Frederick Douglas Essay -- Frederick Douglas report

Paper on Frederick Douglass In the 1800's, slavery was a predominant issue in the United States, one that most Americans in the South dealt with daily. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass reveals much about American history during the time of slavery as well as expounds arguments for the abolition of slavery. As a historical document, it conveys information about the slave family, work, the master-slave relationship, and the treatment and living conditions of slaves. As an antislavery tract, it argues against commonly held beliefs about slavery's benefits and its morality, making strong points for getting rid of slavery. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass reveals, through the story he tells "the core of the meaning of slavery, both for individuals and for the nation."(2) Slave families were often torn apart by the master separating them. Douglass states that often mothers were taken away before the baby reached one year old. He believes this was probably done to break the bond of affection between the mother and the child. In Douglass' own case, he only remembered seeing his mother four or five times, during the night, when she had to walk twelve miles each time just to be able to see her own son for a little while. When she died, Douglass wasn't allowed to go to her burial. He was just told she was dead afterwards. Douglass didn't feel much hearing the news because he barely knew her. Douglass also wrote of how members of the slave family were always at risk of being separated. They could be sold at the master's whim, or when the master died, the slaves would be gathered with the rest of the property to be sold to different masters. Frederick Douglass tells how after his master died, th... ...ample, when he tells how people who could be chosen to work on the Great House Farm would sing songs filled with great anguish. When he heard these songs, he got his "first glimmering conception of the dehumanization character of slavery."(51) The second main idea was how knowledge equals power. His growing understanding about how education would be "the path from slavery to freedom."(64) He tells how the more his master, Mr. Auld, argued his education, the more clearly he knew its supreme importance. His third main point was that freedom is essential for every human being. He showed all of his renders a glimpse of this when he "imagines himself on one of [the ships] ‘gallant decks,' speaks to us and the ships alternating voices of anguish and triumph, pouring out his ‘soul's complaint,' and converting it into an unforgettable image of the meaning of freedom."(23)

One Proposal for Peace Based on A Modest Proposal Essay -- English Lit

One Proposal for Peace Based on A Modest Proposal There is a grave national crisis occurring all across the nation. Children everywhere are committing acts of hostility in their schools. Schools are no longer a safe haven for children but are now considered war zones where victims are abundant and violence is the enemy. Fifty-seven percent of public elementary and secondary school principals reported that one or more incidents of crime or violence occurred in their schools and were reported to law enforcement officials. Ten percent of all public schools experienced one or more serious violent crimes. Some 6,093 students were expelled during the 1996-1997 academic school year for bringing firearms or explosives to school. Students ages twelve through eighteen were victims of more than 2.7 million total crimes at school as indicated in the School Crime and Safety 2000 Report by U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 2000. Factors contributing to school violence are numerous, complex, and include the following: poverty, dysfunctional families, lack of paternal involvement, unemployment, truancy, and inner-city environment. Adequate parental supervision and control of these students has weakened, and many students have diminished respect for all forms of authority. As a result, schools are confronted with problems of students possessing weapons, involved with gang recruitment and rivalry, and engaged in drug trafficking. Such problems lead to violent ac...

BCG Matrix

The idea of carrying your favorite music wherever you go has always been fascinating for people all over the world for the longest time. It started with carrying of stereo systems, then came the portable cassette players followed by the portable CD players and then finally the digital music players. In 2001 the portable music players industry was revolutionized by the advent of an Apple’s product called the iPod; this came as a breath of fresh air for music lovers all over the world and was an instant hit.The success of it can be determined by the fact that it has become a household name a brand known all over the world in such a short time; it is one of the highest revenue generating products for the Apple and is now the market leader in products of its genre. iPod – Target Market iPod’s target market has been the youth primarily who listen to music of all kinds and are always on the go, but with time the target market expanded tremendously.Now it caters to almo st everyone with accessories available it has made the music available for people where ever they are all the time. It has become part of everyday life of any professional who listens to music where ever he is working, although through campaigns it still targets the young energetic segment of the consumer market but benefits of the product are enjoyed by everyone (Apple Investor, 2008). Organizations have now employed iPod in training of their new recruits; this shows the diversity of the market that the product is now catering to.The product has grown over the years but has kept its integrity and maintained its status; as the market grew and competitors came in Apple as always tried to stay ahead of the competition by bringing variety in the product while keeping the originality. The iPod now ranges from iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle and iPod touch; each caters to a different segment of the society and has its own niche. Factors influencing consumer behavior Factors that ha ve the most impact on the behavior of a consumer are †¢ Psychological †¢ Personal †¢ Social †¢ Cultural (Robbins & Judge, 2004)A manger while making any decision about a product needs to keep in mind anything that falls under the lines defined by the above mentioned factors. iPod on the other hand catered to each of these factors in its own way. Psychological If we analyze the add campaigns for the iPod it would tell us that it shows people that iPod is a product that has been designed for people who are energetic who are young or at least feel young, the colorful pattern adopted in the ads as well as in the product depicts that it is a product that doesn’t cater to a specific class but is for everyone (BCG Expertise, 2009).Being a technological product it also appeals to the techno side of a human mind, the desire to stay ahead of others and own an object that would be a statement for them. iPod over the years achieved this status of being a self statemen t for people and it is a major success of the product indeed. A lot of people associate their choice of music with their personalities, and are very possessive about the songs they own and they listen to, the iPod enable them to keep this possession close to them and take it wherever they go and enjoy them whenever they feel like, hence gives them this sense of completion as well.Personal The appeal of the product is created towards the younger generation primarily the students and the freshly hired professionals. The product is a little high priced that is why it has always been a status symbol as well in many societies, it is also for the people who have some know-how of technology and are inclined to learn more (Apple Investor, 2008). For people of young age life is always on the move, it is very important for them to have things that are portable and are easy to carry.Music is by far the favorite pass time as well as a motivator in a way that it complements their work habits, he nce having a device that can be easily carried and taken to places and can carry your favorite things is a great attraction. Social The social aspect of an iPod is on the greatest factor influencing consumer behavior. iPod from its introduction in 2001 became an instant hit and the culture of iPod started, it became a second name for music for a lot of people (Apple iPod Touch, 2009).Apple had a lot to do in bringing and enabling this culture to flourish as they kept on bringing in new features and accessories for the iPod music for example the iTunes and its advancements, this kept the customers involved in the product while on the other hand gave reasons to people to talk about the product hence iPod became a topic of discussion as well as the time progressed.A lot of the success of iPod has to do with peer pressure and reference groups as well, people adopt things that they see in their surroundings, or with people who they are close to. This creates a desire among them to have t he same object as well, with iPod being a state of the art product the word of mouth was tremendous people couldn’t stop talking about their iPods and its features; this created hype in the market about the product and more and more people bought them. CulturalWith the advancement in technology the people wanted convenience in everything and hence the involvement of technology increased day by day in a common man’s life, this culture of technology also progressed with time. With this culture flourishing iPod came as a perfect fit, people were willing to adopt changes and try out new products, people were better educated and well aware of what the product was all about hence less effort was required in making the people understand the product also it enabled people to better receive the product (iPhone 3G, 2009).The today’s world has become really fast paced, time is the most expensive resource and everybody seems to be short of it; in such times it was hard for people to relax at their work places or enjoy a few minutes of good music, even if they were able to they didn’t feel comfortable with it. In such time iPod came as blessing as it was handy yet could carry loads of music files now people were able to enjoy their music while being at work or being busy with whatever they want to do (Bulik, 2008). Consumer Behavior ModelBlack Box Model The Black Box model is divided into three basic parts: †¢ Environmental Factors †¢ Black Box †¢ Buyer’s Response (Daft, 2001) Environmental Factors The Environmental Factors is the basic scenario in which a consumer is placed and has to make a decision these are his surroundings and how the product is presented to him and also how he perceives the product, how important is it for him and does he even feel the need for the product or not. The environmental factors are further divided into two categories 1.Environment: These are the conditions that the customer lives in and hi s surroundings, the aspects involved are the political situation of the country and its stability, this also involves the economical standing of the country the buying power of the consumer, the cultural aspect is also included in order to analyze the fact and understand how the customer will perceive the product and also the technical issues are also discussed for the reason that whether the society is able to adopt and understand and support the technology or not.In iPods case as the product was launched predominantly in the western markets, the environment was favorable although some problems were faced in countries else where, the financial and political support was there, the product was a perfect fit for the fast paced on the go culture and also the technology was very well received by the audience (Robbins & Judge, 2004). 2. Marketing Strategy: The marketing aspect of the environmental factor is more company related this is more about how the company designs its product, pric es it, promotes it and defines distribution channels based on the environment discussed above (Martin, 2008).The success of iPod is an indication of its great marketing strategy; the product was a very well thought device which catered to the consumer needs perfectly, secondly the promotion was such that it appealed to everyone and distribution channels were effective enough that it was available everywhere. The pricing although was a little question mark the big profit margin that the company enjoyed restricted some of the potential customers from using the product but then again it was good enough to make it an extremely profitable product. Black BoxBuyers’ Characteristics: This is the part where the buyer’s personality is involved, the attributes that give him his identity influence his decision making process. The way the buyer perceives a product, the attitude with which he receives the product, his personal likes and dislikes and also his background and his lifes tyle all combined influence the decision that he takes. The characteristics of the target market were thoroughly analyzed and were responded with a great product and a marketing strategy, the habits and interests of the young generation were very well responded.The buyer’s response is considered as a rational decision based on the factors above while in reality it might not be the case, a buyer can be influenced by other factors as well, his decision doesn’t have to be rational in the defined lines of the black box, he can be bias and unreasonable as well but even in that way he is satisfying his own need to optimum utility (BCG Expertise, 2009). The positive response to iPod from the consumers is not necessarily due to the fact that it caters their needs but it can also be due to the fact that the buyer wants to fit into a certain circle of people and needs iPod as a support for his status.Decision Making: The second part of the black box is the buyer’s decisio n making process, it starts off with the identification of a problem that is the buyer’s realization of a need or a desire, second part is the research where the buyer looks out to find how can he fulfill his need, when he finds out ways how he can fulfill his needs then he evaluates all the options available to him, after the evaluation he finally comes to a conclusion and buys a product. The last part of the process is the behavior of the buyer after the purchase whether he comes back the second time or not, does he have complains, is he satisfied etc.(Martin, 2008) In the decision making process the problem was that people weren’t able to find a high quality digital music player that was reliable yet looked good, they did their research and iPod being the first of its kind was the only option available to them, after evaluating it and finding it best against the rest they bought the product. After the sales most of the customer were genuinely satisfied the evidence for which is the number of iPods sold and number of tunes downloaded from iTunes (Graham, 2008). RecommendationsPricing Strategy The iPod has always been a premium product by apple, relatively high priced but high quality; the high price is primarily due to the high profit margin that is kept on each device. The survey that was conducted that was conducted was based on 4 major points: 1. It was asked that which in their perspective is the best digital music player, the response was clear as more than 70 percent of the responses replied iPod; this shows that iPod is positioned as the best product in the market among the consumers (Bulik, 2008). 2.On the question whether respondents owned an iPod or not around 55 percent of the respondents replied positively. 3. When asked if they would want to own an iPod of their more than 90 percent replied positively; this showed the great potential the product had in the market. 4. When those who didn’t own an iPod already that why they di dn’t have an iPod the majority replied that they were not able to afford it. Hence it can be concluded that the product has great potential and still can capture a bigger share in an already self dominated market, but the only barrier is the high price.The price needs to be lowered a bit so that affordability of the product increases. This is not just in the western nations but one of the major reasons that iPod has not been able to flourish as greatly in rest of the world is the fact that an already high priced product becomes extremely unaffordable for people of poor economies when they are caught currency exchange rates. Even these markets have tremendous potential but they fall pray to cheap Chinese copies or other portable devices when the desire to own an iPod is great.The profit margin can be reduced and the recovery can be made on other products such as the accessories and music. Music Diversity Music form different genres must be added to the iTunes feature in order to attract a worldwide audience. This is the biggest internet music seller portal, recently iTunes celebrated its billionth download in just 9 months, this shows that how great the operations related to iPod have become and can become even bigger if a little diversity is added (Graham, 2008). Music SharingSharing the music between two iPod users is still an issue as there is no convenient way of transferring a file from one iPod to another, although there have been attempts such as the miShare but still it is a hassle. What needs to be done is that a wireless system of transferring files between the devices must be made so that two users are able to share their songs and enjoy the music together. FM Radio iPod doesn’t have an FM Radio feature; the FM industry has become huge over the years and has a great fan base and listenership.Not giving such a feature is just missing on to opportunities that are quite simple to catch on, hence an FM feature needs to be added in the produ ct. Advertisements While the high spirit energetic young look for advertisement must be maintained but also different campaigns must be introduced in order to attract audiences who may not like to be associated with this perception. References Apple Investor. (2008). Retrieved April 24, 2009, from http://www. apple. com/investor Apple iPod Touch. (Apple Inc.). Retrieved April 19, 2009, from http://www. apple. com/ipodtouch/ BCG Expertise. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 21, 2009, from Boston Consulting Group: http://www. bcg. com/impact_expertise/publications/files/Summary_Shop_org. pdf Bulik, B. S. (June 2008). Apple's iPhone steals marketing thunder from iPod. Advertising Age , 4-55. Daft, R. (2001). Organization Theory and Design, 9th ed. Chicago: South-Western. Graham, J. (2008). Apple iPhone hasn't gotten on Flash bandwagon yet. USA Today . iPhone 3G.(2008). Retrieved April 23, 2009, from http://images. apple. com/br/accessibility/pdf/iPhone_3G_vpat. pdf Martin, R. (2008). Apple Goes After Business With Phone Apps And SDK. Informationweek , 23-24. Robbins, S. P. , & Judge, T. A. (2004). Organizational Behavior. New York: Pearsons. Survey: High Awareness, Strong Demand for Apple iPhone. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 22, 2009, from Marketing Charts: http://www. marketingcharts. com/interactive/survey-high-awareness-strong-demand-for-apple-iphone-694/

Godiva Chocolatier Swot

Introduction Godiva has for a long time now being among the leading corporations in its area of expertise, chocolate. Currently, it records a sale of 500 million USD per year. It offers a very interactive, as well as customer service, where consumers are able to feel the staffs’ sincerity. Company history Godiva Chocolatier is a multinational Company that deals with manufacturing of premium chocolates and other products related to chocolates. Godiva was founded in 1926, in Belgium, but later purchased by the Turkish Yildiz Holdings, the owner of Ulker Group.It opened its first boutique shop in the Grand Place in Brussels. The company went global through opening its first shop outside Belgium in Paris, France in 1958. The company expanded further and by 1966, the company products had reached United States where most of the products were sold mostly in luxury strip malls. Godiva has more than 600 retail shops and boutiques that it owns and operates in various countries such as U nited States, Asia, Europe, as well as Canada.The corporation is also available through more than 10,000 specialty retailers. This company, in addition, to chocolates offers other products such as truffles, biscuit, and fruits, cocoa, among several other foods and beverages (Godiva History and FAQ (2004). The company by the year 2007 had reported annual sales of 500 million USD. It is in the same year that the company announced its interest in exploring various strategic alternatives among them being divestiture.However, in December, 2007, the company announced its interest in selling Godiva to one of the largest and prominent consumer goods manufacturer in the Turkish food industry, and by 2008, the process was completed, and Yildiz Holdings gained ownership of this company (Adelman, Andrews, & Lee, 2007). Currently, this company continues to own and carry its operations in with more than 400 shops globally. The company has embraced the new technology of online shopping and current ly it issue 6 seasonal mails order catalogs annually in United States, as well as accepting online and telephone orders for their goods (Godiva History and FAQ (2004).Godiva operations in Singapore Singapore can be an interesting market to penetrate through direct investment or franchising. Godiva has directly invested in Singapore through setting up shops and boutiques in several cities in Singapore. This country is strategically situated at the southern tip of the Malaysian Peninsula. It consists of Singapore islands, several islets within its territorial waters. The land is characterized by undulated land with low hills. Therefore, the country is well accessible due to its accessibility through land, water, and air.Singapore is currently regarded as one of the most dynamic cities globally where people can work, invest, and live in (Ghosh, 2010). It is globally connected with a multicultural and international city states and towns and offers one of the best conducive environments globally to do business and for success driven industries. For about four decades now, Singapore has undergone tremendous transformation from a place of national business to one of the world’s prominent financial centers, sea hubs and international airports.Additionally, it has become one of the most open economies for both trade and investment nationally and globally. Companies and organizations operating in this country are guaranteed access to competent and unbiased judicial system, transparency and consistence in government guidelines, implementation of strong and good corporate governance policy, as well as anticorruption policies. Godiva, after carefully market research in Singapore, developed strategies of entering into this market. Godiva Company has invested directly through setting up store and shops for selling its products.It has three stores in this country that are situated in main locations, for example, in large cities and islands where there is easy accessibi lity and convenient for customers shopping their products. There are vast Infrastructures in this country, and thus the company has taken this opportunity and introduced online shopping for its products. The products in this market are not only purchased through the retail shop, but through online services where the customers purchase chocolate products in the comfort of their homes.The company has a plan of diverting more attention to Singapore, since Singapore is one of the wealthiest and prosperous nations and thus the demand for premium goods and services is high. Additionally, it has a population of approximately 5 million with a growth rate of about 24%. Therefore, this gives the company a wider target market. Competitive analysis Godiva has many competitors situated in Singapore. It faces competition from both local and international industries. For example, Royce and the Chocolate Research Facility is a local company in Singapore and a rival of this company.Other competitors in this industry include Leonidas, and Teuscher, among others. However, despite the harsh competition in this industry, this company has always been talked about by the lovers of chocolate. They trust and remain loyal to the company since the company is well known in the provision of high class and premium products which satisfy the customers. Therefore, despite the advantage the other competitors could have in this industry, for example, the local company, it still have a competitive edge in terms of winning the customer loyalty through providing products of substance.Future of the company in Singapore According to the forecast made in Singapore, there will be a 17% growth rate for the chocolate industry. Majority of the customers of Godiva Company are age group of between 30 and 40 years who are in the working class and, therefore, can afford these premium products. However, according to research, the economy is expected to pick up, and thus younger people from the age of between 20-30 years will increasingly earn more income, and they will be more willing to spend more as their disposable income increases.This group of consumers mostly looks for premium and highly customized products. Therefore, the company will be better situated to compete in this industry. Godiva Gems products and brand Godiva offers its chocolate products in various brands and variety of flavors in order to capture a wider market, as well as meet all the customers’ demands and specifications. Some of the flavors include truffles, fresh creams, fruits, chocolate bars, caraques, among several others. The customer has created a variety of more than seventy products of those customers who demand customized goods.The company, in addition, offers other more than 100 varieties for various occasions such as for gifts personal indulgence, special occasions like cocktail meetings and home entertaining chocolate products. Traditionally, the company use to pack the products in Godivaâ€℠¢s classic gold ballotin, but currently the company has styled up and now uses stylish seasonal packaging for all its customers. In addition, the company sells other complementary products to these chocolates products which include Godiva ice cream, Godiva white chocolate liquor, among others.Godiva customize its chocolate products to meet and fit in the demand of local cultures. For example, the taste and flavors of Godiva products in US is different from that of Europe. A lot of milk and sugar products are added when preparing chocolate for American market. Godiva's Marketing Strategy for Godiva Gem in Singapore Market segmentation Marketing segmentation is significant for any business that wants to excel in any industry. It helps a company identify segments with similar characteristics such as buying behavior (Zonis, 2009). Godiva chocolates have created two segment; corporate segment and affluent retail market.The corporate segment has two main groups for a particular purpose. T he first key group is for business gifts giving. This is a round the clock market but does not have peak times during holiday gifts and presents giving season. The other group in the corporate segment is for corporate incentives programs. These programs are exploited by corporate rewards, sales incentives, as well as recognition. The affluent retail market entails retails clients and customers who have a preference for premium and expensive products. The largest group for these products is found in London.In Singapore, the market can be divided to include the haves and the have not. The market can be divided to reach those with low earnings, as well as those with high earnings ((Cohen, 2004). Product differentiation Godiva is an established company in many parts of the world and have won the trust and loyalty of many customers globally. In Singapore, though the products are expensive, many customers prefer buying from Godiva shops as opposed to other shops in the same industry. This is because the company positioned its products to offer high premium products and of a different variety.Therefore, many customers are aware of the quality of the Godiva products, and, therefore, remain loyal to the company despite the increase in price. This gives this company a competitive edge in this industry. Product positioning Product positioning is the unique way of offering the products in the market. Godiva company apart from offering exceptional products in terms of quality, it has a variety of packaging which attracts customers. For example, many customers require custom made products and package which the company is able to offer widely.In addition, there are varieties of products for different occasions such as for special gifts. The company has over 100 varieties of products for various occasions. This gives it a competitive edge over the other companies in this industry since it is able to tap a bigger market. Marketing target Godiva chocolate deals with Chocolates products and, therefore, the main target of its market is chocolate lovers. These are people mostly love indulging in rich and delicious products, for example, products in the world of chocolate.The company has a variety of products that its offers in the market depending on the customers demands. Some of the varieties of products include white chocolate, fruit , dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate shakes, among other varieties. The target market of Godiva consists mostly of the world class or the rich since the chocolate products are expensive and are only affordable to the rich. To capture this world class group, the company offers a variety of packaging designs, which are artfully designed to fit the targeted people. Product strategyGodiva chocolate shops and boutiques offer a wide variety of their super-premium selections chocolates products. The selection includes the company newly introduced chocolate products which include Nippon, Romaine, seventy two percent cocoa Demi tasse, and Creole. Godiva Company has placed its products where customers can easily access them. For example, it offers a variety of products in its website to enable customers view the existing products and the latest products. The products are also available for online shopping to enable the customers shop from their homes.Packing of products, on the other hand, differs from country to country to meet different needs of the customer. For example, in United States chocolates are pre-packed but in Singapore, chocolates collections are custom made. The company has a new packing strategy, which is to sell chocolates in assortments, which are hand made so as to enhance innovation, as well as differentiation from competitors. Price In Europe, Godiva does not have much say in terms of setting up prices for their products.This is because the prices were standardized by the European Union, and; therefore, the company must comply with the union and standardize its prices. The price has als o increased for most of the Godiva products, and the market has not yet accepted. The company wishes to borrow a leaf from the wine tasting that were held at local wine shop, and educate its consumers on why it is worth to buy chocolate products at the set price. In addition, the forecast shows that there will be an increase in the growth rate and; therefore, the economy is expected to pick up.The company, therefore, is deciding on working on the quality of the product to be reflected in the high prices set. Many people will also be able to afford these products at that price because the income will go up and so will their disposable income. The pricing strategy includes establishing further premium pricing on those products that are best selling for retail rich segments and come up with the best pricing and volume combination. For the affluent retail segment, which have achieved an average growth rate, the company plans on maintaining the current pricing for the rest of the product s.Introduction of discount pricing for all the corporate segment for the first time client, and also a for longer time clients, that is, those clients that have been in business for more than three years. This strategy is for helping in attracting more clients, as well as maintaining the existing ones. Channels of distribution The company first decides to increase its distribution channels in London without necessary increasing its investment in actual stores. This will be done through association with third party premium retail channels.The company desires to increase distribution channels outside London utilizing similar associate if the strategy works in London. The aim of this strategy is to decrease the investment in stores which in the past has been seen to negatively impact on returns of this company. The company has various options to consider, for example, to distribute the chocolate premium products aggressively across many channels. However, this would have a large drawba ck on the company since it would dilute the premium luxury brand name. The second option would be to identify premium retail channels of distributions and utilize them.One possible premium retail channel tie-up that can be considered is Starbucks Coffee. Promotion strategy The aim of Godiva promotion message into the global and common campaign is to unify its advertising message. However, this strategy is difficult because of the difference in the individual market around the world. The company has a new goal in promotion, which is to raise the rate of the purchase of chocolate products for gifts, special occasions, and for self consumption. In addition, the company in its advertising campaign wants to give the brand name a youthful appearance.Since women do most of the purchasing, advertising should, therefore, focus on women magazines and billboards. In entering new markets, the company will focus on the product and its promotions. Therefore, the company should develop and initial promotion strategy in order to gain some market share in Singapore. The company can start with giving free samples in order to create free publicity. Another form of advertising that Godiva can introduce is the Godiva Theater. Godiva Theater is a domestic strategy that can be used in promotion of products, in Singapore.Customers through this promotion strategy can watch their chocolate products produced through the glass viewing area, and they can, therefore, enjoy chocolate fresh made. The strategy of unifying Godiva image globally is a viable strategy. However, having conflicting brand images can cause confusion and misunderstanding between markets, as well as in the company. Since Singapore is a technologically advanced state, Godiva should design its advertising to be mostly on televisions and internet. The company should also try to get a celebrity to use in advertising.This is because; having a celebrity or a role model promote the chocolate products, as well as the companyâ €™s image will increase the interest of Godiva and its products. The company, once the brand is accepted in the market can go back to the word of mouth form of advertising. Godiva Company uses two types of production methods in manufacturing various sizes and shapes of the chocolates products. They include enrobing and shell-molding. Shell molding is mostly practiced in Europe and is used in manufacturing most of the Godiva chocolates. This method has enabled the company to design unique olds, giving them unique style, and sophisticated confections, which are easily recognized as Godiva. When these collections of the shell-molded chocolates are packed in one of the stylish package, they become appealing even to the most discerning customers in the market. Conclusion and recommendations Godiva is one of the most prominent companies in the chocolate industry. According to the above analysis, this company is highly preferred by many lovers of chocolate in all the place its has set stores. In Singapore particularly, the company is exceedingly doing well.This is because of its exceptional chocolate products in terms of quality, packaging and variety of chocolate products. The company, therefore, despite the increase in the prices of its products still attracts a substantial number of customers that can sustain it in the market. My recommendation would be since according to forecast, the Singapore economy is expected to rise in the future, which means the people earnings will go up including the youth of below 30 years, the products should be given a youthful appearance to attract the youth. This will consequently increase the target market for Godiva products.

Describe Your Favorite Time of the Year and Explain What Makes It Special.

Describe your favorite time of the year and explain what makes it special. My favorite time of the year is when I enjoy the most and have fun. The most delightful time of the year is also hanging out with your chums. To me that time of the year falls after winter vacations when the final year starts and the countdown begins for the examination. During this period of time there is a lot of work to do, cease our entire course and then sit in our homes for studying. But still I like this time because we are free from school and waking up early in the morning. And then the weak begins of our breakdown.Last day of school is the most memorable day of school in the whole of the year. Then the days arrives that every student fancies†¦. THE SUMMER BREAK!!! And that is because we get to sleep more. All of the students enjoy with their families and fast friends. People visit different places of their own beloved country and of other countries. Student’s hangs out, at different eatin g places; where they eat less and laugh’s a lot. Girls talk about different fashion icons and brands- gossip is their most akin topic. Boys like to talk about sports and superb cars. Beside these all enjoyment we have to do our holiday homework.That is also a sort of fun as it reminds you of school days and the cheers with buddies. The days follow in a simple row with more smiles and little tears. And then the count down begins again. The last day of holidays is the end of my favorite time of the year. School starts again and with new session and a bigger class, there is more work to do. And we may get a chance to make new friends and try to improve more in our studies than the last year. However, I do know that the days will fly by so fast that I will get to experience my favorite time of the year all over again. And try to make it more memorable than the past year. Words=340

Term Paper on Controlling Proceess

Govt. Titumir College Term Paper On â€Å"Application of Controlling Process in Banking Sector in Bd. † Prepared By Supervised by Name: Md. Golap Mia Rita Khandoker Roll:181 Year: BBA (2nd year) Lecturer Session: 2011-12 Department of Management NU Roll No: 9613648 Govt.Titumir College Department of Management Dhaka. Govt. Titumir College, Dhaka. Date of Preparation: 26. 01. 2012 Letter of Transmittal To Lecturer Department of Management Govt. Titumir College, Dhaka. Sub: Letter of transmittal. Dear Sir. I would like to draw your kind attention that we are submitting our report about the topic of â€Å"Application of Controlling Process in Banking Sector in Bd. † We have tried our best to prepare this report which will fulfill our requirement.We believe all these new ideas from this â€Å"Term Paper† will help us in our future practical life. We will be highly grateful to your honor if you would kindly accept our â€Å"Term Paper† and obliged thereby. Th anking you Name: Golap Mia Year: BBA (2nd year) Session: 2011-12 NU Roll No: 9613648 Department of Management Govt. Titumir College,Dhaka. Table of contents and counts: ChapterTopic namePage count 1 Introduction4 2Conceptual issues5-6 3Database7 4Findings of study8-24 5Conclusion& recommendations25-27 1. Internal Control Policy 1. 1) Overview Banking has a diversified and complex financial activity which is no longer limited within the geographic boundary of a country. Since its activity involves high risk, the issue of effective internal controls system, corporate governance, transparency, Accountability has become significant issues to ensure smooth performance of the banking industry throughout the world. In many banks internal control is identified With internal audit; the scope of internal control is not limited to audit work.It is an Integral part of the daily activity of a bank, which on its own merit identifies the risks associated with the process and adopts a measure to mi tigate the same. Internal Audit on the other hand is a part of Internal Control system which reinforces the control system through regular review. According to an IMF publication Internal Control refers to the mechanism in place on a permanent basis to control the activities in an organization, both at a central and at a departmental divisional level.A key component of effective internal control is the operation of a solid accounting and information system. In Bangladesh analysis on the performances of the banks has pointed out that an effective internal control system could have contributed significantly in improving the performance of the Commercial banks if the control culture is brought in through policy guidelines and structural changes at these banks and procedural controls. (1. 2) Objective of Internal ControlThe primary objective of internal control system in a bank is to help the bank perform better through the use of its resources. Through internal control system bank iden tifies its weaknesses and takes appropriate measures to overcome the same. The main objectives of internal control are as follows: †¢ Efficiency and effectiveness of activities (performance objectives). †¢ Reliability, completeness and timelines of financial and management information (information objectives) †¢ Compliance with applicable laws and regulations (compliance objectives) .Accountability to the Board. (2) STANDARDS OF INTERNAL CONTROL Internal control policies set forth some standards that departments must establish and incorporate in an internal control structure: (I)Cover all activities: All financial institutions should develop internal controls which have coverage over all their functions, in general, and the key risk areas (KRA) in particular. Key Risk Areas include those core activities, the break down of which may render a financial institutions unable to meet its obligations; to its customers, regulators and the sponsors.Further, the risk originatin g from such activities is of the type that it may cause in systemic failure of other financial institutions. Examples of key risk areas are Liquidity Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Foreign Exchange Risk, Credit Risk, Operational Risk, etc. (II) Regular Feature: Control activities should be an integral part of the daily activities of a financial institutions / DFI in such a manner that it becomes ingrained in their ongoing processes rather than a year-end â€Å"fire drill† to satisfy documentation requests from auditors and supervisors. III) Separation of Duties: Duties should be divided so that no one person has complete control over a key function or activity. (IV) Authorization and Approval: All transactions should be authorized before recording and execution. (V) Custodial and Security Arrangements: Responsibility for custody of assets needs to be separated from the related record keeping. (VI) Review and Reconciliation: Records should be examined and reconciled to regularly de termine that transactions are properly processed, approved and booked. VII) Physical Controls: Equipment, inventories, cash and other assets should be secured physically, counted periodically and compared with amounts shown on control records. (VIII) Training and Supervision: Qualified, well-trained and supervised employees always help ensure that control processes function properly. (IX) Documentation: Documented policies and procedures promote employee understanding of duties and help ensure continuity during employee absences or turnover. Therefore, policies and procedures (in the form of operations manuals and desk instructions) should exist in all financial institutions / DFI. X) Communication of importance of Internal Controls: Setting standards of professional integrity and work ethics and ensuring that all levels of personnel in their organization know the importance of internal controls and understand their role in the internal controls process and be fully engaged in the p rocess. (XI) Cost/Benefit: It is for the financial institutions to assess the costs associated with control processes commensurate with the expected benefits. The controlling process data are collected in a standardized way.To start, the controlling process team, with academic advisers, designs a questionnaire. The questionnaire uses a simple control case to ensure comparability across economies and over time—with assumptions about the legal form of the control, its size, its location and the nature of its operations. Questionnaires are administered through more than 28 local experts, including lawyers, banker, business consultants, accountants, freight forwarders, government officials and other professionals routinely administering or advising on legal and regulatory requirements.These experts have several rounds of interaction with the controlling process team, involving conference calls, written correspondence and visits by the team. For Controlling process 2012 team membe rs visited 4 economies to verify data and recruit respondents. The data from questionnaires are subjected to numerous rounds of verification, leading to revisions or expansions of the information collected. It is not a statistical survey, and the texts of the relevant laws and regulations are collected and answers checked for accuracy. The methodology is inexpensive and easily replicable, so data can be collected in a large sample of economies.Because standard assumptions are used in the data collection, comparisons and benchmarks are valid across economies. Finally, the data not only highlight the extent of specific regulatory obstacles to business but also identify their source and point to what might be reformed. Limits to what is measured The Controlling process methodology has 5 limitations that should be considered when interpreting the data. First, the collected data refer to businesses in the economy’s largest business city and may not be representative of regulation in other parts of the economy. To address this limitation, sub nationalControlling process indicators were created (see the section on sub national controlling process indicators). Second, the data often focus on a specific business form—generally a commercial bank (or its legal equivalent) of a specified size—and may not be representative of the regulation on other businesses, for example, Islami Bank Third, transactions described in a standardized case scenario refer to a specific set of issues and may not represent the full set of issues a banking encounters. Fourth, the measures of time involve an element of judgment by the expert respondents.When sources indicate different estimates, the time indicators reported in Controlling process represent the median values of several responses given under the assumptions of the standardized case. Finally, the methodology assumes that a business has full information on what is required and does not waste time when completing procedures. In practice, completing a procedure may take longer if the business lacks information or is unable to follow up promptly. ELEMENTS OF A SOUND SYSTEM OF INTERNAL CONTROLS AND THE PRINCIPLES FOR ASSESSING THE SYSTEM (A)Elements of Internal ControlsAn effective internal control system consists of following interrelated components: 4. 1. Management oversight & Control environment; 4. 2. Risk assessment & management ; 4. 3. Control activities & segregation of duties; 4. 4. Accounting, information & communication; and 4. 5. Self assessment & monitoring 4. 1 Control Environment: The environment in which internal control operates has an impact on the effectiveness of the control procedures. In fact it is institution’s control environment which embodies the principles of strong internal control. Besides giving structure to the internal control system, it provides iscipline and protocol. The success of control environment is judged according to the integrity, ethics, and co mpetence of personnel; the organizational structure of the institution; oversight by the board of directors and senior management; management’s philosophy and operating style; attention and direction provided by the board of directors and its committees, especially the audit and risk management committees; personnel policies and practices and; external influences affecting operations and practices. In order for internal controls to be effective, an appropriate control environment should demonstrate following behaviors:Board of directors reviews policies and procedures periodically and ensures their compliance; Board of directors determines whether there is an audit and control system in place to periodically test and monitor compliance with internal control policies/procedures and to report to the board instances of noncompliance; Board of directors ensure independence of internal and external auditors such that internal audit directly reports to the audit committee of the bo ard which is responsible to the board and that external auditor interacts with the said committee and presents management letter to the board directly; Board ensures that appropriate remedial action has been taken when instance of noncompliance are reported and that system has been improved to avoid recurring errors/mistakes; Management information systems provides adequate information to the board and that the board can have access to financial institutions records, if need arises; Board and management ensure communication of conduct or ethics policies and compliance thereof down the line within the organization; In short, a strong control environment and an effective internal audit function, can significantly complement specific control procedures.However, constitution of internal control environment at a point-of-time does not, by itself, ensure the effectiveness of the overall system of internal control but it is the continuous supervision by management to ensure if it is functi oning as prescribed and is modified as appropriate. Many internal control failures that resulted in significant losses for financial institutions could have been substantially lessened or even avoided if the board and senior management of the organizations had established strong control cultures. Weak control cultures often had two common elements: First, senior management failed to emphasis the importance of a strong system of internal control through their words and actions, and most importantly, through the criteria used to determine compensation and promotion.Second, senior management failed to ensure that the organizational structure and managerial accountabilities were well-defined. For example, senior management failed to require adequate supervision of key decision makers and reporting of the nature and conduct of business activities in a timely manner. Senior management may weaken the control culture by promoting and rewarding managers who are successful in generating profi ts but fail to implement internal control policies or address problems identified by internal audit. Such actions send a message to others in the organization that internal control is considered secondary to other goals in the organization, and thus diminish the commitment to and quality of the control culture. 4. 2 Risk assessment and management:Every financial institutions activity involves some kind of risk and this creates a compulsion for the financial institutions that, as part of an internal control system, these risks are being identified, assessed and mitigated. From an internal control perspective, risk assessment involves; identification and evaluation of factors, both internal and external, that could adversely affect performance, information and compliance objectives of a financial institutions. Internal factors include: complexity, nature and size of operations; quality of personnel and employee turnover; objectives and goals, etc. External factors include: fluctuating economic conditions, changes in the industry and technological advances, degree of aggressiveness of the market and competition faced by the market participants, etc.It may be noted that it differs from the risk management process, which typically focuses more on the review of business strategies and plans developed to maximize the risk/reward trade-off within the different areas of the financial institutions. This risk identification should be done across the full spectrum of activities addressing both measurable and non-measurable aspects of risks. Second part of risk assessment – evaluation is done to determine which risks are controllable by the financial institutions and which are not. For those risks that are controllable, the financial institutions must assess whether to accept those risks or the extent to which it wishes to mitigate the risks through control procedures.For those risks that cannot be controlled, the financial institutions must decide, for the present, whether to these risks or to withdraw from or reduce the level of business activity concerned. But for the future, internal controls may need to be revised to appropriately address any new or previously uncontrolled risks. An effective risk assessment system allows the board and the management to plan for and respond to existing and emerging risks in the financial institutions activities. For that matter, such a system needs to demonstrate following: Board and management involve audit personnel or other internal control experts in the risk assessment and risk evaluation process.Those experts should be competent, knowledgeable, and provided with adequate resources. As the risks mutate with time and with changing circumstances, the board and the management, with due involvement of audit personnel, should appropriately evaluate the risks and consider control issues related to existing products and those relevant to new products and activities. Risk coverage in the form of insurance (t hat is risk transfer) or provisioning (contingency fund) in relation to the financial institutions risk profile is adequate. In the recent past, inadequate risk assessment has contributed to some organizations’ internal control problems and related losses.In some cases, the potential high yields associated with certain loans, investments, and derivative instruments distracted management from the need to thoroughly assess the risks associated with the transactions and devote sufficient resources to the continual monitoring and review of risk exposures. Losses have also been caused when management has failed to update the risk assessment process as the organization’s operating environment changed. For example, as more complex or sophisticated products within a business line are developed, internal controls may not be enhanced to address the more complex products. A second example involves entry into a new business activity without a full, objective assessment of the risk s involved.Without this reassessment of risks, the system of internal control may not appropriately address the risks in the new business. 4. 3 Instituting Controls: Control activities are designed and implemented to address the risk that the financial institutions identified through the risk assessment process as described above. Control activities involve: (a) establishment of control policies and procedures, (b) verification that the control policies and procedures are being complied with. It is desired that control activities should involve all levels of personnel in the financial institutions, including senior management as well as front line personnel. Instituting an appropriate controls structure ensures the efficacy of an internal control system. This process involves:Existence and compliance of policies and procedures ensuring that decisions are made with appropriate approvals and authorizations for transactions and activities while assuring that exceptions to the policies are minimal and reported to the board and the top management; Timely reconciliation of accounts so that outstanding items, both on-and of balance-sheet, are resolved and cleared; Segregation of duties, existence of cross-checks, more-than-one-person authorization, dual controls, joint custody of keys, safeguards for access to and use of sensitive assets and records and forced leave policies, employees rotation systems are functioning in sensitive positions or risk-taking activities so that concerned employees do not have absolute control over areas; Building of such reporting lines within a business or functional area that independence of the control function is ensured; Accountability mechanism for the actions taken by the personnel as per their responsibilities and uthorities; Structure and functioning of compliance framework through which the board and senior management establishes that compliance with applicable laws and regulations is ensured. In short, top level reviews; appro priate activity controls for different departments or divisions; physical controls; checking for compliance with exposure limits and follow-up on noncompliance; a system of approvals and authorizations; and, a system of verification and reconciliation are major constituents of the control activities. 4. 4 Accounting Information and Communication Systems An institution’s accounting, information, and communication systems ensure that risk-taking activities are within policy guidelines and that the systems are adequately tested and reviewed.For this the following is important to note; Effective internal control system requires that there is an effective reporting system of information that is relevant to decision making. The information should be reliable, timely accessible and provided in a consistent format. Information would have to include external market information about events and conditions that are relevant to decision making. Internal information include financial, ope rational and compliance data. There, should be appropriate committees within the organization which would evaluate data received through various information systems. This will ensure supply of correct and accurate information to the management.Internal information must cover all significant activities of the financial institutions. These systems including those that hold and use data in electronic form must be secure, monitored independently and supported by contingency arrangements. Most importantly the channels of communication must ensure that all s fully understand and adhere to policies and procedures effecting their duties and responsibilities and that other relevant information is reaching the appropriate personnel. An accounting system is adequate if it properly identifies, assembles, analyzes, classifies, records, and reports the institution’s transactions in accordance with prescribed formats and international best practices.The adequacy of information systems is de termined by the type, number, and depth of reports it generates for operational, financial, managerial, and compliance-related activities and the access and authorization to information systems. An ideal information system covers the full range of its activities in such a manner that information remains understandable and useful for audit trail. Adequate information and effective communication are essential to the proper functioning of a system of internal control. From the financial institutions perspective, in order for information to be useful, it must be relevant, reliable, timely, accessible, and provided in a consistent format.Information includes internal financial, operational and compliance data, as well as external market information about events and conditions that are relevant to decision making. Internal information is part of a record-keeping process that should include established procedures for record retention. On the one hand, the adequacy of communication systems is established by the fact that it imparts significant information throughout the institution (from the top down and from the bottom up, and laterally), ensuring that personnel understand whatever has been communicated and on the other hand, communication system should ensure that significant information is imparted to external parties such as regulators, shareholders, and customers. Without effective communication, information is useless.Senior management of financial institutions needs to establish effective paths of communication in order to ensure that the necessary information is reaching the appropriate people. This information relates both to the operational policies and procedures of the financial institutions as well as information regarding the actual operational performance of the organization. The organizational structure of the financial institutions should facilitate a complete flow of information – upward, downward and across the organization. A structure that facilitates this flow ensures that information flows upward so that the board of directors and senior management are aware of the business risks and the operating performance of the financial institutions.Information flowing down through an organization ensures that the financial institutions objectives, strategies, and expectations, as well as its established policies and procedures, are communicated to lower level management and operations personnel. This communication is essential to achieve a unified effort by all financial institutions employees to meet the financial institutions objectives. Finally, communication across the organization is necessary to ensure that information that one division or department knows can be shared with other affected divisions or departments. 4. 5 Self-Assessment and Monitoring: An integral component of internal control system is self-assessment and monitoring which includes: Board and senior management oversight of the internal control, control r eviews, and audit findings.Before starting full scale control review, the board and senior management should give their approval of the overall scope of the control review activities (e. g. , audit, loan review, etc. ). Frequent and comprehensive reporting of deviations to the board or board committee and senior management regarding sufficiency of details and timely presentation to allow for resolution and appropriate action. Adequate documentation of management responses to audit or other control review findings so that it can be tracked for adequate follow-up. Board or board committee or senior management review of the qualifications and independence of the personnel evaluating controls (e. g. , external auditors, internal auditors, or line managers). Financial institutions is a dynamic, rapidly evolving industry.Financial institutions must continually monitor and evaluate their internal control systems in light of changing internal and external conditions, and must enhance these systems as necessary to maintain their effectiveness. Monitoring the effectiveness of internal controls should be part of the daily operations of the financial institutions but also include separate periodic evaluations of the overall internal control process. The frequency of monitoring different activities of a financial institution should be determined by considering the risks involved and the frequency and nature of changes occurring in the operating environment. Ongoing monitoring activities can offer the advantage of quickly detecting and correcting deficiencies in the system of internal control.Such monitoring is most effective when the system of internal control is integrated into the operating environment and produces regular reports for review. Examples of ongoing monitoring include the review and approval of journal entries, and management review and approval of exception reports. (B) CONTROL PRINCIPLES So far we have discussed about the elements of a sound internal contr ol. Now the question is how to assess the internal controls of a particular organization The following principles related to the basic elements of control should be borne in mind while assessing internal control: A. Management Oversight and Control Environment Principle 1:The board of directors should have responsibility for approving and periodically reviewing the overall business strategies and significant policies of the financial institutions; understanding the major risks run by the financial institutions, setting acceptable levels for these risks and ensuring that senior management takes the steps necessary to identify, measure, monitor and control these risks; approving the organizational structure; and ensuring that senior management is monitoring the effectiveness of the internal control system. The board of directors is ultimately responsible for ensuring that an adequate and effective system of internal controls is established and maintained. Principle 2:Senior management should have responsibility for implementing strategies and policies approved by the board; developing processes that identify, measure, monitor and control risks incurred by the financial institutions; maintaining an organizational Structured that clearly assigns responsibility, authority and reporting relationships; ensuring that delegated responsibilities are effectively carried out; setting appropriate internal control policies; and monitoring the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system. Principle 3: The board of directors and senior management are responsible for promoting high ethical and integrity standards, and for establishing a culture within the organization that emphasizes and demonstrates to all levels of personnel the importance of internal controls. All personnel at a financial institution sing organization need to understand their role in the internal controls process and be fully engaged in the process. B) Risk Recognition and Assessment Principle 4:An effective internal control system requires that the material risks that could adversely affect the achievement of the financial institutions goals are being recognized and continually assessed. This assessment should cover all risks facing the financial institutions (that is, credit risk, country and transfer risk, market risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, operational risk, legal risk and reputation risk). Internal controls may need to be revised to appropriately address any new or previously uncontrolled risks. C) Control Activities and Segregation of Duties Principle 5: Control activities should be an integral part of the daily activities of a financial institution. An effective internal control system requires that an appropriate control structure be set up, with control activities defined at every business level.These should include: top level reviews; appropriate activity controls for different departments or divisions; physical controls; checking for compliance wit h exposure limits and follow-up on non-compliance; a system of approvals and authorizations; and, a system of verification and reconciliation. BIS Framework for Internal Control Systems in Financial institutions. Principle 6: An effective internal control system requires that there is appropriate segregation of duties and that personnel are not assigned conflicting responsibilities. Areas of potential conflicts of interest should be identified, minimized, and subject to careful, independent monitoring. D) Information and communication Principle: 7An effective internal control system requires that there are adequate and comprehensive internal financial, operational and compliance data, as well as external market information about events and conditions that are relevant to decision making. Information should be reliable, timely, accessible, and provided in a consistent format. Principle 8: An effective internal control system requires that there are reliable information systems in pla ce that cover all significant activities of the financial institutions. These systems, including those that hold and use data in an electronic form, must be secure, monitored independently and supported by adequate contingency arrangements. Principle 9:An effective internal control system requires effective channels of communication to ensure that all staff fully understand and adhere to policies and procedures affecting their duties and responsibilities and that other relevant information is reaching the appropriate personnel. (E) Monitoring Activities and Correcting Deficiencies Principle 10: The overall effectiveness of the financial institutions internal controls should be monitored on an ongoing basis. Monitoring of key risks should be part of the daily activities of the financial institutions as well as periodic evaluations by the business lines and internal audit. Principle 11: There should be an effective and comprehensive internal audit of the internal control system carrie d out by operationally independent, appropriately trained and competent staff.The internal audit function, as part of the monitoring of the system of internal controls, should report directly to the board of directors or its audit committee, and to senior management. Principle 12: Internal control deficiencies, whether identified by business line, internal audit, or other control personnel, should be reported in a timely manner to the appropriate management level and addressed promptly. Material internal control deficiencies should be reported to senior management and the board of directors. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES TO INTERNAL CONTROL The board of directors, senior management and other personnel of financial institutions are responsible for establishing, maintaining, and operating an appropriate internal control system on an ongoing basis. Board of Directors:The Board of Directors of all financial institutions is responsible for ensuring that an adequate and effective intern al control system exists in their organization and that the senior management is maintaining and monitoring the performance of that system. Moreover, Board should periodically review the internal control systems and the significant findings. From the above it can be said that: The overall responsibility of setting acceptable level of risk, ensuring that the senior management committee take necessary steps to identify , measure , monitor and control these risks, establishing broad business strategy, significant policies and understanding significant risks of the company rests with the Board of Directors.Through the establishment of an ‘Audit Committee' of the Board and ‘Internal Control Department’ the Board of Directors can monitor the effectiveness of internal control system. The internal as well as external audit reports will be sent to the board without any intervention of the management and ensure that the management takes timely and necessary actions as per t he recommendations. The Board should have periodic review meetings with the senior management to discuss the effectiveness of the internal control system of the company and ensure that the management has taken appropriate actions as per the recommendations of the auditors and internal control. Management:Senior management of financial institutions have the responsibility for implementing strategies and policies as approved by the board in work place ; developing processes that identify, measure, monitor and control risks incurred by the financial institutions; maintaining an organizational structure that clearly assigns responsibility, authority and reporting relationships; ensuring that delegated responsibilities are effectively carried out; setting appropriate internal control policies; and monitoring the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system. Audit Committee of the Board: This Committee shall be formed by the Board of a company.The members of the Audit Committ ee shall be the selected Directors and the Managing Director. The Committee shall seat at least quarterly in a year. The Committee shall perform its work through an Internal Control Unit comprising of the Audit & Inspection wing and Compliance wing. The Committee shall monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of the Internal Control System based on established policies and procedure. The Committee vide its two wing shall produce, on quarterly basis, a report on internal control system and significant findings and present it to the Board. The terms of reference of the Audit Committee, frequency of meeting , name of the members of the Committee shall be decided by the Board. External Auditor:The external auditors are not part of a financial institution and, therefore, are not part of its internal control system, yet they have an important impact on the quality of internal controls through their audit activities, including discussions with management and recommendations for improvement o f internal controls. The external auditors provide important feedback on the effectiveness of the internal control system. The concept of external reporting on internal controls is well established and supported in the accounting literature. It is expected that external / statutory auditors shall review control systems for the impact they have on financial reporting and compliance with relevant policies, procedures, regulations and laws.The extent of attention given to the internal control system may vary by auditor and by financial institutions; however, it is generally expected that the auditor would identify significant weaknesses that exist at a financial institutions and report material weaknesses to management and the board in the form of an audit report/ management letter. As regards internal control and the role of external auditors the following things should be borne in mind by the auditors: External Auditors by dint of their independence from the management of the financi al institutions can provide unbiased recommendation on the strength and weakness of the internal control system of the financial institutions.They can examine the records, transactions of the financial institutions and evaluate its accounting policy, disclosure policy and methods of financial estimation made by the financial institutions; this will allow the board and the management to have an independent overview on the overall control system of the financial institutions. It should be made obligatory on the part of the auditor to report to the Bangladesh Bank immediately if during the course of audit the auditor come across any facts which (1) might warrant qualification (2) endanger the entity audited and (3) indicate that the organization has severely infringed the regulatory provisions/guidelines. Regulator:The Financial Institutions Department(FID) of Bangladesh Bank is the direct supervisor of the financial institutions of Bangladesh. FID has many responsibilities to the Fina ncial Institutions to protect interest of the public and to maintain financial discipline. The responsibilities of FID should be regulatory as well as advisory. In order to achieve the regulatory and supervisory objectives the Bangladesh Bank may introduce a comprehensive supervisory framework. Supervision can be of two types: a. On Site Supervision and b. Off Site Supervision Off site supervision would structurally be an in-house review and analysis based on various statutory returns and other statements.On site supervision includes physical visit and inspection by Bangladesh Bank Official ensuring regulatory compliance, evaluation of financial soundness, appraisal of management and identification of areas requiring corrections, review of asset quality , analysis of key financial indicators etc. As a regulator the Bangladesh Bank may introduce a system whereby the name of the Financial Institute which had not complied with the regulatory directions could be published in the newspap ers. The Bank may make it compulsory for the NBFIs to do credit rating periodically. The Bank may introduce an on-line corporate memory/profile building process based on the observations generated from off-site surveillance system, , market intelligence, complaints, supervisory rating, record of compliance with directions and inspection findings.Bangladesh Bank may think of devising a suitable system for co-coordinating the Onsite inspection in tandem with the other regulatory authorities so that these NBFIs are subject to one shot examination by different regulatory authorities. The Bank may think of introducing a supervisory rating system for the NBFIs. Such a rating system should be designed on the basis of different levels of regulatory compliance, capital adequacy and rating assigned by the credit rating agencies. Based on the rating the NBFIs may be placed in three different supervisory â€Å"watch list† with low, medium and high risks. The rating assigned may primarily be the tool for triggering on-site inspection at various intervals.It shall play its role as a watch dog, review the compliances of the regulations and Circulars issued from time to time through periodic inspections and visits, issue new directives for the betterment of macro economy, take corrective actions, if necessary, provide necessary advises and clarifications to the NBFIS. During the course of regular inspection of financial institutions or when required, Financial institutions Department (FID)of Bangladesh Bank shall review the internal control system of any financial institutions in order to ensure compliance with these guidelines and all other relevant regulations and laws, circulars issued and enforced from time to time.In addition to that, the FID may review the report of the internal auditor of the financial institutions, assessment report of the management regarding effectiveness of the internal control and Boards’ endorsement thereof and the external/statutor y auditors’ evaluation of the management regarding effectiveness of the internal control. In addition to the above the following points shall also apply to the regulators: For the financial institutions Bangladesh Bank is the primary regulator, who governs the activities of financial institutions. In addition Tax Authority, Registrar of Joint Stock Company Finance Ministry, Securities and Exchange Commission etc. are different types of Govt. bodies whose directives have significant impact of financial institutions business. The internal control system should always take into account the financial institutions internal processes to meet the regulatory requirement before conducting any operation.The internal control system of the financial institutions must be designed in a manner that the compliance with regulatory requirements is recognized in each activity of the financial institutions. The financial institutions must obtain regular information on regulatory changes and dist ribute among the concerned department, so that they can take necessary, action to adapt to such changes. The financial institutions must develop an effective communication process which will allow smooth distribution of relevant regulations among different departments and, personnel. IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNAL CONTROLS: Various models/methodologies are used for the design and implementation of internal controls.However, it is the decision of the organizations to decide what model / strategy suit the size, nature, complexity, scope, risk exposure, etc. of their activities. Nevertheless, following is a brief summary of the key points that should be kept in mind while implementing the internal controls: Compare current practices to the internal control system and identify gaps. For an internal control expert, the most important consideration should be to evaluate the existing system of internal control in comparison to one defined by these guidelines and other international best practi ces. In this regard the first step is to identify what is and what is not covered by existing practices. Involve senior management, the audit committee, audit staff, other key players.The thought process and implementation of change should not be considered as â€Å"just other audit things. † Senior management and the audit committee must be perceived as driving the change and developing the control culture. Assess business environment, organization culture and key players. Before the process of change is set in, it would be necessary to understand: (1) what is changing in the culture (2) What is changing in the organization’s businesses and systems (3) Are there organizational initiatives which internal control system implementation could link to (4) What is the perception about the internal auditing function within the organization .Decide on implementation strategy. If the new practices can be designed to align with other organizational initiatives, or if senior man agement has taken ownership, this step is relatively easy. In any case, having a realistic implementation strategy is critical to success. Most implementers introduce the new ideas slowly and informally, building on personal relationships within the organization, listening as much as talking, and gradually building a consensus for change. Provide training to everyone involved. The most critical factor to the successful implementation of a control model is that everyone involved must understand internal control.Effective training depends heavily on how concepts are phrased and the concrete examples and exercises which make the concepts real to participants. Rectification & Improvement: The findings of the internal audit department and that of other experts should be reported back to the relevant staff/office for rectification and improvement of the internal control system. Instituting an appropriate organization structure: Organization structure plays a vital role in establishing eff ective internal control system. It is the sometimes called the pictorial representation of the chain of command and the authority and supervision chain of an organization.The essence of the ideal organizational structure that will facilitate effectiveness of the internal control system is the segregation of duties. The financial institutions should, depending on the nature of business, structure, size, location of its branches and strength of its manpower try to establish an organizational structure which allow segregation of duties among its key functions such as marketing, operations, credit, financial administration etc. Up to which level this segregation will take place will depend on an individual financial institution. For instance a financial institution which has small branch operations at remote places of the country may not find it feasible to have such functional segregation of duties at that branch level.However at the higher level such segregation should exist and where possible this should be extended to the branch levels. In cases where such segregation is not possible, there must be certain monitoring mechanism which should be independently reviewed to ensure all policies and procedures are followed at the branch level. A detail guideline in this respect is given in the following section. Structure of the Internal Control Unit For an effective control system a separate organizational structure is also provided for this unit. The audit committee of the board shall be the contact point for the internal control unit. The unit should be adequately staffed so that it can perform its duty properly.In order to ensure that availability of efficient people with internal control the financial institutions will make it mandatory for all middle to senior management staff to spend at least two years with internal control on second meant. The head of internal control will report directly to the Audit Committee of the Board He will be responsible for the both compliance and control related tasks which include compliance with laws and regulation, audits and inspection, monitoring activities and risk assessment. The audit team of the internal control unit will perform periodic and special audit and inspection. The compliance unit will be responsible to ensure that financial institution complies with all regulatory requirement while conducting its business.They will maintain liaison with the regulators at all level and notify the other units regarding regulatory changes. Audit Committee of Board Audit & Inspection Wing Inspector Compliance Wing Internal Control Unit Preparing various guidelines/manuals Each Financial institution should have a policy guideline in line with relevancy laws and internal documents in order to ensure an effective control over its process in various fields e. g. credit, human resources, finance & accounts, treasury, audit, customer service etc. There should be a written policy guideline for each Departmentâ€℠¢s function which may be as follows. (a) Standard Operating Procedures -Credit & Operations The main objective of lending money is to ensure maximum return of lend able fund.This manual should highlight the process starting from review of credit proposals, obligor risk rating, approving credit limit, disbursement of loans, monitoring of credit risk etc. Various types of MIS should be provided in order to have better control over assets of the financial institutions which can be generated if the system is in place. This manual should also contain role of Credit Admin. , Trade Finance, Reconciliations, Cash, Client’s service, Treasury, Back office etc. It should also reflect a clear guideline regarding Anti-Money Laundering activity in order to protect Financial institution’s interest. Credit Admin will be responsible for monitoring of limits and outstanding as per credit approval.This manual should cover the following areas inter alias: Risk classes, lending limits and credit authorities Investment policies Policies on financial & other product & services Lending guidelines Approval processes Documentations Securities and collaterals etc. Account Opening and closing Payment monitoring procedures Loan Administration Treasury Operations Anti-money Laundering procedures etc. (b) Finance & Accounting Manual This manual should provide guidelines on financial activities regarding income and expenditure of a financial institution. They will look after if there is any exaggeration of expenditure where it is necessary to get control.This manual must incorporate a clause which shall make it mandatory to prepare and present an annual budget which shall contain target business, revenue, expenses, capital expenditures etc. This budget should be placed to the Board before starting of a new year and a periodic review of the actual achievement. Through this process it can also ensure the profitability of the financial institutions. The basic content of Finance Ma nuals are: Financial & Accounting Policies Financial Accounting Financial Management & Administration Fixed Assets Control Procurement of Goods and Services Audit and Internal Control General Clause Capital structure policies Treatment of Land, Building & Equipment Capital Adequacy and Shareholders EquityTreatment of revenue and expenditures Income tax procedures Write-off procedures etc. (c) Treasury Manual This manual should include activities of fund transfer. Inter financial institutions fund management is one by them. The manual should include the guideline so that they may manage the financial institutions fund properly and profitably. There may be some idle fund in the financial institutions which is to be taken into account so as to make them invested in optimum profit seeking area. They should also ensure the security of the fund. If possible, they may look into international money market subject to the available opportunity in the money market arena.While framing a treasur y manual the following things should be considered inter alias : Internal Items Liquidity Cost of fund Vs. yield from assets Policies & Procedure Skill of staff etc. External Items Market Liquidity Risks including changes in Exchange Rates Changes in regulations etc. Investments Capital management etc. (d)Human Resource Policy Manual They will, at first, ensure the proper distribution of available human resources in the infrastructure of the financial institutions. It should also delineate the authority and responsibility of each employees . To find out the right person for setting up them at the right position is very crucial.The rewarding method of that department should be impartial. They will ensure staff welfare which will ultimately encourage people and create a healthy working atmosphere. This manual should contain inter alias the following: Recruitment policy Background checking policy Leave policy Compensation policy Reward and Recognition policy Termination & retirement po licy Promotion and increment policy Training guidelines Employees code of conduct etc. (e)Information Technology Manual This manual should contain the following areas: MIS to be generated Security of Data and programme Back up system Control mechanism of data and files Disaster recovery plan NetworkingHardware maintenance Service agreements etc. Training Manpower backup Power backup system Data storage 20 EXAMINATION OR EVALUATION OF CONTROL As soon as the implementation of control is completed the next question is how to evaluate the effective functioning of this system. Evaluation may be done in the following ways: a. Verification of departmental function through Check List b. Reviewing the documentation relating to operational activities through a check list c. Preparing quarterly report and reviewing the same d. Risk analysis e. Audit Process & communication of weakness Departmental Control Function Checklist (DCFCL) {Appendix 7. 1 to 7. 4} ) The guideline/procedure deals with m atters relating to review/verifications of departmental functions to ensure that prescribed procedures are being followed by each department. b) All departments are required to check that prescribed controls are being observed and laid down procedures are not overlooked & relaxed. c) Departmental Managers/Branch Managers will review the DCFCL to ensure that control functions are performed and documented in the control sheets (Appendix 1) at the prescribed frequencies i. e. Daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. d) The DCFCL Checklist should be retained with the branch/departments for future inspection by Internal Control and Senior Management. Loan Documentation Checklist {Appendix 7. 6}The checklist deals with matters relating to security/other documentation for sanctioning credit facilities to ensure that prescribed documentation is being obtained to safe guard financial institutions interest in case of litigation. Copy of the loan documentation check list shall be sent to the leas e/loans department for their use. Quarterly Operations Report {Appendix 7. 5} This guideline/procedure relates to reporting of operational functions of each branch/centre under the following heads on the enclosed format: i. Policies, Procedures and Controls ii. Protection of Valuables iii. Proofs/Verifications and Internal Checks iv. Personal and Supervision and v. Premises Management vi. Confirmation on Regulatory Compliance This report will be prepared by the Departmental/Branch Head .This will be prepared in duplicate copies one copy is to be dispatched to Internal Audit Department and another copy to the Audit Committee of the Board by 10th of the following month. The items which are not applicable for individual Department should be marked as N/A and no signature is required against the items marked as N/A. Any deviation in the quarterly operations report must be reported in a separate exception report or shall be marked specially in the report. Risk Analysis of Control Functio ns Individual items in the DCFCL need to be assigned a risk rating in terms of the following dimensions: a) Impact: Before taking into account the mitigation (i. e. Insurance) what is the impact of the lapse/omission. b) Probability: After taking into account of the mitigation what is the likelihood of the event occurring.To assist in this task, the following matrix (Table 1) can be used. However some financial institutions may consider customization of this matrix to suit their own risk profile. Where appropriate, additional details (e. g. financial values can be added). The key principle is that all financial institutions should be able to differentiate between different levels of risk in their own area of activity and then ensure appropriate controls are established. Scores should be plotted on the following table to determine a category of high, medium and low risk. Conclusion Recommendations The quality of internal control is (strong, satisfactory, weak). Note: Examiners should use appropriate tools (e. g. the CEO questionnaire,ICQs, and FDICIA internal control assertion work papers) and findings from all areas under examination, including the OCC’s review of the bank’s audit functions, when completing these objectives and steps. When substantive supervisory concerns about the adequacy of internal control or the integrity of financial reporting controls exist after achieving the following objectives and performing the following steps, examiners should consider performing additional examination procedures, such as using ICQs,for those areas of concern. If, after completing those additional procedures, examiners remain concerned about internal control adequacy or financial reporting control integrity, they should perform appropriate verification procedures to confirm the existence and description of bank assets.As an alternative, examiners may require the bank to expand its own verification program to include the areas of weakness or deficienc y; however, this alternative will be used only if management has demonstrated a capacity and willingness to address regulatory problems, if there are no concerns about management’s integrity, and if management has initiated timely corrective action in the past. Use of this alternative must result in timely resolution of each identified supervisory problem. If examiners use this alternative, supervisory follow-up must include a review of work papers in areas where the bank’s program was expanded The institution’s internal control is (strong, satisfactory, weak)Objective: Assess the overall effectiveness and adequacy of the institution’s internal control, communicate findings to the EIC, management, and the board of directors, and complete/update OCC work papers. 1. Prepare written conclusion summaries, discuss findings with the Rican communicate findings to management.Conclusion summaries should address, as appropriate,†¢ Whether the internal control environment poses actual or potential undue risk to the institution’s financial performance for any of the following reasons:– The magnitude of control exceptions. – Financial effect of inaccurate, untimely, or improper transactions. – Previous losses from fraud. – Claims against insurance policies. – Employee turnover. – Other high operational losses. – Violations of laws or regulations and nonconformance with established internal policies and procedures related to the internal control functions. †¢ The adequacy of internal control policies, procedures, and programs to control and limit risk in bank operations. †¢ Whether bank personnel operate in conformance with established policies and, if not, the causes and consequences of nonconformance. The adequacy of information on the internal control function received by the board or its committee†¢ Significant areas of control weakness identified by internal or exter nal audits or other control reviews and the board’s and management’s progress in addressing those weaknesses. †¢ Audit or other control review report findings not acted upon by management, as well as any other concerns or recommendations resulting from the review of internal control functions. †¢ Recommended corrective actions, if applicable, and management’scommitments. 2. Determine how the quality of internal control affects the aggregate level and direction of OCC risk assessments.Examiners should refer to guidance provided under the OCC’s risk assessment programs for large and community banks. 3. Determine how the quality of internal control affects the bank’s composite and component CAMELS ratings. In coordination with examiners performing information system/technology, asset management, and fiduciary reviews, communicate the effect of control findings and conclusions on Uniform Rating System for Information Technology (URSIT), Unifo rm Interagency Trust Rating System (UITRS),and compliance ratings. 4. Determine, in consultation with the EIC, whether the risks identified are significant enough to merit bringing them to the board’s attention in the report of examination.If so, prepare items for inclusion under the heading â€Å"Matters Requiring Attention† (MRA). MRA comments should cover practices that (1)deviate from sound fundamental principles and are likely to result in financial deterioration if not addressed or (2) result in substantive noncompliance with laws or internal policies or processes. The examiner should provide details regarding:†¢ Factors contributing to the problem’s and management Consequences of inaction.. †¢ Management’s commitment to corrective action. †¢ The time frame for any corrective action and who is responsible further action. 5. Update any applicable schedule or table and include a comment on internal control in the report of examination.T he comment should address†¢ Adequacy of internal control policies and processes, internal control and overall programs, personnel, and board oversight. †¢ Significant problems discerned by the auditors or other control reviewers that have not been corrected. †¢ Any deficiencies or concerns reviewed with management, any corrective actions recommended by examiners, and management commitments to corrective actions. 6. Prepare a memorandum and update OCC work programs with any information that will facilitate future examinations. Make recommendations about the scope of the next internal control review and determine whether internal control findings should change the scopes of other area reviews. 7. Update the OCC databases, including rating screens/schedules.

The Impact of Emerging Health Issues Methicillin Resistant Essay

The Impact of Emerging Health Issues Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-ResistantEnterococcus (VRE) - Essay Example Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterecoccus (VRE) represent two of the epidemiologically significant pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics, which are responsible for hospital-acquired infections. The reason for their importance is because infections due to these pathogens are responsible for significantly higher morbidity and mortality rates, and hospital costs than infections caused by susceptible organisms of the same species. In addition to this are the rapidly rising rates of infection from these antibiotic resistant pathogens in the past two decades. In current times nearly half of the nosocomial Staphylococcus aureus infections are due to MRSA, and almost a fourth of all nosocomial Enterecoccus infections are due to VRE. This makes these two antibiotic resistant pathogens significant to the healthcare sector (Salgado & Farr, 2003). Staphylococcus aureus is an aerobic, non-motile, gram-positive bacterium. According to Bloch, 2001, â€Å"Staphylococcus aureus colonizes the human skin, vagina, nasopharynx, and gastrointestinal tract†. It is estimated that ten to thirty-five percent of all healthy adults have transient or persistent nasopharyngeal colonization of S aureus, and this percentage is one the higher side among individuals working in the healthcare sector due to handling of colonized patients. S aureus has intrinsic properties that enable it to inhibit host immune defenses and render the penicillin and penicillin-derived group of antibiotics ineffective. Thus inactivation of the penicillin and penicillin derived group of antibiotics is the result of the enzyme beta-lactamase produced by S aureus. More than seventy percent of the S aureus strains are known to be capable of producing beta-lactamase. These strains are collectively known as Methicillin-resistant