world practical experience is regarded as a media through home we have an acquaintance with the real world.As a BBA program is integrated theoretical and practical method of teaching students of this program are required to have practical exposure in own different major discipline in the presiding years of their courses. I was authorized to prepare a report on General Banking Activities of Mercantile Bank Limited, for partial fulfillment of my course requirement. 1. 3. Objective of the Report: This paper is prepared with a view to highlight my three months period banking experience through the analysis of products and services available at Mercantile Bank. The objectives of this report are: To get an overall idea about Mercantile Bank. ? Gather potential knowledge about general banking of MBL. ? To show available product and services. ? To analysis the unique features of MBL. ? To identify the strength, weakness, opportunity and threats for MBL. ? To suggest ways of improving the service quality that accommodates a rapidly growing customer volume. Page 3 of 53 1. 4. Methodology of the study Data collection: Source of data of this report can be divided into two categories: Primary source: The method of collecting primary data will be mostly limited to formal and informal interviewing.I have planned to interview top level (in-charge of the division), mid level managers to gain insights of their ways of doing business. I understand that they are important and busy people. Therefore my interview schedule will be subject to their availability. Secondary source: As for collecting secondary information. I will review any and all related publication available to me such as Banks annual report, brochures etc. Moreover. I will also use the internet to visit bank? s global website and other related web pages for any information related to my study. 1. 5. Scope of the reportI have worked as an internee in Mercantile Bank (Dhanmondi branch), which is one of the most successful banks in our country. When I was there I worked in different sections of this Bank. These were Account opening section, Collection & Clearing section, Cash section and accounts section. The main scope of this study is the findings regarding MBL? s products & services availability & techniques. Many aspects of the operation & product diversification along with the production technology of MBL could be adopted by our planners to design our banking sector into a real effective one.This report may act like a guide in revealing some of the important aspects of MBL. Page 4 of 53 1. 6. Limitation of the report ? Limitation of time was one of the most important factors that shortened the present study. Due to time limitation many aspects could not by discussed in the present study. ? Availability of critic al information is crucial to my analysis. Some of the information can be deemed too confidential by the management, especially the ones regarding corporate strategies, information on matrix system or credit scoring method and strategies they follow to hold its competitiveness in the market.Hence, access to that information will be restricted, which may limit the scope of my analysis. As I had more dependencies on the primary sources , so there might be some level of inaccuracy with those collected information through adequate verification and crosschecking was used to minimize the error level . Page 5 of 53 A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels those deposits into lending activities. Banks primarily provide financial services to customers while enriching investors. Government restrictions on financial activities by banks vary over time and location.Banks are important players in financial markets and offer services such as investment funds and loans. B anks borrow money by accepting funds deposited on current accounts, by accepting term deposits, and by issuing debt securities such as banknotes and bonds. Banks lend money by making advances to customers on current accounts, by making installment loans, and by investing in marketable debt securities and other forms of money lending. Banks provide almost all payment services, and a bank account is considered indispensable by most businesses, individuals and governments.Banks borrow most funds from households and non-financial businesses, and lend most funds to households and nonfinancial businesses. 2. 1 Background of Mercantile Bank Limited (MBL) Banking system occupies an important place in a nation? s economy. A banking institution is indispensable in a modern society. It plays pivotal role in the economic development of a country. Against the background of liberalization of economic policies in Bangladesh, Mercantile Bank is a well known Bank in our country and the one, believe in „service to client with efficiency?.Within a short period of its operation the bank has already gained a confidence in the minds of its clients. The success is primarily attributed to bold decisionmaking, efficient and cordial services, economic use of resources and introduction of new financial products and technologies . The continued endeavors of the Management and Staff of the Bank under prudent guidance and timely support of the Board of Directors have substantially contributed to success of the Bank. Mercantile Bank Ltd. s committed to provide high quality services to its constituents through different financial products and profitable utilization of fund and contribute to the growth of GDP of the country by financing trade and commerce, helping industrialization, boosting export, creating employment opportunities for the educated youth and encouraging micro-credit leading to poverty alleviation and improving the quality of life of the people and thereby contributing to the overall socio-economic development of the country. During this short span of time the MBL has been successful to position itself as a progressive and dynamic financial institution in the ountry. The MBL has been widely acclaimed by the business community, from small entrepreneurs to large traders and industrial conglomerates, including the top rated corporate borrowers for forwarding-looking business outlook and innovative financing Page 6 of 53 solutions. Thus within this very short period of time it has been able to create an image for itself and has earned significant reputation in the country? s Banking Sector as a bank with vision 2. 2 Vision: â€Å"Would make finest corporate citizen† 2. 3 Mission Will become most caring, focused for equitable growth based on diversified deployment of resources, and nevertheless would remain healthy and gainfully profitable bank. 2. 4 Objectives . Strategic Objectives To achieve positive Economic Value Added (EVA) each year. To b e market leader in product innovation. To be one of the top three financial institutions in Bangladesh in terms of cost efficiency. To be one of the top five financial institutions in Bangladesh in terms of market share in all significant market segments we serve. . Financial Objectives To achieve a return on shareholders? equity of 20% or more, on average.Core Values For customers: ? Providing with caring services by being innovative in the development of new banking products and services. For Shareholders: ? Maximizing wealth of the bank. For the employees: ? Respecting worth and dignity of individual employees devoting their earnings for the progress of the bank. Page 7 of 53 2. 5 Mercantile Bank at a Glance: Page 8 of 53 2. 6 Milestones in the development of the organization Page 9 of 53 2. 7 Management Structure of MBL The bank is proud to have exemplified the true concept as „Banglar Bank?. The Bank launched several financial products and services since its inception.Amo ng them Page 10 of 53 3. 0 Overview of Dhanmondi Branch, of MBL. Mercantile Bank Ltd. Dhanmondi Branch started its journey since 1999. It is the 2nd branch from the establishment. This branch is the second largest branch also. This branch is situated in Dhanmondi, Road number 27, House name- Sima Blossoms, 1st floor. Recently this branch shifted to this new office premises for providing better services to the customers. This branch is an authorized dealer of foreign exchange trade. The branch In-Charge is an Executive Vice President (EVP). Dhanmondi Branch is situated in a prime location of Dhanmondi area.This is a busy and important area of Dhaka city. Mercantile Bank Dhanmondi Branch has a good reputation through the customers of Dhanmondi and some other nearest areas. The total number of accounts and other deposits schemes are increasing day by day. Customers are very satisfied with the services of this branch. As a result this branch has become an icon branch of this area. Merca ntile Bank Dhanmondi Branch is working for strengthen the economy of the country. 3. 1 Departments of Dhanmondi Branch: Mercantile Bank Dhanmondi Branch has three main departments and it has some other sub departments also. A.General Banking Department i. Account opening ii. Clearing iii. Cash iv. Card division etc. v. FDR B. Credit Department C. Foreign Exchange Department Page 11 of 53 3. 2 MBL Dhanmondi Branch Hierarchy: Figure: MBL Dhanmondi Branch Hierarchy. At branch level all the decisions are taken by the branch manager. But rules and regulations are set at the Head Office. Branch manager has supreme power to final disbursement of the facility to the customer. Assistant vice president coordinates all the function of the branch as Manager-Operation. Executive Vice President (Branch) Manger (Branch)Manger )))))))))))Manager)Vice President (Manager) Operation Assistant Vice President First Assistant Vice President Principal Officer Senior Executive Officer Executive Officer Pro bationary Officer Assistant Officer Page 12 of 53 Figure: Depicts departments of the MBL MERCANTILE BANK LIMITED DHANMONDI BRANCH LIST OF EXECUTIVES & OFFICERS Total Number of Executives & Officers 47. SL. NO DESIGNATION NUMBER OF OFFICERS 01 Executive vice precedent(EVP) 01 02 Vice precedent (VP) 01 03 First vice precedent (FVP) 01 04 Assistant vice Precedent (AVP) 02 05 First assistant vice precedent (FAVP) 05 06 Principal officer (PO) 03 7 Senior executive officer (SEO) 05 08 Executive officer (EO) 07 09 Probationary officer (Prob. Off) 02 10 Officer (OFF) 08 11 Assistant officer (AO) 07 12 Trane assistant officer (TAO) 05 Page 13 of 53 Dhanmondi Branch Sima Blossom House No. 390 (Old), 03 (New) Road No. 27 (Old), 16 (New) Dhanmondi R/A, Dhaka -1209 Phone : 9130500, 9142691 Mobile : 01755-500192 Fax : 88-02-8126768 HOB: Syed Ahmadul Karim, EVP 3. 3 Yearly profit performance of Dhanmondi Branch: ( BDT in million ) 2009 2010 2011 102. 91 123. 54 138. 89 Table – 17: Profit of Dhanmondi branch Fig – 10:Profit of Dhanmondi branchInterpretation : The figure shows that the profit of the Dhanmondi branch in year 2009 is 102. 91 which increases at a higher rate in 2010 is 123. 54 and we follow on graph 2011 is profit 138. 89 million. Page 14 of 53 4. 0 Internship duties and responsibilities As partial requirement of BBA Program I get attached Mercantile Bank Ltd (MBL). To complete my internship program and it? s really a great opportunity for me to acquire practical knowledge and experiences from such a renowned bank. My internship period started at 1st March to 31 May 2012 in Bank ( Dhanmondi Branch).In this time it was very important for me where practical experience gathered. Those 3 months of Internship program I have learned about general banking and especially emphasis on loan & advances on MBL (Dhanmondi Branch) 4. 1 Nature of the job The 3 months of my internship program I was required to learn various types of banking tasks, which assigned by the officers of different department. In this period I am working with all departments but in a major portion of time I spend in general banking departments . Reception is the department in which the first interaction between the customer and the bank takes place.Since the first impression is the long lasting impression, the quality, customization and response time of this department is very important. Different types of activities are conducted here. My daily working hour started at 10:00am as banking hour started and ends normally 6:00pm or more. My daily task was as follows: ? Opening new accounts ? Issuing pay-order, ? Deliver ATM card, ? Issuance & Activation of ATM card, ? Providing Deposit book 4. 2 Opening new accounts: The relationship between the bank and its customer starts with opening an account. There are different types of accounts considering different customer types and requirements.Savings account Current account Short Term Deposit (STD) account Fixed Deposit Recei pt (FDR) account The following formalities must be completed by the customer of MTBL. ? Application on the prescribed form. Page 15 of 53 ? Furnishing photograph. ? Introduction by an account holder ? Transaction profile form ? KYC form ? Putting specimen signatures in the specimen card. ? Mandate if necessary. After fulfilling the above formalities, SJIBL provides customers a pay in slip book and cheque book. 4. 3 Issuing pay-order: Pay order is always account payable.At first, the applicant fill up the form than pays the amount of a Pay Order. At the same time, PO is used to send money within the clearing area only. When it will be posted than write in Pay Order Block correctly. 4. 4 Deliver ATM card: When issued a ATM card than inform the customer by phone call for receiving his/her ATM card with Pin no. 4. 5 Issuance & Activation of ATM card: When an applicant applies for an ATM card then it must be issued to ATM department. After issuing card when will it receive then after 24 hours it will be active. 4. 6 Providing Deposit book: A deposit slip is needed to deposit money in an account.The customer service department provides deposit slip to the customer. 4. 7 Analysis of Data used in the office A bank has different types of statements where I analyzed some of the documents like list of statements of general banking division; Statement of General Banking Division: These is one kind of statement, which must be produced from the general banking division on a regular basis such as daily position statement, statement of affaire, income tax on Page 16 of 53 profit, VAT on banking service, VAT on LC etc. these statements are generally produced on daily, monthly, weekly basis 4. 8 Learning pointsDuring my 3 months internship program I have learned different kinds of things which are as follows; 4. 9 New account opening system: There are different types of accounts considering different customer types and requirements. Savings A/C, Current A/C, Fixed Deposit (FDR) , STD A/C. Being fulfilled the above requirements; a new account is opened through the software â€Å"Flora†. An ID is created for the account holder (In case of Individual? s account or Organization? s), or one ID each for each of a joint account. One person/organization can have only one ID using which he/it can have several accounts.When created Customer ID then add amount of deposit, if it is current or saving then the introducer? s information also necessary. When giving all information properly then this record will be saved on software â€Å"Flora† and a account serial number will be given 4. 10 Issue of new check book: Issues of check book have several steps. When a account is open then account holder receive a thanks letter. Then we verify his/her signature and issue a check book but its deferent criteria for a old account holder. He/she just give a requisition for a new check book if previous book is finished. . 11 ATM card: I also learned about how to a ATM card issue and how to active. First I prepare ATM form then verified the signature. After verification I send it to IT department for issuance. After issue ATM card I just send a activation letter on IT department after 24 hours then it will be active. Page 17 of 53 4. 12 Pay order In a pay order first the form should be fill up where it issued, amount of money, the name of client. After that the vat and commission will included. When received cash then the pay order block prepared where in front of the page in block letter â€Å" NOT OVER .TK ONLY† was written. 4. 13 KYC form competition KYC stands for Know Your Customers. In that form the clients full information? s are given like earning source, which documents they submitted for their identification, amount of money deposited/withdraw in a month. 4. 14 Besides of these I have learned the following things ? During my internship in MTBL, I have learned how to maintain discipline. ? During my internship period, I found every body follow strict timeout. Every employee enter the office at right time, or before the right time and also leave office at due time.Nobody can leave office at least 6. 30pm. Every works perform in time. ? I have learned how to handle the customers in an efficient way and make a good relationship for office purpose. Page 18 of 53 5. 0 General Banking of mercantile Bank limited at Dhanmondi Branch General Banking is the heart of banking business. This is the primary and important department of a branch. Though it is a very complex process but the officers of Dhanmondi Branch? s are provides excellent service. For this the customers of this branch are very satisfied for operating their account in this branch.Activities of General Banking Department In Dhanmondi Branch General Banking consists: ? Account Opening Section ? Deposit section ? Remittance Section Cash Section ? Clearing Section ? Accounts Section ? Check Book Issue Section ? Locker Section 5. 1 Account Opening Section Acco unt opening is the gateway for clients to enter into business with bank. It is the foundation if banker customer relationship. By open account bank collect deposit form individual. And deposit is the lifeblood of Banking Business. Various rule and regulation Page 19 of 53 are maintained for open an account.A customer can open different types of deposit account through this section. Such as, 1. Demand Deposit Account a) Current Deposit Account (CD A/C) b) Savings Banks Account (SB A/C) 5. 1. 1 Current Deposit Account (CD A/C) While opening Current Deposit (CD) account, Branch shall follow detail procedures including KYC (Know Your Customer) as stated under â€Å"General Procedure for opening Bank Account† Balance in Current Deposit Accounts is payable on demand and thus the A/C holder is allowed to deposit and withdraw any sun of money from his / her/ their account any time within transaction hours.No interest is paid in Current Deposit Account. Persons / Concerns Eligible for Opening Current Deposit Account (CD A/C) Current Deposit Account is suitable for business transactions because of no restriction on withdrawal either in amount or frequency. Branch may open a Current Deposit Account in the name of: o Individuals o Two or more persons jointly o Sole Proprietorship o Partnership Firms o Limited Companies (Both Public and Privet) o Societies / Clubs / Associations o Govt. / Semi Govt. Offices / Corporations o Others ? Introduction of Current Deposit AccountBank, for opening of new CD account may accept introduction from another CD / STD / SB account holder having prolonged relationship with the bank and track of satisfactory transactions. Introduction by a reputed person of the locality is also acceptable. ? Initial and Minimum Deposit for Current Deposit Account Page 20 of 53 New Current Deposit Account is to be opened minimum deposit of BDT 5,000 in Urban Branch and BDT 2,000 in Rural Branch, which will be treated as minimum balance in respective ac count and balance should preferably be maintained always.Branch shall recover Commitment Fees @ BDT 500 from CD A/C twice a year, provided it does not run below the minimum balance at any time for any reason whatsoever. a) Savings Bank Account (SB A/C) This account has been designed and developed for individual savers and as such it is not usually suitable for business concerns as there are restriction of withdrawal in both amount and frequency. Savings Account may be opened in the name of: Individual Two or more individual (joint) who are not partners Clubs / Societies / Association / non-profit organization.Introduction: Savings A/C may be introduced by a running CD / STD / SB Account holder, who have sufficient balance and satisfactory transaction in the accounts. Banks Officials may introduce SB Accounts mentioning their power of Attorney (PA) provided they know the person very well. The branch, while opening a savings A/C, shall follow derail procedure including KYC formalities embodied in the â€Å"General Procedure for opening Bank Account† 5. 1. 2 Initial Deposit: For savings Bank account in Urban Areas is BDT 1,000 and in Rural Areas is BDT 500. InterestIn savings A/C shall be paid on daily product basis but no interest in savings account is payable for the month if balance in the account falls below BDT 10,000 on any day during the month. Besides above, interest shall not be paid in SB A/C for the particular month, when withdrawal in account is more then twice in a week or amount withdrawn in a single cheque exceeds 25% of balance of the account. 5. 1. 3 Time Deposit Account a) Short Term Deposit (STD) b) Fixed Deposit Reset (FDR) c) Scheme Deposit Accounts Page 21 of 53 Double Benefit Deposit Scheme (DBDS) Family Maintenance Deposit (FMD) Monthly Savings Scheme (MSS)Quarterly Benefit Deposit Scheme 1. 5 Times Benefit Deposit Scheme Advance Benefit Deposit Scheme (ABDS) N: B: Savings Banks Account (SB A/C) is also taking a time deposit account . a) Short term Deposit (STD) A/C STD A/C is middle in CD & SB A/C. By this, Account holder can make transaction in his / her wish as a current account but he or she gets some interest. The rate of interest is 5% per annual. This interest is paid on daily basis. Initial deposit for opening STD A/C is BDT 50,000. In STD A/C maintained average balance 1 lac. If it is not maintained in any month of the year then no interest is provide in this month of this year. ) Fixed Deposit Rate (FDR) Opening FDR A/C: Bank opens FDR who is Bangladeshi Citizen. And the minimum amount is BDT 10,000. Bank provides a FDR form, Customer need to fill up this form properly. Than the in charge officer chick the form properly, main things is Date and Amount, Maturity Date, Interest Rate, Source of Fund, Customer Signature and one copy passport size photograph of both account holder and nominee etc. Interest rate Maturity Interest Rate 12 Month and Above 11. 50 % 6 Month 11. 50 % 3 Month 9. 50 % Page 22 of 5 3 Page 23 of 53 5. 2 Rules of Opening an AccountNow-a-days under the strict monitoring of Bangladesh Bank, there are several criteria that a client must fulfill as he/she/an organization wishes to open an account. The basic criteria are discussed below: ? Account Opening Form (AOF) duly filled & signed ? Signature cards properly signed ? Applicant introduced by an authorized person such as account holder or employee of MTBL or by a respectable person acceptable to the bank ? Two copies of passport sized photographs which are attested by the introducer ? Name of nominee written and photograph of the nominee(s) attested by the applicant Photocopy of passport (attested) or photocopy of National ID card or letter of introduction by the employer or certificate issued by chairman of Union Parishad or Ward commissioner ? TIN (if available) ? Customer transaction profile form properly filled in and signed. ? Apart from proof of identify branch must also obtain proof address to confirm if cu stomers address is genuine. Although this verification partly done through â€Å"Thanks Letter†. ? KYC profile form (properly filled in, signed and approved) for high net worth customers falling under the following criteria: ) New customers whose initial deposit is more than Tk. 50. 00 lac (initial means within one month of A/C opening) ii) Existing customers whose total AUM (Asset under Management) grow to more than Tk. 50 lack for three consecutive months. 5. 2. 1 In The Name of Individual The client has to fill up an account opening form. Terms and conditions are printed on the back of the form. The form contains the declaration clause, special instructions etc. two copies of passport size photograph duly attested by the introducer are affixed with the form. Page 24 of 53 5. 2. In Joint Name In this type, the formality is same as individual account, but in the special instruction clause, either or „survivor? or „former or survivor? clause is marked. 5. 2. 3 Pro prietorship In addition the customer has to submit the valid Trade License and Tax Paying Identification Number (TIN) along with the application. 5. 2. 4 Partnership In case of partnership account, the bank asks for, ? A copy of the partnership agreement (Partnership Deed) ? A letter signed by all the partners containing the following particulars. ? The name and addresses of all partners The nature of the firm? s business ? The name of the partner authorized to operate the account in the name of the firm, including the authority to draw, endorse and accepting the bills and mortgage and sell the properties belonging to the firm. 5. 2. 5 Limited Company On having the desire to open an account from a limited company, an MTBL Bank Officer asks for the following documents: ? Registration Certificate from the Registrar of Joint Stock of Companies ? Certificate of Incorporation ? Certificate of Commencement of Business ? Memorandum of Association ? Articles of Association Copies of Annual Accounts ? Copies of the Board? s resolution, which contains a). The name of the persons who have been authorized to operate the bank account on behalf of the company. b). The name of the persons who are authorized to execute documents with the bank on company? s behalf. 5. 2. 6 Societies, Clubs and Associations In case of these sorts of accounts MTBL requires the following documents: ? Registration Certificate under the Societies Registration Act, 1962 ? Copies of Memorandum, Articles of Association ? Resolution of the Managing Committee. Page 25 of 53 Power of Attorney to Borrow 5. 2. 7 Non-Government Organization (NGO) The account opening procedure is same but in exception is that the Registration Certificate from the Social Welfare Department of Government must be enclosed with the application. 5. 3 Closing Bank Account: Customers may request the branch to close his or her account at any time. Again, the bank or the branch without such request may, by force, close the account of its customer on legitimate grounds procedure for closing accounts in such cases are as under: A. Closing of bank account at customers request:On receipt of customers written application for closing his or her account, authorized official shall (i) ascertain its genuineness through verification of signature on the letter of request (ii) obtain approval of head of branch or manager operation to this affect in collect are unused check leaf from the accountholder to destroy (iv) realize specify amount of closing charge and government duty and other dues from the account The branch, however before closing any account shall up to date interest at prevailing rate in the account of the customer after recovering his or her charges with the bank or govt.B. Forced Closing of Bank Account: Branch at its discretion can closed any account office customer if it is not operated as per banks norm. in such situation, it shall serve a written notice under signature of head of the branch and manager o peration to the customer which request tio closed the account within specified time. If the customer does not turn up in the time the branch shall close the account and send him or her a payment order with balance amount of his or her account by registered mail under a covering letter signed by head of the branch. 5. 4 Payment Order (PO):A Pay Order, similar to a banker's cheque is also payable locally, the only difference is that in case of a pay order, the bank is directing the payee bank to pay the amount mentioned on the pay order to the person/organization so mentioned or his order, i. e. any other person/organization. Both pay orders and demand drafts are used by individuals to make transfer payments from one bank account to another. The main difference between the two Page 26 of 53 is that while a demand draft is a written order directing the payment to be made to a third party outside your city, a pay order is drawn for the third party within your city. . 4. 1 Issue of pay O rder: For issuing pay order branch shall receive from applicant i) Prescribed application form duly filled in and signed and (ii) required amount of cash /cheque. on receipt of above ,branch shall issue PO in the name of the person or organization specified in the application form amount of PO is to be written further on middle top of pay order ship in block figure in addition to writing of the amount in words and figure in the space provided for on the instrument Branch shall create the following entries while issuing pay order against cash or claque or both Debt cash or purchaser account with claque ? Credit bills payable pay order issue ? Credit income account – commission ? Credit vat on banking service 5. 5 Issue of Cheque Book: While issue 1st cheque book to a new customer, branch shall use prescribe fresh printed cheque requesting from properly fill in and signed by the account holder or authorized name and signature. And make sure that no document or information is pe nding. While bank issuing a cheque book shall observe required formalities in three areas as under: Area 1- (In cheque requisition slip or application) A.Verify signature and particular appearing on the application for requisition B. Put his or her initial makes to the signature of the account holder as a prove of verification C. Note down series number of new cheque book in the specific space Area 2- (In cheque book) A. Take out a new cheque book from running stock. B. Make sure that all leaf, including requisition slip inserted within the book are intact Page 27 of 53 C. Write down the title of account and account number on the cover page, requisition slip and account number on the cheque leaf D. Affix seal with name of the branch on each leaf of the cheque books.E. Put initial on given space at right hand top corner of each cheque leaf Area 3- (In cheque issue register) A. Enter name of the account holder, account number & series number of the particular cheque book in the specif ied space B. Put his or her initial in relevant column of requisition from to authenticate the entries After completion of all the above formalities authorized official of the branch shall submit the cheque book together with cheque requisition slip as well as the cheque issue register duly prepared and failed in to the head of the branch manager for further verification and authentication. . 6 Locker Facilities: MBL locker service allows the customers to keep their valuable in a safe and secure place and access their at customer? s convenient times. These strong and heat resistant steel lockers lodged in reinforced concrete steel vault, round the clock security guards, sophisticated anti- burglary alarm system provide maximum protection to the valuables of customers. The service charge is yearly Tk. 1500. Condition: ? An application form must be filled up for gate locker. ? Applicant must have a saving Account. ? 2 copies of PP size photographs of the Applicant. 1 copy of PP size p hotographs of nominee. ? Yearly charge must be paid in advance. ? Security money is refundable at the time of closing. Page 28 of 53 5. 7 Cash & Computer Section: The cash section of MBL deals with all types of negotiable instruments, cash and other instruments and treated as a sensitive section of the bank. It includes the vault, which is used as the store of cash, instruments. If the cash stock goes beyond this limit, the excess cash is then transferred to Bangladesh Bank. Keys to the room are kept under control of cash officer and branch in charge.The amount of opening cash balance is entered into a register. After whole days’ transaction, the surplus money remains in the cash counter is put back in the vault and known as the closing balance. Money is received and paid in this section. Functions of this Section are: ? Receiving cash ? Paying cash ? Issuing vouchers ? Making Proper entries in the ledgers 5. 7. 1 Cash Receipt: ? At first the depositors fill up the Deposit in Slip. There are two types of deposit in slip in this branch. One for saving account and another for current account. ? After filling the required deposit in slip, depositor deposits the money. Officers at the cash counter receives the money, count it, enter the amount of money in the scroll register kept at the counter, seal the deposit in slip and sign on it with date. ? Then this slip is passed to another officer who enters the scroll number given by the cash counter in his/her register along with the amount of the money, sign the slip and keep the banks’ part of the slip. Other part is given to the depositor. ? All deposits of saving account are maintained by one officer and other accounts by another officer. Page 29 of 53 5. 7. 2 Cash Payment: First of the entire client comes to the counter with the check and give it to the officer in charge there. The officer checks whether there are two signatures on the back of the cheque and checks his balance in the computer. After that the officer will give it to the cash in charge. ? Then the cash in charge verifies the signature from the signature card and permits the officer in computer to debit the client’s account by giving posting. A posted seal with teller number is given ? Then the cheque is given to the teller person and he after checking everything asks the drawer to give another signature on the back of the cheque. If the signature matches with the one given previously then the teller will make payment keeping the paying cheque with him while writing the denomination on the back of the cheque. ? If the instrument is free of all kind of error the respected officer will ask the bearer to sign on the back of it. ? He will then put his/her initial beside the bearers’ signature. S/he will also sign it on its face, will write down the amount by red pen and will put on a scroll number from his/her scroll register. ? Then the cheque will be sent to the cash counter. At the cash counter bearer will be asked again to sign on the back of the instrument. The cash officer will then enter the scroll number in his/her register and will pay the money to the bearer. ? At the end of the day these scroll numbers of the registers will be compared to ensure the correctness of the entries. Page 30 of 53 5. 8 Clearing Section When a customer of Mercantile Bank Limited presents an instrument drawn on other bank for collection, the instrument is collected through clearing house of Bangladesh Bank. Mercantile Bank Limited, Local Office takes part in the clearing function on behalf of fifteen branches of Mercantile Bank Limited; functioning inside or outside of Dhaka city.The instruments are sent to those banks through clearing arrangement. Every day two houses are arranged; one in the morning and another in the evening. The evening house is known as return house. Everyday instruments drawn on different banks are sent to the clearing section of Local Office from those fifteen branches. Th e function of the clearing department can be divided into two parts. ? Inward Clearing ? Outward Clearing 5. 9 Bills Section Customers of Mercantile Bank Limited, Local Office submit many instruments in the bills section for collection. Bills section plays a vital role in collecting these bills.The bills submitted for collection can be divided into two categories. 5. 10 FDR & BCD section These are deposits, which are made with the bank for a fixed period specified in advance. The bank needs not to maintain cash reserve against these deposits and therefore, bank gives high rate of interest on such deposits. A FDR is issued to the depositor acknowledging receipt of the sum of money mentioned therein. It also contains the rate of interest and the date on which the deposit will fall due for payment. Page 31 of 53 5. 11 Procedure of Opening Fixed Deposit Account:Before opening a Fixed Deposit Account a customer has to fill up an application form which contains the followings: a) Amount i n figures b) Beneficiary’s name and address c) Period d) Rate of interest e) Date of issue f) Date of maturity g) How the account will be operated ( singly or jointly) h) Signature(s) i) F. D. R. no. j) Special instructions (if any) After fulfilling the above information and depositing the amount, FDR account is opened and a FDR receipt is issued and it is recorded in the FDR Register which contains the following information: a) FDR account no. b) FDR (Fixed Deposit Receipt) no. c) Name of the FDR holder with address ) Maturity period e) Maturity date f) Interest rate 5. 12 Payment of Interest: In case of Fixed Deposit Account the bank does not have to maintain a cash reserve. So Mercantile Bank Limited offers a high interest rate in Fixed Deposit accounts. It is usually paid on maturity of the fixed deposit. NCCBL calculates interest at each maturity date and provision is made on that â€Å"Miscellaneous creditor expenditure payable accounts† is debited for the accrue d interest. Page 32 of 53 5. 13 Interest Rate Rate of Interest varies depending on the period of maturity date. Duration Rate of Interest 3 months 9. 00-9. 25% 6 months 9. 5-9. 50% 12 months 9. 75-10. 50% 24 months 10. 25-11. 25% 36 months 10. 75-11. 50% Table 4: Interest Rate of MBL 5. 14 Renewal of FDR: The FDR becomes automatically renewed for like periods and amounts, unless this are withdrawn by the depositor or, the bank notifies the depositor in writing at least 15 days in advance of the original Or, any renewed maturity date (s) of its desire to terminate the account or change any term and condition of the account. Page 33 of 53 6. 1 Customer Satisfaction Level of MBL Dhanmondi Branch During the Internship I worked in general banking activities of Mercantile Bank Ltd.And learned about the process of opening bank account, and different types of process. When I worked in general banking desk I was also placed in customer relation desk. By working in customer relations desk I o bserved that there was lack of services they provide to customers. That? s why customers are not fully satisfied. So I developed a questionnaire to measure the service quality and customer satisfaction of MBL. In this I have used primary data to analysis level of customer satisfaction on MBL. I collected data from survey through questionnaire; 30 respondents participated in this survey.After collecting data I used SPSS software to get an output which represents the level of customer satisfaction of MBL Dhanmondi Branch. 6. 2 Mercantile Bank uses Modern Equipment. Figure no. 6. 1. 1 This figure shows that the neutral response of the customer is 14. On the other hand the agree respondent is 11 and disagree respondent is 5. Most of the clients represent their opinion neutral. So MBL Dhanmondi Branch should increase their technology based services for customers. Page 34 of 53 6. 3 MBL provides services which is not provided by other bank Figure no. 6. 1. 2In this above figure, most of t he respondents represent their opinion neutral statement. So MBL should improve their service to satisfy customer needs and demands. Page 35 of 53 6. 4 MBL has friendly environment Figure no. 6. 1. 3 This figure shows that the neutral response of the customer is 10. On the other hand the agree respondent is 14 and disagree respondent is 4 and strongly agree respondent is 2. most of the respondents represent agree with this statement. So the customers are satisfied with the environment of Dhanmondi Branch of MBL. Page 36 of 53 6. 5 Customer of MBL feels secure transaction. Figure no. . 1. 4 In this above figure, most of the respondents represent agreed with this statement. So the customer feels secure transaction with Dhanmondi branch. Page 37 of 53 6. 6 MBL provides prompt service to customer. Figure no. 6. 1. 5 This figure shows that the neutral response of the customer is 12. On the other hand the agree respondent is 1 and disagree respondent is 17. Most of the respondents represe nt disagree with this statement. So the customers are not satisfied with the promptness of employee at Dhanmondi Branch of MBL. Page 38 of 53 6. 7 Employees of MBL show sincerity when customers face problem.Figure no. 6. 1. 6 In this above figure, most of the respondents represent disagree with this statement. So, Employees of MBL should increase their sincerity. Page 39 of 53 6. 8 Are you satisfied with the service of MBL? Figure no. 6. 1. 7 In this above figure, most of the respondents represent their opinion neutral statement. So MBL should improve their services to satisfy customer needs and demands. Page 40 of 53 6. 9 Employees of MBL show equal importance to every customer. Figure no. 6. 1. 8 In this above figure, most of the respondents represent their opinion neutral statement.So Employees of MBL should give priority equally to every customer. Page 41 of 53 6. 10 The process of getting service is easy. The procees of getting service is easy disagree nutral agree Frequency 20 10 0 16 5 9 Figure no. 6. 1. 9 This figure shows that the neutral response of the customer is 5. On the other hand the agree respondent is 16 and disagree respondent is 9. most of the respondents represent agree with this statement. So the customers are satisfied with the service delivery of Dhanmondi Branch of MBL. Page 42 of 53 6. 11 Employees of MBL understand specific needs of customer. Figure no. 6. 1. 10In this above figure, most of the respondents represent neutral with this statement. So, employees of MBL should give extra emphasis to understand customer needs. Page 43 of 53 6. 12 Are you totally satisfied with the quality of service of MBL? Figure no. 6. 1. 11 In this above figure, most of the respondents represent neutral with this statement. So employees of MBL should increase their service quality. The 16 number of question show that most of the customer choose MBL for its higher interest rate and branching confinement place Most of the respondent were female the age di stance between them is 20 -34 Page 44 of 53SWOT Analysis: Condition of scheme through SWOT Analysis: Manager should consider several factors when assessing an organizations SWOT analysis presented by extensive competitive environments. Once the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats have been identified, the management team is then in a position to complete the SWOT analysis by drawing a conclusion about the attractiveness (or unattractiveness) of the organization? s current situation and the need for strategic action. Strengths: ? The customer can draw whole amount of money at a time. ? Terms and conditions are comparatively low. Huge demand from the customer side. ? In case of loan, the interest is comparatively low. ? On-line banking facilities. ? Provides highest interest rate Strong and experienced for level management. ? They have strong reputation in the market. That means they have a brand image. ? MBL has already achieved a goodwill among the clients that? s helps i t to retain valuable clients. Page 45 of 53 Weaknesses: ? MTBL has lack of ATM booth. ? Credit proposal evaluation process lengthy. ? Sometimes untrained employee operates the banking activities. ? No substantive use of annual confidential report to reward or to punish Employee.Hence employee becomes in efficient. ? Some untrained employee operates the banking activities. ? The web site of MBL is not more organized, for that some latest data we cannot collect from the web site. ? The relationship between employees is not very satisfied. But it is very essential for an organization. Opportunities: ? Regulatory environment favoring private sector development ? Wide banking network ? The bank provides the better customer service. ? MBL can use this opportunity to train their employees in specific area ? Low service change and commission than other Bank. To expand the branch Network overall the country. Threats: ? Increased competition in the market for public deposit ? Bangladesh bank sometimes requires private commercial banks to be abide by such rules and regulation which is not suitable every commercial bank. ? Political instability may hamper the environment of the business society. ? Borrowers are having the tendency to be the defaulter. ? Competitors are arising day-by-day. Page 46 of 53 7. 1 Conclusion: From my practical experience, I have reached a concrete conclusion on Mercantile Bank Limited Dhanmondi Branch in a very confident way.I believe that my realization will be in harmony with most of the banking thinkers. It is quite evident that to build up an effective and efficient banking system to the highest desire level computerized transaction is must. The performance of a Banks today competitive business is important. Just few years ago the number of bank was very small. So the competition was not a strong as its today. Things have changed with the emergence of many new banks now the Customers have option to take the one that the best so the current b anking business scenario is simply highly competitive.The performance of Mercantile Bank Limited during the Last twelve years has proved that with strong desire and will power one achieve whatever target he may have. Almost all the leading banks in our country have various Extra facilities in offer for the customers in comparison with other Banks but MBL has succeed in achieving more customer than other competitors. This has been possible only because of strong customer relation and excellent customer service . For Bank general banking is hearts . MBL has emerged as the pioneer of playing key role in the country. Page 47 of 53 7. 2 Recommendation:The Mercantile Bank Limited has achieved success in all sectors and ended up with the highest ever-operating profit, which is much higher than that of preceding year. The profound achievement has been possible because of the able leadership, dedicated and committed service provided by all levels of management and stuff and above all the tru st and confidence that our valued client had reposed in us. For Mercantile Bank, the days ahead will see this institution to achieve greater highest of glory. The bank should develop their communication between employee and customer. The decision making process should be more fast.Internal control system should be improved so as to increase the brunch productivity. Physical and technological facilities should increase in evaluating credit proposals and also in monitoring the recovery of advances. Experienced and expert personnel should be kept within the banks by considering the goal congruence, which will lead to a quality selection of clients in lending money. Decision making authority should be decentralized to some extent to expedite the lending procedure. The Mercantile Bank Limited has provision for internship program, but it is not well organized.Although the officials are very careful and co-operative with the interns, the authority should be more structured. The bank really uses the Internship program to their advantage by rearranging the whole procedure. Now a day? s world is going very fast. Now most of the banks provide online customer service system. So, in order to compete in the world market they should adopt online banking system. One of the business strategies is promotion. Successful business depends how they can promote their products or services to the customer. To improve the business status, the bank should introduce more promotional programs.The products of deposit and investment should be more diversified and modern. Page 48 of 53 References: Kotler, P. (2004), â€Å"Principles of Marketing†, 10th Edition, Pearson Hall Inc, New Jercy Chapter: 7, 8 & 10 (pp 216, 232, 234, 309). Kotler p. & Killer Lane Kavin (2007-2008), â€Å"Marketing Management†, Prentice- Hall Of India Private Ltd, New Dilhi-110001 India, 12th Edition, Chapter 3, 4 & 7 (pp 139, 173, 273, 341, 371, 401, 567, 535) Khan A. R. (2011), â€Å"General Banking Banking System†, 2nd Edition, Islami Bank Tanning & Research Academy (IBTRA), Bangladesh (pp 68, 69).Retrieved from http://marketingteacher. com/lesson-store/lesson-personal-selling. html, accessed on 05-03-2012; 6. 30pm to 8. 00 pm. Retrieved from http://tutor2u. net/business/marketing/promotion. asp, accessed on 05-03- 2012; 6. 30 pm to 8. 00 pm. Retrieved from http://tutor2u. net/business/marketing/promotion. asp accessed on 28-01- 2012; 07. 45 pm to 12. 00 am. Retrieved from http://www. learnmarketing. net/servicemarketingmix. htm accessed on 05- 04-2012; 6. 30 pm to 8. 00 pm. Retrieved from www. mblbd. com accessed on 01-02-2012; 09. 00 pm to 01. 00 am.Mercantile Bank Limited, (2008-2010) â€Å"Annual Report†, Mercantile Bank Limited, 16 Dilkusha commercial area, Dhaka Bangladesh. Zeithaml. A. Valarie (2005), â€Å"Services Marketing†, 4th edition, TATA McGraw Hill Edition, New Delhi, India, Chapter: 1, 12 (pp 22,26,27, 60, 62,355,366). Page 49 of 53 Mercant ile Bank uses Modern Equipment. Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Disagree 5 16. 7 16. 7 16. 7 Neutral 14 46. 7 46. 7 63. 3 Agree 11 36. 7 36. 7 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 MBL provides services which is not provided by other bank Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Disagree 3 10. 10. 0 10. 0 Neutral 14 46. 7 46. 7 56. 7 Agree 13 43. 3 43. 3 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 MBL has friendly environment Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Disagree 4 13. 3 13. 3 13. 3 Neutral 10 33. 3 33. 3 46. 7 Agree 14 46. 7 46. 7 93. 3 Strongly agree 2 6. 7 6. 7 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 Customer of MBL feels secure transaction. Page 50 of 53 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Disagree 4 13. 3 13. 3 13. 3 Neutral 7 23. 3 23. 3 36. 7 Agree 18 60. 0 60. 0 96. 7 Strongly agree 1 3. 3 3. 3 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 MBL provides prompt service to customer.Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Vali d Disagree 17 56. 7 56. 7 56. 7 Neutral 12 40. 0 40. 0 96. 7 Agree 1 3. 3 3. 3 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 Employees of MBL show sincerity when customers face problem. Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Strongly disagree 2 6. 7 6. 7 6. 7 Disagree 13 43. 3 43. 3 50. 0 Neutral 12 40. 0 40. 0 90. 0 Agree 3 10. 0 10. 0 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 Are you Satisfied with the service of MBL? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Strongly disagree 2 6. 7 6. 7 6. 7 Disagree 8 26. 7 26. 7 33. 3 Neutral 13 43. 3 43. 3 76. 7 Agree 7 23. 23. 3 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 Page 51 of 53 Employees of MBL show equal importance to every customer. Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Strongly disagree 1 3. 3 3. 3 3. 3 Disagree 10 33. 3 33. 3 36. 7 Neutral 18 60. 0 60. 0 96. 7 Agree 1 3. 3 3. 3 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 The process of getting service is easy. Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Disagree 9 30. 0 30. 0 30. 0 Neutral 5 16. 7 16. 7 46. 7 Agree 16 53. 3 53. 3 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 Employees of MBL understand specific needs of customer. Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative PercentValid Disagree 7 23. 3 23. 3 23. 3 Neutral 13 43. 3 43. 3 66. 7 Agree 10 33. 3 33. 3 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 Are you totally satisfied with the quality of service of MBL? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Strongly disagree 2 6. 7 6. 7 6. 7 Disagree 9 30. 0 30. 0 36. 7 Neutral 14 46. 7 46. 7 83. 3 Agree 5 16. 7 16. 7 100. 0 Total 30 100. 0 100. 0 Page 52 of 53 Questionnaire for customer Satisfactions Level of MBL Dhanmondi Branch Dear sir or Madam: This is a questionnaire from Northern University Bangladesh to collect data on Customer Satisfactions of â€Å"Mercantile Bank Limited at Dhanmondi Branch†.All the data will be used for academic purposes and will be kept confidential. Please read the following statements which some people agree with and some do not. I would like to know whether you strongly agree(SA), Agree(A), Neutral(N), Disagree(D),or strongly disagree(SD) with each statement. There is no right or wrong answers. Please circle (0) the number that represents your opinion most correctly. SL. Measurement Scale SA A N D SD 01 Mercantile Bank use modern Equipment. 5 4 3 2 1 02 MBL provides service which is not provided by other bank. 5 4 3 2 1 03 MBL has friendly Environment. 5 4 3 2 1 04 Customer of MBL feel & Secure transaction. 4 3 2 1 05 MBL giving prompt service to customer. 5 4 3 2 1 06 Mercantile bank Service is better than other Bank. 5 4 3 2 1 07 Employees of MBL show sincere when customer face problem. 5 4 3 2 1 08 Are you satisfying the service of MBL? 5 4 3 2 1 09 Employee of MBL show equal importance to every customer 5 4 3 2 1 10 The process of getting services is easy. 5 4 3 2 1 11 Employee of MBL is very helpful. 5 4 3 2 1 12 Employee of MBL understand specific need of customers. 5 4 3 2 1 13 The knowledge of the bank? s personnel in answering customer questions properly. 5 4 3 2 1 Page 53 of 53 14 MBL having convenient operating hours. 4 3 2 1 15 Overall I am satisfied with quality of service of the Mercantile bank. 5 4 3 2 1 16. Why you choose MBL for your transaction: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Personal Information Gender: A. Male B. Female Age: A. 12-19 B. 20-34 C. 35-39 D. 40-49 E. 50-above Profession: i) Student ii) Business iii) Teacher iv) Service Holder v) Other†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Income: i) less than 5000 ii) 10000-25000 iii) 25000-40000 iv) 40000-60000 v) 60000-80000 vi) above 80000 Contact Info: Address: Mob:

Napoleons Egyptian Campaign

Napoleons Egyptian Campaign In 1798 the French Revolutionary War in Europe reached a temporary pause, with the forces of revolutionary France and their enemies at peace. Only Britain remained at war. The French were still looking to secure their position, wished to knock out Britain out. However, despite Napoleon Bonaparte, the hero of Italy, being assigned a command to prepare for an invasion of Britain, it was clear to all that such an adventure would never succeed: Britain’s Royal Navy was too strong to allow for a workable beachhead. Napoleon’s Dream Napoleon had long harbored dreams of fighting in the Middle East and Asia, and he formulated a plan to strike back by attacking Egypt. A conquest here would secure the French hold on the Eastern Mediterranean, and to Napoleon’s mind open up a route to attack Britain in India. The Directory, the five-man body which ruled France, where equally keen to see Napoleon try his luck in Egypt because it would keep him away from usurping them, and give his troops something to do outside France. There was also the small chance he’d repeat the miracles of Italy. Consequently, Napoleon, a fleet and an army sailed from Toulon in May; he had over 250 transports and 13 ‘ships of the line’. After capturing Malta while on the way, 40,000 French landed in Egypt on July 1st. They captured Alexandria and marched on Cairo. Egypt was notionally part of the Ottoman Empire, but it was under the practical control of the Mameluke military. Napoleon’s force had more than just troops. He had brought with him an army of civilian scientists who were to create the Institute of Egypt in Cairo, to both learn from the east, and begin to ‘civilize’ it. For some historians, the science of Egyptology began seriously with the invasion. Napoleon claimed he was there to defend Islam and Egyptian interests, but he wasn’t believed and rebellions began.​ Battles in the East Egypt might not be controlled by the British, but the Mameluke rulers were no happier to see Napoleon. An Egyptian army marched to meet the French, clashing at the Battle of the Pyramids on July 21st. A struggle of military eras, it was a clear victory for Napoleon, and Cairo was occupied. A new government was installed by Napoleon, ending ‘feudalism’, serfdom, and importing French structures. However, Napoleon could not command at sea, and on August 1st the Battle of the Nile was fought. British naval commander Nelson had been sent to stop Napoleon landing and had missed him while resupplying, but finally found the French fleet and took the chance to attack while it was docked in Aboukir Bay to take on supplies, gaining further surprise by attacking in the evening, on into night, and early in the morning: only two ships of the line escaped (they were later sunk), and Napoleon’s supply line had ceased to exist. At the Nile Nelson destroyed eleven ships of the line, which amounted to a sixth of those in the French navy, including some very new and large craft. It would take years to replace them and this was the pivotal battle of the campaign. Napoleon’s position suddenly weakened, the rebels he had encouraged turned against him. Acerra and Meyer have argued this was the defining battle of the Napoleonic Wars, which hadn’t yet begun. Napoleon couldn’t even take his army back to France and, with enemy forces forming up, Napoleon marched into Syria with a small army. The aim was to prise the Ottoman Empire apart from their alliance with Britain. After taking Jaffa – where three thousand prisoners were executed - he besieged Acre, but this held out, despite the defeat of a relief army sent by the Ottomans. Plague ravaged the French and Napoleon was forced back to Egypt. He nearly suffered a setback when Ottoman forces using British and Russian ships landed 20,000 people at Aboukir, but he moved quickly to attack before the cavalry, artillery, and elites had been landed and routed them. Napoleon Leaves Napoleon now took a decision which has damned him in the eyes of many critics: realising the political situation in France was ripe for change, both for him and against him, and believing only he could save the situation, save his position, and take command of the whole country, Napoleon left – some might prefer abandoned – his army and returned to France in a ship which had to evade the British. He was soon to seize power in a coup d’etat. Post-Napoleon: French Defeat General Kleber was left to manage the French army, and he signed the Convention of El Arish with the Ottomans. This should have allowed him to pull the French army back to France, but the British refused, so Kleber attacked and retook Cairo. He was assassinated a few weeks later. The British now decided to send troops, and a force under Abercromby landed at Aboukir. The British and French fought soon after at Alexandria, and while Abercromby was killed the French were beaten, forced away from Cairo, and into surrender. Another invading British force was being organized in India to attack through the Red Sea. The British now allowed the French force to return to France and prisoners held by Britain were returned after a deal in 1802. Napoleon’s oriental dreams were over.

6 Disappeared LinkedIn® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them †Part V WordPress (and RSS Feeds)

6 Disappeared LinkedIn ® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them – Part V WordPress (and RSS Feeds) The WordPress and BlogLink applications on LinkedIn used to be a reliable way to send weekly blog posts to your LinkedIn profile. All a blogger had to do was download the application and associate the blog’s RSS feed (essentially the link to your blog posts) to LinkedIn. No longer is this convenient feature available. Up until a week ago, I would have suggested a fix that entails requesting your RSS feed to be sent out automatically to your favorite LinkedIn groups, or perhaps starting a LinkedIn group so that you can send your feed to that group. Not anymore. LinkedIn has announced that as of March 15, 2013, users may no longer syndicate RSS feeds to groups through LinkedIn. The pros and cons of this move by LinkedIn have been debated. On the positive side, the elimination of RSS feeds to groups means less potential for spamming. A real person has to go in and post an article, potentially stemming the increasingly overwhelming flow of posts to LinkedIn groups. On the other hand, much of this automated content provides valuable information to group members and spurs conversation and debate. Will the richness of group conversations be diminished without the convenience of automated posting? Time will tell †¦ In the meantime, the question remains: How can you send your value-rich content to your LinkedIn groups? One place to look is the LinkedIn Help topic, Anyone have a workaround for the elimination of RSS feeds in groups? Here are some ideas: 1. Post discussions manually to your LinkedIn groups. Manual posting of articles is a technique I have been utilizing all along, and I believe it provides value to my groups and provides me with visibility. I don’t just post the link to a useful article – I post the entire article so that people don’t have to work too hard to read the content. If you post an article to a group, it helps to ask a question to spur discussion, rather than simply post the article. By simply sticking an article on the discussion page, you risk appearing â€Å"spammy† and are less likely to generate worthwhile conversations about your topic. 2. Use HootSuite to post blog entries to your Activity Updates. The HootSuite option requires establishing a HootSuite account if you don’t have one already. After logging in to HootSuite, hover over the launch bar on the left side of your account. Click on Settings RSS/Atom: Click the + sign to add a new feed. You might need to upgrade to a paid account ($5.99/month) to use this feature. Paste your feed URL in the field provided. Then select the social sites you would like the feed to post to. Edit any other preferred options and Save Feed. 3. Post manually to Activity Updates. A simple, free way to share blog articles is to post the link individually to your Activity Updates. If you blog once/week this solution might be the best one for you. You can add links from either your LinkedIn home page or the Activity bar on your profile. You then have the option of sharing the update on LinkedIn and Twitter. Home page image: Profile Activity bar image: Any blog article links you add will appear on your profile in your Activity section (the top section of the profile). Your updates will also appear in LinkedIn Signal, which is a running account of all LinkedIn updates that can be found under the News menu. Here’s a sample: 4. Post your blog under your Publications section. Add the Publications section to your profile if you dont have it already. Then post a live URL that links directly to your blog for anyone who wants to take a look! Do you have more ideas of how to replace the WordPress application or the group RSS feeds? Please share below! If you want more tips on the effective use of LinkedIn, you might like How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, the #1 best-selling e-book by Brenda Bernstein! Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinFebruary 25, 2013