Quantitative Analysis and Decision Methods Formulas Essay Example

Quantitative Analysis and Decision Methods Formulas Essay Quant Formula Study Guide MISCELLANEOUS, COMMONLY USED FORMULAS Finite population correction factor: Multiply SE of sample mean by fpc to make the correction - Independent samples of same population with same standard deviation (variances are equal). Confidence interval: df for t-multiple is (df1 + df2), or (n1 – 1) + (n2 1) Pooled estimate of common standard deviation: SE of difference between two sample means - Confidence interval for differences in sample means when variance is not equal. df for t-multiple is given by complex formula not shown in book when variance is not equal. Use StatTools. Confidence interval for difference between two proportions. SE for difference between two proportions. - Chapters 2 and 3 Describing the Distribution of a Single Variable and Finding Relationships among variables Mean Formula Excel Function: = AVERAGE Coefficient of Variation: Standard Deviation / Mean Standard Deviation: square root of variance Sample Variance Population Variance Excel Function: Variance = VAR Standard Deviation = STDEV Mean Absolute Deviation Covariance Correlation Excel Function: =CORREL Chapter 4: Probability and Probability Distributions Conditional probability: P(A|B) = P(A and B) / P(B) Multiplication rule: P(A and B) = P(A|B) P(B) If two events are INDEPENDENT: P(A and B) = P(A) P(B) Variance of a Probability Distribution: Standard Deviation of a Probability Distribution: Conditional Mean: * when the mean of a variable depend on an external event Covariance between X and Y: Correlation between X and Y: Joint Probability Formula: P(X = x and Y = y) = P(X = x|Y = y) P(Y = y) Alternative formula: P(X = x and Y = y) = P(Y = y|X = x) P(X = x) Joint probability formula for independent random variables: P(X = x and Y = y) = P(X = x) P(Y = y) Expected value of a weighted sum of random variables: E(Y) = a1E(X1) + a2E(X2) + †¦ + anE(Xn) Chapter 5 Normal, Binomial, Poisson, and Exponential Distributions Normal Density Function Mean Stdev Chapter 7 Sampling and Sampling Distributions Unbiased Property of Sample Mean Standard Error of Sample Mean Approximate Standard Error of Sample Mean Approximate) Confidence Interval for Population Mean Standard Error of Mean with Finite Population Correction Factor Finite Population Correction Factor Chapter 8 Confidence Interval Estimation Typical Form of Confidence Interval Standardized Z-Value Standardized Value Confidence Interval for Population Mean Point Estimate for Population Total Mean and Standard Error of Point Estimate for Population Total Approximate Standard Error of Point Estimate for Population Total Standard Error of Sample Proportion Confidence Interval for a Proportion Upper Limit of a One-Sided Confidence Interval for a Proportion We will write a custom essay sample on Quantitative Analysis and Decision Methods Formulas specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Quantitative Analysis and Decision Methods Formulas specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Quantitative Analysis and Decision Methods Formulas specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Confidence Interval for Difference Between Means Standard Error of Difference Between Sample Means Confidence Interval for Difference Between Proportions Standard Error of Difference Between Sample Proportions Sample Size Formula for Estimating a Mean Sample Size Formula for Estimating a Proportion Sample Size Formula for Estimating the Difference Between Means Sample Size Formula for Estimating the Difference Between Proportions Chapter 9 Hypothesis Testing Hypothesis Test for a Population Mean: one-sample t-test P(t-valueconst)= ?. Excel functions: TDIST() and TINV() Test statistic for test of proportion: Test statistic for paired samples test of differences between means: Test statistic for independent samples test of difference between means: Standard error for difference between sample proportions: Resulting test statistic for difference between proportions: Chapter 10 Regression Analysis: Estimating Relationships Formula for Correlation: Slope in simple linear regression: Intercept in simple linear regression: Y is the dependent variable, and X1 through Xk are the explanatory variables, then a is the Y-intercept, and b 1 through bk are the slopes. Collectively, a the bs in the equation are called the regression coefficients. Standard Error of Estimate: R squared / R^2 General Linear Regression: Regression line: Sampling distribution of a regression coefficient has a t distribution with n-k-1 degrees of freedom: ANOVA total variation of a variable The part unexplained by the regression equation: The part that is explained: SSR = SST SSE Point Prediction: Standard error of the prediction for a single Y: Standard error of prediction for the mean Y: Chapter 11, Regression Analysis: Statistical Inference Population regression line joining means: ?Y|X1†¦Xk = ? + ? 1X1 + †¦ + ? kXk error a: Y = a + a1X1 + †¦ + akXk + a Regression line : Y = ? + ? 1X1 + †¦ + ? kXk + ? Sampling distribution of a regression coefficient has a t distribution with n-k-1 degrees of freedom: The ANOVA table splits the total variation of a variable: into the part unexplained by the regression equation: Standard error of prediction for a single Y: Standard error of prediction for the mean Y: Chapter 12, Time Series Analysis and Forecasting Mean Absolute Error: Root Mean Square Error: Mean Absolute Percentage Error: All forecasting models have the general form of the equation: Yt = Fitted Value + Residual ?Linear trend model is given by: Yt = a + bt + et Appropriate regression equation contains a multiplicative error term: ut: Yt = cebtut. Equation for the random walk: Yt = Yt-1 + m + et. Simple Exponential Smoothing: ? Formula: Ft+k = Lt = ? Yt + (1 – ? )Lt-1 Formulas for Holt?  ¦s exponential smoothing method: Winters’ Exponential Smoothing Method : Bayes’ Rule: Chapter 13: Introduction to Optimization Modeling No formulas there..

What to Expect During a Grad School Interview

What to Expect During a Grad School Interview Knowing what to expect during a grad school interview is key to effectively answering the questions youre asked. Graduate school acceptance rates in 2017 were approximately 22% for doctoral programs and 50% for masters degree programs, according to the Council of Graduate Schools. The interview is your opportunity to show the admissions committee the person you are beyond test scores, grades, and portfolios. Describe Yourself Interviewers often begin by asking applicants about themselves to put them at ease and for the interviewers to get a sense of who the applicants are as individuals. Admissions officers and faculty want to know what motivates you as a student and how your personal interests relate to your goals as a graduate student. Some common questions are: Tell me about yourself.What are your strengths and weaknesses?What do you believe your greatest challenge will be if you are accepted into this program?How would your professors describe you?Describe your greatest accomplishment.Why should we choose you over another candidate?Are you motivated? Explain and provide examples.What would you change about yourself and why?If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Why?What do you do in your spare time?What volunteer experiences do you have?What contribution have you made to your department or school?What was the last movie that you saw?What was the last book that you read? Describe Your Professional Goals Personal questions often segue into ones about your professional plans and interests. These arent limited to the graduate program to which youre applying. Be prepared to talk about what you may do if you arent admitted to grad school as well as what you plan to do upon graduation. Interviewers ask these questions to get a sense of how much thought you have put into your plans. If youre not accepted into graduate school, what are your plans?Why did you choose this career?How will you be able to make a contribution to this field?What are your career goals? How will this program help you achieve your goals?How do you intend to finance your education?What do you plan to specialize in? Describe Your Academic Experiences Academic institutions want to make sure theyre bringing in students who will become positive members of the departmental community and will develop healthy faculty relationships. Your experience as an undergraduate may indicate how good a fit the program is for you. In college, what courses did you enjoy the most? The least? Why?Describe any research project youve worked on. What was the purpose of the project, and what was your role in the project?In what ways have your previous experiences prepared you for graduate study in our program?Tell me about your experience in this field. What was challenging? What was your contribution?What skills do you bring to the program?How will you contribute to your mentors research?Why did you choose to apply to our program?What do you know about our program, and how does it align with your goals?What other schools are you considering? Why?If you could change one thing about your undergraduate college, what would it be?Tell me about a professor who you dont like. Why? Describe Your Problem Solving and Leadership Skills Grad school can be a stressful time for even the most successful students. There will be times when you will be pushed to your intellectual limits and must find your own way forward. Interview questions about your leadership skills and problem-solving abilities are a way for admissions advisers and faculty to understand how you function by yourself and in a group during demanding times. Explain a situation in which you had a conflict and how you resolved it. What would you do differently? Why?What do you believe can be determined about an applicant at an interview?Define success.How well do you handle stress?Discuss a situation in which you showed leadership ability.Do you think one person can make the world a better place? Why or why not?How will you make the world a better place?Explain an ethical dilemma that you faced and how you dealt with it. Tips for a Winning Grad School Interview Experts and academic admissions officers offer these hints for having a positive grad school interview.   Practice your answers: Now that you know some of the questions to expect, think about how youd respond. Write down your thoughts to organize them, but dont memorize them or you might come across as stiff during the interview.Think of relevant personal stories: These stories demonstrate how your life experiences have led you to grad school.Dont forget about funding: Higher education is very expensive, and many graduate programs offer their students teaching assistantships or grants to help them defer costs.Interview your interviewers: You want to make sure youll be studying with faculty who share your academic goals and intellectual interests. Think of questions that youd like to ask about the culture of the program and how students and faculty interact.Be yourself: Youre committing yourself to a year or more of intense academic study, and grad school isnt cheap. If you cant honestly tell your interviewers why you want to be admitted to their program, that may be a sign that that prog ram wouldnt be a good fit. Sources 2017 CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees.Murray, Gregg R. 7 Key Questions to Ask During Your Grad School Interview. PsychologyToday.com. 18 Dec. 2014.Petersons blog staff. Graduate Admission: Tips for a Great Interview. Petersons.com. 29 Nov. 2017.Struefert, Billie. How to Ace Your Grad School Interview. USAToday.com. 20 Feb. 2015.

Brave New World The Advancement Of Science

Brave New World: The Advancement Of Science Essay, Research Paper Brave New World: The Advancement of Science Christy Campbell Mrs. Doig Eng OAC 2 16 May, 1996 When thought of advancement, most people think of progresss in the scientific Fieldss, believing that most finds and engineerings are good to society. Are these progresss every bit good as most people think? In the novel Brave New World, the writer Aldous Huxley, warns readers that scientific progresss can be a menace to society. This is peculiarly apparent in the Fieldss of biological science, engineering and psychological science. Harmonizing to Huxley, # 8220 ; The subject of Brave New World is non the promotion of scientific discipline as such ; it is the promotion of scientific discipline as it affects human persons # 8221 ; ( Huxley CLC 79 290 ) . One scientific progress of which Huxley warns readers of is that in biological science. In the scene of Brave New World, henceforth referred to as the reserve, the mass production of worlds is accomplished with the Bokanovsky procedure. In this procedure, human existences are genetically engineered in research labs. # 8220 ; # 8230 ; a bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will split. From eight to 96 buds, and every bud will turn into a absolutely formed embryo, and every embryo into a full sized grownup # 8221 ; ( Huxley Brave New World 4 ) . One of the menaces of this familial genteelness is that no household structures exist on the reserve. Alternatively, worlds are raised in conditioning Centres. R.T. Oerton points out that # 8220 ; Present cognition indicates, for case, that a kid can non be deprived of parents or parent figures, as were the kids in Brave New World, without enduring enduring pathological harm to his personality. # 8221 ; ( Oerton CLC 7 308 ) . Another menace that the Bokanovsky procedure airss to society is that life is non extremely valued. # 8220 ; Murder kills merely the single and, after all what is an single? With a sweeping gesture he [ Mr. Foster, manager of hatcheries and conditioning ] indicated the rows of microscopes, the test-tubes, the brooders. We can do a new one with the greatest ease-as many as we like # 8221 ; ( Huxley Brave New World 133 ) . Human life holds no value because it can be easy replaced through the Bokanovsky procedure. Furthermore, Bokanovsky # 8217 ; s method of mass production prevents individualism, as on the reserve, all people are cloned. Get downing from the clip of decanting, each embryo is genetically cloned to fall into one of the assorted societal categories. Within each societal category, all members are cloned to be intellectually and physically tantamount. Biological engineering helps to accomplish this equality by genetically determining the heads of society. In Brave New World, one # 8217 ; s intelligence depends on the sum of intoxicant injected into their embryo. For illustration, one of the lower categories in society, Epsilons, have rather a high sum of intoxicant injected in the decanting procedure. Mental module, hence, is predestined from the minute of cloning. By making a universe where worlds are mass produced, Brave New World demonstrates that progresss in biological science can be unsafe if used without respect for the well being of the human race. Harmonizing to Huxley, progresss in engineering can besides be a menace to society. In Brave New World, everything is wholly mechanised, extinguishing the demand for creativeness and imaginativeness. Huxley warns us against mechanisation, reasoning# 8220 ; the machine dehumanizes work forces by demanding mechanical efficiency of them # 8221 ; ( Hillegas 114 ) . Man # 8217 ; s creativeness is replaced with everyday undertakings, because machines are able to make much of the work. The businesss available for people on the reserve, consist of insistent mechanical operations. In Brave New World, leisure activities are dominated by engineering. The primary beginning of amusement is the # 8220 ; feelies, # 8221 ; a type of film theater in which all the senses are unnaturally created. Alternatively of experiencing the emotions portrayed on screen, the audience absorbs stimulated esthesiss. These stimulations prevent them from free idea, which threatens society by denying people from sing their ain creativeness and imaginativeness. Furthermore, engineering affects amusement by being incorporated into all games of drama. Games consist of advanced technological setup, and low organisation, making really superficial amusement. Harmonizing to Huxley, this frustrates one of humanity # 8217 ; s critical demands to be originative. # 8220 ; Men no longer divert themselves creatively but sit passively amused by mechanical devices # 8221 ; ( Hillegas 115 ) . Among technological progresss, one danger Huxley warns of is the progress in pharmacological medicine. In Brave New Wo rld, an unreal signifier of felicity is present in a drug called haoma. Soma propels the user into a hallucinatory dream universe, supplying alleviation from negativeness, leting changeless felicity Peoples are rewarded for work by having rations of haoma. The soma ration varies harmonizing to the societal categories, with the lowest categories having the least, and the highest categories having the greatest. Society is conditioned to believe that # 8220 ; One cubic centimeter remedies ten glooming sentiments # 8221 ; ( Huxley Brave New World 53 ) . This concluding deceives the user into believing that haoma is a cure- all redress. Since haoma has no side effects, it can be a menace to society because people may be drugged into a hallucinatory dream universe 24 hours a twenty-four hours. It could be used as a drug non to get away the force per unit areas of life, but to flight life itself. Similar to biology, engineering can be a danger to society if used without respect for the public assistance of world. Finally, the most unsafe of all scientific promotions Huxley warns of, is the advancement in psychological science. In Brave New World, every individual is conditioned. The first conditioning technique used is subliminal preparation. This type of psychological science is utilised to plan thoughts into single # 8217 ; s heads by a method called hypnopaedia. Hypnopaedia consists of repetitive messages that play over a speaker unit during slumber. These repeats are composed of socially accepted ethical motives and values. # 8220 ; All conditioning purposes at doing people like their unescapable societal destiny. # 8221 ; ( Huxley Brave New World 13 ) . This bounds persons from researching life and developing their thought of felicity when# 8220 ; felicity # 8221 ; is already predetermined in their heads. Harmonizing to Huxley, his# 8220 ; # 8230 ; main scheme was to demo that the learned felicity of Brave New World cuts work forces off from deep experience, keeps them from being human. # 8221 ; ( Hillegas 118 ) . Direct stimulation is used as another conditioning technique. On the reserve, society is conditioned against love, nature, literature, and other signifiers of look that are of course desired by adult male. To status babes against nature and literature, they are mildly shocked while meeting books and flowers placed before them. Therefore, this direct stimulation causes them to hold an natural hate of flowers and books. Harmonizing to reserve accountants, # 8220 ; A love of nature keeps no mills busy # 8221 ; ( Huxley Brave New World 19 ) . Ethical motives and values, which usually through the turning up procedure can be discovered on their ain, are brainwashed into society # 8217 ; s heads. This direct stimulation is harmful to society as it prevents people from make up ones minding upon their ain ethical motives and values. Another signifier of conditioning in Brave New World trades with decease. From the early age of 18 months, kids are exposed to decease while playing with playthings and eating confect. Therefore ensuing in an ageless association between felicity and decease. Death conditioning can be unsafe to society as kids become unable to separate between good and evil. In add-on, sexual conditioning is present in Brave New World. From a really immature age, sexual drama is normal and encouraged in everyone. Together, 100s of kids play sexual games in the nude. Besides, more than one sexual spouse is encouraged, ensuing in the absence of committed relationships. This absence of committed relationship creates a universe without deep feelings of homo fondness. Society is conditioned to believe # 8220 ; Everyone belongs to everyone else # 8221 ; ( Huxley Brave New World 35 ) . Unfortunately, these psychological promotions cause the reserve to be a universe without single idea. Each individual is conditioned into a life, which is believed to be most advantageous for them. Thomas D. Clareson points out that # 8220 ; The Brave New World is mindless # 8230 ; it # 8217 ; s citizens are # 8216 ; nice tame animate beings # 8217 ; # 8230 ; # 8221 ; ( Huxley, DISC ) . The conditioning methods in Brave New World take away all freedom of pick and determination in society. The society depicted in Brave New World is to many, a scaring one. Though, it may be more of a world than is soon thought. Society must guarantee that scientific discipline is altering to accommodate human demands, instead than altering the human race to accommodate scientific discipline. With the increasing advancement in biological science, engineering and psychological science, this may be an impossible effort to get the better of. The universe may one twenty-four hours be without individualism, emotions or free idea. In Brave New World, the scientific progresss show to be a menace to society, where # 8220 ; One could of class, exist. . . # 8221 ; though, # 8220 ; # 8230 ; One could not-in the fullest sense of the word-live in it. # 8221 ; ( Wright 87 ) .

Research Project Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Project - Research Paper Example This psychological and emotional distance between the young and elderly population has created many problems on personal and social level, which can threaten the psychological, emotional and the physical health of the family structure and the society as a whole. Introduction Old age is a graceful phase of life as it makes people free from most of their responsibilities in life, and gives them a feeling of fulfillment, contentment and freedom. It also provides them with leisure, and opportunity to undertake those things that they were not able to do in their youth due to professional and personal responsibilities. However, instead of enjoying their old age in leisure and relaxation, elderly people are being indirectly forced to feel that they have made a mistake by becoming ‘old’. The reason behind elderly people feeling ‘unwanted’ and ‘worthless’ is the prejudice and the discrimination with which they are being treated in the society. Sadly, it is the Western society where elderly people experience major problems. In the United States, the negative attitude and misconception about the old age has resulted in elderly people experiencing disadvantage in their personal and social life (Macioni, 2009, p.396). ... o understand that the negative treatment of elderly people is not only destroying the life of elderly people on individual level, but is also destroying the health of the society as a whole (Andersen & Taylor, 2008, p. 363). Society cannot afford its elderly population to be depressed and psychologically weak as the sociology of age reveals that age composition is essential for a healthy society as the solution of social problems depends on â€Å"how well social institutions serve different generations of people† (Andersen & Taylor, 2008, p. 363). Moreover, due to their experience and wisdom gained from life, elderly people have lot to contribute to the society. Hence, it is high time for people to understand that for the formation of a healthy society, it is important to give respect and positive treatment to the elderly people, as they not only comprise the largest age group of the society, but also deserve it for successfully fulfilling the responsibilities and facing the c hallenges of life. Ageism Ageism is a term used by sociologists to define the prejudice and discrimination practiced against elderly people due to their age (Andersen & Taylor, 2011, p. 93). Ageism has seeped in every aspect of the society and is not limited to a single attitude or belief towards the elderly people (Andersen & Taylor, 2011, p. 93). Elderly people are not able to take advantage of different sources and opportunities in social and professional life as they experience discrimination and prejudice in different areas of life (Andersen & Taylor, 2011, p. 93). People think that with growing age, the abilities of person are reduced. It is wrongly believed that elderly people are not capable of handling the responsibilities of adults as they are childlike and forgetful in nature (Andersen &

Personal and Professional Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Personal and Professional Development - Essay Example In the beginning of the course, I had problems in expressing my ideas. It was not only obvious in the group meetings but also in the lectures and tutorials. Often I knew the answers of the questions rose in the class or had different idea or thought for the topic discussed but my language problem created major hindrances. I was not able to persuade my classmates and teammates for my opinions which I could have easily done in my mother language. The reason of this situation was not just language problem. The other major problem that I had developed was lack of confidence. This lack of confidence stopped me even when I knew the answers or appropriate arguments of the topic of discussion. This lack of confidence created another hindrance to my learning process and developing my skills. Identifying this I decided to become more adventurous in terms of my verbal communication. The easiest place for me to speak out was the group. These groups were created for class assignments, group prese ntations and case studies. I started actively participating in the groups. This positively affected my marks in the group assignments, improved my level of communication and confidence. I started observing myself and other students who has been considered to be excellent or good in their communication skills.   I found out that it hardly matters if I know the absolutely right answer or not, I would not get punished for the same. I learnt that process of generating answers are crucial than the answers itself.... These groups were created for class assignments, group presentations and case studies. I started actively participating in the groups. This positively affected my marks in the group assignments, improved my level of communication and confidence. I started observing myself and other students who has been considered to be excellent or good in their communication skills. I found out that it hardly matters if I know the absolutely right answer or not, I would not get punished for the same. I learnt that process of generating answers are crucial than the answers itself. The other learning was benefits of group works. Group work generates unexpected ideas, provides different views and angles to the same situations that a single person can miss out. Group work is far more challenging, because everybody has to make concessions in order to get the work done. This was a positive revelation, because I like to spend my free time with other people; however I did not have much experience of working in teams. ii. Written Assignments The problem I was facing was with communication in English language. Written assignments again have posed similar challenge for me. However I felt more comfortable in written assignments. My second learning experience was result of my two assignments. I had written these assignments in different styles. My first assignment was in Marketing Strategy and in that I had to analyze The Daily Telegraph. Right from the start I was overwhelmed by the readings I had to do prior to any analysis. Without any planning I started reading about the company and collecting more and more information about the same. This led to the situation where I had to read a lot irrespective of its relevance. It also took more time to

Optical Distortion Essay Example for Free

Optical Distortion Essay What is the optimal pricing policy for Optical Distortion, Inc. (ODI) so its product can penetrate the market with sustainable contribution? Company: ODI manufactures and market contact lens for chicken that could partially blind the chicken thus prevent chickens from cannibalism behaviors toward each other, a problem that was traditionally solved by debeaking. Competition: Primary- The product is revolutionary at the time, plus ODI secured an exclusive contract with the suppliers for the contact’s material. As such, we expect no other firms would product the same product to compete with ODI in the short term. Secondary- Traditionally, debeaking is the method to solve the cannibalism problem among chickens. The labor cost of debeaking is about the same as the cost of contact lens installation. Nevertheless, contact lens provides other benefits compared to debeaking such as further lowering the mortality rate of chicken caused by cannibalism, reducing the feed consumption, and causing no negative effects to the productivity of a chicken. Customer: In order to substantiate the benefit of ODI’s product, a chicken farm needs to have at least 10,000 or more chickens. Such farms comprise of 3% of total US chicken farm. From exhibit 3, California has 592 farms with flock size of 20,000 or more in 1969. Segmentation: From the geographic perspective, California, North Carolina, and Georgia are the largest markets in the U. S. Given that ODI only has $200,000 initial capital and only four people work part time for the project, ODI should focus on the California market at least for the beginning. From the farm size perspective, the size of a chicken farm can be categorized as small farm, which has 10,000 or fewer chicken, medium farms, which has 10,000 to 50,000 chicken, and large farms, which contain over 50,000 chickens. Targeting: ODI should focus on large farms first then medium farms. Small farms are not ODI’s target because they are not economically feasible for ODI’s products. Focusing on large farms has several benefits: first, large farms has much greater potential benefits to use ODI’s products due to the economy of scale, the substantial financial incentives will make the persuasions to use ODI’s products much easier. Second, the owners of large farms are more likely to be entrepreneurial minded and are more open to adopt new and novel technologies/products. Third, if large farms start to use ODI’s products, smaller farms may be attracted to follow these large farm’s steps. Fourth, consider the extremely limited sales force of ODI in the initial phrase, focusing on large farms can bring more contributions for the company. Positioning: For owners of chicken farms with more than 10,000 birds in California, ODI’s product can successfully reduces the morality rate of chicken due to cannibalism and lower the feed consumption of chickens without the negative effects that result in loss in egg productions, exemplified by this revolutionary products that underwent numerous trials and testings. P Analysis: Of the 4 P’s, the most relevant one is the pricing strategy for ODI because it will directly impact the penetration rate and positioning of the new product. Price- Based on the information provided in the case, we can derive the potential benefit of using ODI’s contact lens versus traditional debeaking method.

Lao Tzu Essay -- essays research papers

Born in the Chinese province of Henan, Lao Tzu lived from c. 604-c.531 BCE. He was a philosopher attributed with the writing of the Tao-Te-Ching and the reputed founder of Taoism. ("Tao" meaning the way of all life, "Te" meaning the fit use of life by all men, and "Ching" meaning text.) Lao Tzu was not his real name but rather an honorary title given to him by his followers meaning "Old Master". Lao Tzu believed that human life is constantly influenced by outer forces; not unlike everything else in the universe. He knew that simplicity was key to all truth and freedom. He always encouraged those who followed him to observe and to seek to understand the laws of nature. Lao Tzu believed that one should develop intuition and build up personal power, which would then be used to lead life with love sans force. As he often contemplated the natural world, Lao Tzu felt that it was man and his doings that created an affliction on the otherwise flawless order of things. Thus he counseled his followers to turn away from the silliness of human pursuits and to return to their natural wellspring. Lao Tzu taught that straining and striving are not only useless but also counterproductive. One should venture to do nothing in the sense of discerning and following the natural forces; to follow and shape the natural flow of events. All this is known as the Taois...

Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank

9-607-010 REV: OCTOBER 4, 2007 DAVID M. UPTON VIRGINIA A. FULLER Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank Jay Dvivedi looked once more at the proposal in his email inbox, sighed and closed his laptop for the night. He owed his boss, Shinsei CEO Thierry Porte, a response and he knew that he would need to send it in morning. One of the heads of Shinsei’s business units had approached Porte directly with a proposal for a new, off-the-shelf customer relationship management (CRM) system for his business.He wanted to fund it and implement with his own personnel, but he needed approval from Porte. Before Porte responded he had requested input from Dvivedi. When Dvivedi discussed the idea with his team the opinion was divided. The information technology organization had played an integral role in the revitalization of Shinsei Bank from the ashes of Japan’s failed Long-Term Credit Bank (LCTB). In March 2000, Dvivedi had been charged with the task of developing a rev olutionary technology infrastructure for the newly formed Shinsei Bank.When he asked then CEO Masamoto Yashiro for some guidelines he was told to do it â€Å"Fast† and â€Å"Cheap†. Drawing on his wealth of experience in technology and operations in the banking industry he and his team were able to come up with a quick, robust, and inexpensive approach through which the reborn bank could deliver its newer products and services. Shinsei, which literally meant â€Å"new birth† in Japanese, was committed to providing an improved, customer-focused model with such conveniences as Internet banking, 24-hour cost-free ATMs, and fast service based on real-time database reconciliation1.Developing and organizing the technology required to enable this was a monumental task, but one that Dvivedi and his team were able to execute within one year (one quarter of the time that would be needed to implement a traditional system), and at only 10% of the forecasted cost of a tradit ional system. By 2005, the bank had 1. 4 million customers, and was acquiring new business at a rate of 35,000 customers per month. When Dvivedi discussed the proposal with his team some said that the business understood its own objectives best.If a business unit felt that it should add a new system at its own cost then that was its right. Alternatively, other team members felt that this was against all of the principles that had been used to resurrect Shinsei’s IT systems and represented a dangerous step backwards. 1 In many other banks in Japan, deposits and withdrawals did not appear until the next day in order to reconcile the transaction and primary databases. Shinsei wanted to immediately update and make visible the data for its customers. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor David M. Upton and Research Associate Virginia A. Fuller prepared this case with the assistance of Masako Egawa, Executive Director of the HBS Japan Research Office, and Akiko Kanno, Research Associate at the HBS Japan Research Office. Portions of this case draw upon â€Å"Shinsei Bank (A),† HBS No. 302-036, â€Å"Shinsei Bank (B),† HBS No. 302-037, â€Å"Shinsei Bank (C),† HBS No. 302-038, and â€Å"Shinsei Bank (D),† HBS No. 02-039 by Professor Michael Y. Yoshino and Senior Research Associate Perry L. Fagan. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2006, 2007 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. 607-010 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank Dvivedi needed to draft a thoughtful, well-reasoned reply to Porte and he would have to do it first thing in the morning. Shinsei’s Predecessor: LTCB LTCB, was established by the government in 1952 to provide long-term funding to rebuild Japan’s basic industries after World War II.This strategy proved successful until the 1980s when financial deregulation diminished the demand for loans by traditional borrowers and LTCB aggressively expanded in the real estate and construction markets. Because of Japan’s booming economy, land prices were skyrocketing and many loans were provided based on land collateral rather than an appropriate analysis of risk or future cash flow of the borrower. When the asset bubble burst and land prices plummeted in the early 199 0s, banks were left with an enormous amount of bad debt.In spite of the increase in non-performing loans, Japanese banks were slow to take action. At the time, many still believed that the fall in land prices was temporary and that they could wait out the crisis. Furthermore, Japanese banks placed great importance on long-term relationships with their borrowers and were reluctant to raise lending rates in what seemed like a temporary business slowdown. LTCB desperately explored ways to save itself. Conditions continued to deteriorate, however, and its stock price continued to fall.On October 23, 1998, LTCB finally collapsed with nearly $40 billion of non-performing loans and was nationalized. The failure of LTCB marked the largest banking failure in post-war Japan. Acquisition by Ripplewood The events that followed were unprecedented; a Japanese landmark was bankrupt, and was subsequently purchased by a U. S. private equity fund, Ripplewood Holdings, with Goldman Sachs representing the Japanese government. Masamoto Yashiro, former president of Exxon Japan who had just retired after heading Citicorp Japan, was persuaded to join the American investors in acquiring the bank.The government initially favored selling the bank to a Japanese financial institution or an industrial company, but Ripplewood eventually won the bid. On March 1, 2000, LTCB became the first Japanese bank with foreign ownership. â€Å"New Birth† The name of the bank was changed to â€Å"Shinsei,† and Yashiro became CEO. In the first few months, Yashiro moved quickly to establish a new organization and build the bank’s business in three main areas: commercial banking, retail banking2, and investment banking.LTCB had previously generated most of its revenues from corporate loans, but Yashiro was eager to move out of this low-margin business. â€Å"The asset quality [of our loans] was extremely poor, the number of corporate and individual accounts had shrunk by 40%, the trad itional business – corporate lending – was very unprofitable, and the bank’s IT infrastructure and operational capability were significantly inferior even relative to our local competition,† said Yashiro. Fortunately, the bank had received JPY 240 billion in public funds, and was able to start business with a strong capital ratio3 of 12. %. 2 Banking services for individual customers 3 The capital ratio is the ratio of a bank’s equity to a risk-weighted sum of the bank’s assets. 2 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank 607-010 LTCB did not have much presence in retail banking, with only two dozen branches throughout Japan, while major commercial banks had several hundred branches. The bank sold debentures (instead of receiving deposits) to high net worth individuals, but those individuals conducted their banking transactions at other banks which had a broader branch network.Shinsei bank needed an entirely new business strategy, and that, decided Yashiro, would be to serve retail customers. To create a retail banking business from the ground up, Yashiro needed the help of a visionary and technologist. Dhananjaya â€Å"Jay† Dvivedi looked like the right man for the job. An experienced manager of technology and operations with whom Yashiro had worked at Citibank Japan during the 1990s,4 Dvivedi had an engineering background and sought to apply manufacturing principles to the development of the new IT infrastructure. Retail Banking BusinessThe traditional methods of retail banking in Japan were anything but convenient. Business hours ended at three o’clock in the afternoon (to allow time to reconcile computer system information with the databases), no ATM usage outside of business hours, fees for ATMs, no Internet banking, long lead times for new account openings, separate accounts for each type of financial product, and other inconveniences had been an unavoidable, bitter pill for people managi ng their money in Japan. Yashiro and Dvivedi, therefore, endeavored to offer an alternative.Shinsei would have to â€Å"wow† potential customers into switching over from other banks. They had to offer something â€Å"extra† to convince customers to bank at Shinsei. The way to do this, they felt, was through outstanding customer service. Customer Service Model Yashiro believed it was better standards of service, and innovation in services, that would ultimately attract customers to the bank. â€Å"We were new. If we didn’t have something new to offer, there would be no reason for customers to come to us,† said Sajeeve Thomas, head of Shinsei’s retail group.The goal of developing new and closer relationships with customers through unique products and services became central to Shinsei’s transformation. The shift to meeting the competitive requirements of a retail bank, however, proved to be a significant undertaking for an institution speciali zing in corporate financial work. For the transformation to be effective, speed, flexibility, and cost control were paramount. A complete overhaul of the IT system would be required in order to enable this. The new customer-service-based business strategy required a scalable and robust operational and technological infrastructure.Such an infrastructure would help the new business segments grow by supporting enhanced, high quality, 24Ãâ€"7 customer service, product innovation and volume growth. This process involved nothing short of a revolutionary approach to information technology. â€Å"Indeed,† said Yashiro, rather wistfully, â€Å"the real challenge of transformation was not in painting the end state but in choosing the means to reach it effectively. † 4 Their work at Citibank included a major turnaround of that company’s IT system in Japan during the 1990s. 3 607-010Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank Thinking about Technology at Shinsei â€Å"We quickly came to the conclusion that the systems that were used at the old LCTB were of almost no use to us,† recalled Yashiro, lamenting the realization that the extant mainframe infrastructure was actually an impediment to building new business at Shinsei. Its mainframes were overloaded, with no spare capacity, and they relied on separate and disparate networks which were tied closely to the old business model. Maintenance costs were unacceptably high due to locked-in contracts with vendors.The network capacity was inadequate and too expensive. At the same time, the operational processes were inefficient and full of multi-layered, repetitive paper trails. Mainframes were large room-sized computers based on models developed in the 1960s by computing giants like IBM and Fujitsu. For banks, with their enormous amounts of customer data, daily transactions involved collecting information from millions of accounts, transferring it to the mainframe computer at midnight, th en refreshing the data by batch processing for the following day.Dvivedi believed that mainframes imposed great risks onto businesses; since they held the total data in the organization and this meant that if anything happened to that one computer, the business would be temporarily disabled while the system was transferred to backup machines. It was safer to distribute risks by designing systems that linked several smaller computers, such as servers, together. Servers were much smaller computers, often as small as a pizza box, based on cheaper microprocessors and standard UNIX or Windows operating systems.Such smaller servers were often combined into clusters of many hundreds of devices and were thus not only cheaper, but also more scalable than mainframes as capacity could be added to the system in much smaller increments. In the past, almost all banks had run on mainframe-based computer systems, but â€Å"removing the mainframes created granularity within the system,† said Dvivedi. This drastically reduced hardware maintenance costs and allowed flexibility such that services and new products could easily be added to the system. Building a New SystemOnce he had a skilled team in place, Dvivedi focused on centralizing the operations and creating a functional organization. Investigation into traditional methods of large-scale systems implementation exposed the significant risks and difficulties in adapting a traditional, monolithic, mainframe-based system to the dynamism of Shinsei’s freshly rekindled businesses. Indeed, new technology requirements were being developed even as the new business plans took shape, and they would need a scalable IT system that could grow with and even more importantly, adapt to the business. Technology delivers the product to the customer,† affirmed Dvivedi. Information technology had to be used as a driver of business, and a source of new business, rather than as a support function. Dvivedi also believed that S hinsei should forge its own IT strategy, rather than follow the examples set by other banks, so that competitors might one day turn to Shinsei for advice. Dvivedi could have chosen a gradual approach to creating a new infrastructure by improving the existing technology and processes over time, replacing one system and process after another.This would have minimized disruption but would have taken too long. Alternatively, he could have attempted a â€Å"big-bang† approach, replacing the existing infrastructure with a completely new set of systems and processes in one fell swoop. This approach, however, was deemed too risky, too disruptive, and too expensive. As part of building the new infrastructure Dvivedi focused on parsimony in selecting standards. There would be one network protocol, one operating system, and one hardware platform. Dvivedi 4 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank 607-010 did not wait for consensus before moving to new standards.Choosing one set of standards, rather than allowing a patchwork of multiple standards to build up, helped keep the complexity low, which, in turn, made the system easier to manage. The skills needed to run and maintain this infrastructure were standard and people trained in them were easy to find. Instead of looking at the whole system, Dvivedi preferred to break it down into pieces. â€Å"How can we modularize pieces so they can be used again and again? † he asked. He believed that the key to success was to keep creating new elements and to introduce them into the system without stopping the enterprise.A caveat of this, however, was the challenge of keeping things safe and secure, yet not so locked-down that they became unchangeable. The approach that Yashiro and Dvivedi decided on was at once radical and accelerated, driven by the evolution of their new business strategy. It involved implementing, as needed, a new, modular operating infrastructure that operated initially in parallel wi th, but ultimately superseded, the existing infrastructure. Dvivedi’s Vision Dvivedi made choices not simply based on available technologies; rather, he focused first on the business problem that had to be solved.Once the problem was clearly identified, it was broken down into as many logical parts as possible. â€Å"We’d keep breaking down the elements until the solution was obvious,† said Sharma Subramanian, the IT group’s Planning and Coordination Officer. In addressing each element, the team looked to its toolkit of standard modules and components, and determined whether or not any appropriate solutions existed. If not, they went to the market and sought the missing piece of technology, looking specifically for its availability as a standard component.If it was not already available as a standard component, they would ask one of their partners to build the component. They would build it so that it was reusable. For a component to be reusable, it had t o have a clear specification of the function(s) it performed, as well as a standard interface into which other components or modules could connect. The various components were assembled and reused in order to build products and services for Shinsei’s customers, and 90% of the technology components were used by more than one product. To meet Yashiro’s andate, Dvivedi devised five basic guidelines that were to govern all work going forward. His approach addressed waste and unnecessary work, and the elimination thereof, to make processes more efficient. Every job done was evaluated on the basis of these five criteria: †¢ Speed – How fast can the work be done? The goal was to build a new IT system within 18 months of conception. Changes were made in small, frequent, and predictable steps. The use and re-use of standard components enabled the team to roll out new capabilities quickly and with minimal testing (since the components already had been tested in their previous context).Cost – How low can we keep costs? For example, Shinsei understood that they did not have to build everything from scratch. By combining a number of software packages, they were able to construct the new system in a very short time. For example, Shinsei used Intel-based, Windows servers and Oracle database servers on the back-end and off-the-shelf solutions on the front-end. They used standard Dell PCs running Windows. In the process, Shinsei became the largest bank running its back-end systems on a Windows platform.Capability – What new capabilities will IT enable? For example, to support multiple currencies and financial products for retail customers the old technology platform that handled deposits, loans and other services had to be changed. †¢ †¢ 5 607-010 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank †¢ Flexibility – How easily can the system be changed to respond to business needs? Dvivedi assumed that the business needs of the company would change over time and that the IT systems had to respond to this rather than prevent ecessary change as the mainframe system had done. The infrastructure needed to be expandable and robust enough to support the operation as volumes grew. Re-usable component-based architecture would enable flexibility. To make its services flexible, Shinsei used alerts, not reports, to manage workflow. Machinedriven prompts notified employees when work went unattended, demanding attention and action when required. Similarly, when making infrastructure decisions Yashiro made a point of focusing on the business objective, not the ‘as-is’ environment.Designing an infrastructure to support a new business objective had to begin with that objective in mind and not with Shinsei’s current capabilities. If the objective could be met without changing existing infrastructure then they would not change it. If elements of the existing infrastructure were made redunda nt by the new approach, then they would become irrelevant and be superseded over time. Flexibility meant not being inhibited by previous decisions. †¢ Safety – How secure is our system? Safety was built into the process by breaking down the problems into very small parts.Smaller elements meant a smaller piece of the project that went wrong if something were to fail. Furthermore, a number of small parts meant that each part could be tackled simultaneously to fix the problem more quickly. The approach to safety could be seen clearly in Dvivedi’s decision to leverage the public Internet. Back in 2000, Dvivedi met tremendous incredulity at the notion of using the Internet for internal banking transactions. Nevertheless, the Bank went with public Internet lines as opposed to leased lines.Public Internet technology allowed Shinsei to move work to any location, including lower-cost locations, such as India. ATMs, telephones, call centers, video, and data were also connec ted through public lines, at a fraction of the cost of leased lines. â€Å"We use the Internet in two ways, for transport both within and outside the company and we use it to run different elements of our processes. The key is to ensure that each activity or session is performed in a secure manner. We assume that everything will fail. The key task is to ensure there are no single points of failure.When components fail, we assume that staff will not notice or will be busy on something else. The safety must be passive, that is to say if one component fails, the work must seamlessly move to another component all without any intervention,† said Nobuyki Ohkawa. Ohkawa had decades of experience working on these problems and was the person Dvivedi assigned the task of designing and deploying the networks and machines on which Shinsei ran its business. To ensure that the data sent over the public Internet was kept secure, Shinsei encrypted all the data it transmitted.In addition, its networks were secured by deploying the latest in network technology and by a process of continuous monitoring for unauthorized intrusions and denial of service type attacks. Should there be any indication that an attack was attempted, the source of the attack was identified and actions taken to disable or block it. Most of all, however, Dvidedi relied simply on the fundamentals of the internet itself: â€Å"The Internet is anonymous. Your messages and our data travel over the same network in a random fashion. The anonymity is our first level of security†.Given these parameters and the scope of the undertaking, Yashiro and Dvivedi did not believe they could entrust the project to one hardware vendor. Also, the fluidity of the envisioned end-state made it difficult to engage an outside vendor economically. Yashiro and Dvivedi needed to reach out to external partners to get the resources and know-how that they envisioned, as applied to their projects. Partner companies in Dvive di’s native India proved to be a tremendous boon. 6 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank 607-010 Outsourced WorkDvivedi engaged multiple Indian firms to handle different parts of Shinsei’s information technology. This outsourced work focused on areas where internal development skills were lacking and where Dvivedi felt that they were not necessary for the bank to acquire. Thus, Dvivedi was free to pull together work groups of specialists without regard to their physical location. This was a major departure from existing practices in Japan, and proved to be a culture shock for the staff. In fact, Shinsei was the only company in Japan to use solely Indian software services.Nucleus Software, in Delhi, and Polaris Software Engineering, in Chennai, were two collaborators, as well as the larger Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services companies, in developing pieces of Shinsei’s financial software. By employing translators, Shinsei acquired best-of-breed e ngineers, and did not bother trying to teach them Japanese. They could remain in their respective silos, working on a portion of the Shinsei technology, without assimilation into Shinsei headquarters. In order to outsource work, Dvivedi and his team had to divide the work up into modular parts.Removing interdependencies was key as they believed that dependency slowed down the work; without dependency, people could work at their own speeds and avoid bottlenecks. For this reason, old systems maintenance was kept separate from new systems development. If unnecessary stress was placed on old systems, the entire system would become unstable and the speed at which new ones were developed would also be at risk. With each company, Shinsei worked to establish a relationship characterized as a â€Å"partnership† rather than one of a supplier.The bank worked with its partners without requiring competitive bids, avoiding traditional requirement documents such as RFPs (request for proposa l) or RFIs (request for information). Dvivedi believed that these were superfluous process steps that added unnecessary time and overhead work to the engagement. Furthermore, Shinsei did not enter into fixed-price contracts; on the contrary, engagements were quantified on a time-and-material basis. Implementation Shinsei moved from mainframes to a Windows-based platform, supported by a high-speed, lowcost, packet based network operated as an internal utility.They centralized the decentralized, but made sure that everything was modular and highly flexible. Organizational silos were broken down in order to integrate processes. â€Å"We have learned to deliver precision where needed rather than trying to be precise in all things,† said Yashiro. Despite the carefully constructed approach to assembling the guiding principles for the company’s IT strategy both Yashiro and Dvivedi knew that just as many, if not more, IT transformation projects failed during implementation.As such, they spent a substantial amount of time creating principles to guide the implementation process. †¢ Parity – Parity allowed the old and new systems to coexist in parallel. Dvivedi believed that employees should choose to use the new system if it were placed in front of them. He did not want to appear as though he was convincing people to use the new technology. He told employees: â€Å"We will not change – but we will change the technology. † He believed the new systems should function much the same as their predecessors, and possess the same look and feel even if this mimicry resulted in extra cost.At the same time the new system should provide new capabilities so that employees would be excited about using them. As comfort with the new systems increased, the old systems were removed. Dvivedi mused: â€Å"Nothing must change for change to happen. † 7 607-010 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank †¢ Incremental steps â€⠀œ The smaller the changes, the lower the degree of disruption in the bank. The work was done on multiple parallel paths; development occurred in rapid, short cycles, with progressive delivery of requirements.As components were tested, they were implemented and reused if they fulfilled their objectives or they were promptly discarded if they did not work. Incremental steps also kept the system accessible as changes could be made on an almost continuous basis. Inclusiveness – Yashiro believed that the business strategy must always drive infrastructure change, and it was therefore imperative that senior managers be closely involved in the technology transformation. Said Yashiro: â€Å"I have learned that technology and operations are not just support functions.They also offer capabilities that can open up new strategic opportunities and businesses for us. † Transparency – Dvivedi tried to keep the technology transparent to the customer, such that the customer woul d not notice anything different when the technology changed. This would allow Shinsei to remain flexible in its technology choices at no inconvenience or disruption to the customer. Ironically, this required great discipline. Dvivedi had to resist advertising the new technology because, as he said, â€Å"the moment you say ‘this is going to improve things for you,’ you create a dependency. Dvivedi felt this was important so that the bank would be free to pick and choose its technology as systems changed, while the customer would experience only consistent service. Paperless – Any paper generated had to be checked, filed, and secured while the absence of paper made work distribution easier. Paper intensive, manual processes were replaced with a nearly paperless environment. A room dedicated to scanning services received all incoming paper correspondence and invoices. Such paper documents were scanned and then filed electronically.The paper documents did not move any further into the office than that initial receiving room. After that, everything was accessible online. †¢ †¢ †¢ All of these efforts supported Yashiro’s principle of minimizing the change required of people. Making new systems look as similar to old ones as possible, and allowing the two to co-exist in parallel, were necessary to minimize the disruption of Shinsei’s employees. Furthermore, they did not set formal replacement dates for any of the new systems they implemented.Instead, they performed parallel runs with reconciliation to ensure proper functioning of the new system. They repeated this process for as long as was necessary until they were sure that the employees were comfortable with the new systems. Only then did they turn off the old system. Getting Results Shinsei’s key success was in assembling the building blocks of its new infrastructure. The entire retail bank system was implemented faster than planned and well below budget. In the end, Shinsei achieved rejuvenation in one year (instead of the projected three years) and at 90% less than the riginal cost estimate. The cost of the overhaul totaled $50 million, while other banks in Japan had paid ten times this amount for similar initiatives. The success of the system transformation enabled 24Ãâ€"7 multiple channel access to customers rather than a single channel service that was only available from 9am to 3pm. In addition, they were able to obtain real-time balances from these channels, and roll out new products quickly by leveraging standard building blocks that were already in place. Management controls were also significantly improved through the new system.The old 6-day reporting cycle – characterized by chronically late financial ledger data – was replaced with a daily one, with the added ability to provide customer and product profitability tracking data on demand. 8 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank 607-010 They w ere also able to perform continuous reconciliation on all accounts and standardized what were non-standard, non-documented procedures. New Services â€Å"We have a very specific value proposition for customers,† incoming CEO Thierry Porte said. It’s based on convenience, ease of use, empowering customers, offering things on a low-cost basis, so our ATM system is free and we also offer free Internet transfers. At the same time, we offer high-quality products and services. † One of these new services was an innovative branch operation featuring â€Å"cashless tellers. † Dvivedi believed that a key tenet of the customer service model was the interaction between staff and customers. To enhance this interaction both paper and cash had to be eliminated from the hands of the branch staff.Paper and cash, Dvivedi felt, were â€Å"avoidable distractions† that merely got in the way of superior customer service. In eliminating paper and cash, the staff was abso lved of the traditional duties of cash-counting and receipt-printing, and could solely service the customer. Indeed, the bank’s branch services were entirely self-completed; the staff was present only to provide assistance as needed. All transactions took place online, at Internet portals in the branch. The transaction could take place anywhere, however, that the customer was connected to the Internet.Online-only transactions effectively eliminated paper from the system, and also allowed the customer to be responsible for his own transactions. The customer was asked to double-check each transaction before authorizing it. This greatly reduced the frequency of errors. Cash was available from the branch’s ATM machines; staff guided the customers to use the ATMs for both withdrawing and depositing cash. If a customer did not have his ATM card, a staff member would electronically transfer the desired sum from the customer’s account into a teller’s account, and then retrieve the cash for the customer from the ATM.ATMs Most Japanese banks charged fees of 100 to 300 yen, when ATMs were used in the evenings or on weekends, or when customers withdrew money from other banks. Shinsei, to make up for its limited branch network, allowed customers to use ATMs any time free of charge. This distinguished Shinsei from other Japanese banks. Shinsei saw this as a way to attract customers to the bank at very low cost, for they did not have to expand their branch network in order to connect with their customers; they could do it through ATMs. The operating cost of the ATMs was relatively low.In 2001, Shinsei offered a new service enabling customers to withdraw cash free of charge from ATMs outside of Japan – 650,000, to be exact, in 120 different countries, through the PLUS system offered by Visa International. Citibank also offered no-fee use of international ATMs, but was part of the CIRRUS MasterCard network, which had only 530,000 ATMs in abou t 100 countries. Hours Shinsei kept its branches open on weekends and holidays in order to offer services such as same-day account openings, targeting customers who might be too busy to visit the bank during the week.Shinsei used its computer system – operated nonstop – to enable the processing of new accounts and other applications in the same day. Other financial institutions followed suit and began staying open on Saturday and Sunday, but services were limited to mortgages and asset management consulting. Anything that required the computer system could only take place during the week as their systems shut down on the weekends. Shinsei’s branch hours of 10am to 8pm every single day of the year (except New Year’s Day) enabled ustomers to do any type of banking, including sale of mutual funds and insurance policies, at their own convenience. 9 607-010 Information Technology and Innovation at Shinsei Bank Looking Back Yoshikazu Sato, a senior member of th e Technology team at Shinsei, who worked closely with Dvivedi, revealed the apparent simplicity of Shinsei’s model: â€Å"If you stand back and examine what we have done, there is nothing unique about it. The principles we follow have been around for years. Describe what we do to a manufacturing engineer and he may well remark, ‘what’s so special about it? ’ Anybody can buy what we buy.Deconstructing a problem until a standard component can be used, or using low-cost, easily available materials (in our case Dell PCs and Windows software) has been practiced for decades,† he said. â€Å"What makes us different is our ability to focus on applying these principles repeatedly with persistence and without deviation. The manufacturing industry has been moving its operations to the lowest cost and most effective locations for decades. We have replicated it in our use of virtual organizations; people with skills needed for our work are connected in from whe rever they are located.Not having to move people around saved us time, money and gave us an extremely scalable capability,† said Pieter Franken, the architect and designer of Shinsei’s core systems. â€Å"My key task is to ensure that as we do all of this, we are also institutionalizing the work we have done and to continuously expand the technical team to take up all this work,† said Dvivedi. Looking Forward Dvivedi’s â€Å"institutionalization† of Shinsei’s system development process forced the team to think about applications of the model in the future, as well as what challenges lay ahead.Shinsei was focused on growing by acquisition and, for those acquired businesses, the objective was to change the technology and process platform to enable rapid new product roll-outs and to build better quality services. The ability to do this at lower cost would create a significant competitive advantage. â€Å"Our focus is to be able to support all t he Shinsei businesses for their Information Technology needs and help them achieve the same level of technology now being employed by Shinsei Bank,† said Dvivedi. â€Å"We can add value to our businesses with our strength and know-how. In 2006, Thierry Porte succeeded Yashiro as President and CEO of Shinsei. â€Å"Thierry has a clear vision of where he is guiding Shinsei,† noted Dvivedi. â€Å"He has outlined a growth plan for our key businesses that will require us to scale up for much higher volumes, and support a whole range of new functions and features to facilitate the launch of new products and services. † As CEO, Porte was well-aware of how Shinsei’s technology would enable his plans for the bank. â€Å"Our technology is a door-opener for new business opportunities.If we can get our customers in other industries interested in the approach we take to technology design and deployment, to look at the kind of capabilities and services we can help the m build, it will be a unique way to position ourselves and grow our core business of banking. If we can do this it will expand our franchise and be a source of additional revenues,† said Porte. Dvivedi’s Response After a night of reflection the time had come to respond to Porte’s request. Dvivedi opened an email and began typing†¦ 10

Books are dead Essay

It could be said that books are dead which leads to the question, ‘What are people doing instead? ‘ People are buying and using modern technology indeed of reading books because books are tedious. Would you rather read through a whole chapter in a book just to find an answer to a question, or type in key words into a search engine on a computer and the information be found instantly? Other technologies such as; video, internet and DVD, have superseded them. The more advanced technology appeals to a wider audience and society is not pressurised into enjoying it from an early age if they do not want to, as in the case of books. Books are seen as primitive and dated because they have less to offer the next generation in the form of enjoyment. Furthermore, books are not fashionable in the twenty-first century. This is because popularity within the community is directly proportional to whether the individual has the newest technology or not. The most popular individual has the most recent technological development, such as the latest mobile telephone, and the not so popular individual is left behind, still reading books. Technology is a way to ‘show off’ and ‘showing off’ is a way of making new friends and keeping the existing ones. In addition, we would not have moved forward in time without new technology. For example, in the future, we will be able to travel into space and back, which we would not be able achieve using books. Of course, the maths and science would have originated from books but you would need technology to apply it. There is not point in publishing books anymore because no one has the time to sit down and read them. This is because they are boring and it is too much effort. You also have to be in the right mood to read a book, whereas you do not need to be with technology since there are so many alternatives. Books are a waste of paper and ink, and are we not trying to save the environment? Moreover, books are made by technology, for example, the printing press is made up of machines. So why not use technology in other ways that will be appreciated more? On the other hand, books have survived every new technological development, unlike the video recorder being superseded by the DVD recorder, within a few decades. Books have, and will stand the test of time because one can escape into a story in a book and enjoy it without the need for anyone else. Disappearing into a book is an escapist fantasy because you can interpret it in so many different ways. It also makes a nice change from the more advanced technology the world has to offer.

Running Errands and Doing Chores

Running Errands and Doing Chores Running Errands and Doing Chores Running Errands and Doing Chores By Maeve Maddox An English teacher from the Philippines wants to know the difference between errands and chores. The word errand is most commonly used in the sense of a short journey taken to perform some necessary duty. Some examples of errands are: taking or fetching clothes from the cleaners; taking mail to the post office; filling the car with fuel, taking sacks of leaves to the compost center, etc. The word errand comes from Old English à ¦rende message, mission. The message was usually carried by a servant or low-ranking soldier. Errand still has the connotation of something of minor importance that can be carried out by anyone. An employee might complain of being an errand boy if all hes allowed to do is unimportant work. The expression to go on a fools errand means to set out to accomplish something that turns out to be impossible to accomplish. Similar to going on fools errand is going on a wild goose chase. A chore can be simply a necessary domestic task such as vacuuming or taking out the garbage, or it can be used in the sense of a really tiresome, time-consuming task. Here are some examples from the internet of the two meanings of chore. Chore as household responsibilities Lets face it sometimes, doing your chores can be a drag! Doing household chores does not have to be boring or a waste of time. If you dont have time to go to the gym and workout or stay at home and lift weights, you can combine muscle building with doing household chores. There are many ways to save time doing your daily chores. You can make life easier by staying ahead on things instead of procrastinating. Daily chores include laundry, dishes, sweep, vacuum and mopping. Even washing up your sinks in your kitchen and bathrooms. Chore as an onerous task That sure was a chore trying over and over to get you all the actual link. Washing my toddlers hair was a choremoving around causing shampoo and water in eyes and earswhich drove her crazy. Combined with more explosions than the bombing of Iraq with Michael Bays patented swooping camera shots, the film was a chore to watch from beginning to end. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a UK Business LetterDisappointed + PrepositionWhen to use "an"

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case Study - Essay Example One of the filmmaking characteristics that differs American cinema from French cinema is that French filmmaking is somewhat dull and sloppy whereas American filmmaking involves such characteristics, which are able to attract a vast majority of public towards the cinema. â€Å"The actions of characters in American cinema are largely done to reveal a general character trait which distinguishes itself from French cinema† (Smith). Another difference between the cultures of two countries is that French art and entertainment industry is closely linked to the political parties of France whereas in the United States, there is no such influence of politics on the entertainment industry. France is the third largest foreign market for the American movies whereas in the United States, foreign markets are able to capture less than 2 percent of the box office. Therefore, we can say that at present, American film market is really dominating the French market and it has the potential to invad e rest of the European film markets as well in the near future. Works Cited Smith, Jonathan. â€Å"Differences Between American and French Cinema.† Wordpress.com, 09 Jul. 2007 Web. 27 Dec. 2010.

Software Requirements Specification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Software Requirements Specification - Essay Example To address this problem PCI offers its clients a service that would allow clients to forward all their calls to them and PCI in turn would collect all the messages and forward them to employees that are on the road and away from their desk. These messages would usually be forwarded to their phones or pagers. Goals of the project The basic goal of the project is to ensure that the company’s clients’ businesses are not affected because their employees are on the road and important messages do not reach them. The second goal of the project is to improve communication between employees of a business and the headquarters of the business to ensure that there is better coordination amongst them all. The final goal of the project is to help PCI improve their overall service and ensure that they retain their old customers and obtain new customers as well. Stakeholders of the project The company: One of the main stakeholders for the project is the company for which the system is being created. The company would also be the main user of the software that is going to be developed through this project. The company’s name is PCI (Pivotal Communication Inc.). Clients: The second major stakeholders are the clients to whom PCI would provide its services to. These clients would be able to only get their desired service if the project being worked on is a success. Software Company and the development team: The software company that is responsible for developing the solution for the given issue have an equal share in this project. The software company tends to make a great deal of profit with the successful completion of this project. Other stakeholders: The complete list of stakeholders can be viewed in the diagram below Users of the software: The main users of the system developed would be PCI’s agents. Agents are responsible for answering and handling all the transactions regarding a call or message that is supposed to be provided to a particular cli ent. The second users of the system would be the clients that would interact with the system to manage messages and calls that they receive. Characteristics used to define users The users that have been identified above would be assessed in the following categories. The categories would be helpful in identifying the correct functional and non-functional requirements of the project. Understanding of technology Physical impairments Qualifications and credentials Project constraints Mandated constraints Resource constraints: The software is to be developed using the resources that have been provided by PCI. The developers have to work within the time frame provided and equipment that the company owns. Requirements constraint: The graphic user interface of the system should be easy to work and operate. Users of the system must easily understand how to operate the system and employees of client companies must be able to easily handle the messages they receive. Legal constraint: The contr act that PCI has signed with its clients states that PCI is responsible for storing all the messages it receives for at least 90 days. This means that the system should be able to store vast amounts of data. Furthermore PCI is required by law to inform callers that their calls are being recorded. This means that before recording a message the system must inform the caller that their call is being recorded. Glossary Glossary of all terms: The following table contains a