Advantages And Disadvantages Of Internet Banking Information Technology Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Internet Banking Information Technology Essay Internet banking is a fact of life for many individuals today with a busy lifestyle. Some individuals will have a brick and mortar bank that offers Internet banking in addition to going to the brick and mortar location. Other banks exist only on the Internet that do not have a physical location. Benefits Internet bankings major benefit to account holders is convenience. It allows an account holder to monitor usage of his account and perform basic transactions online for his banking account. Considerations If an individual opens an account at an online-only bank such as ING Direct, access is limited to their account. If the bank account owner can not find a location with Internet access, she will be unable to perform transactions on her banking account. Disadvantages When using an Internet banking account, the account owner may have no face to face interaction with a bank employee if the bank does not have a brick and mortar location. This can make resolving disputes more difficult as the account holder will have to make a phone call and possibly wait on hold, or be forced to send an email. Bonuses There are some Internet banking companies such as ING Direct that will allow a customer to receive a monetary bonus for opening an account with them. The bonus varies based on the promotion the Internet banking company is running at the time. Warning  · Conducting your banking over the Internet can be you at a significant risk of scams and fraud. Make sure when using your internet banking account you are accessing it through a secured network, and never provide your account password to anyone. Online banking versus brick and  mortar Posted on April 9, 2008. Filed under: Banking,Investing and Saving | Online banking is something that no one could have predicted. Now you are able to access your accounts at any time, make payments and see your statements from home without going to the local banking branch. Online-only banks have also sprung up with no actual branches, just a virtual account that promises higher savings rates and a slew of conveniences. For the average person, it would be perfectly acceptable to have both an online banking account and a brick and mortar bank. Online banks generally have the best rates as they strive to cut costs by hiring a limited amount of workers (no tellers needed) and avoiding the costs of buildings, atms etc. The downside is a limited access to money and the inability to go to the bank and talk to a person if you need to. Most online banks will allow you to pay bills online, however, they do not offer easy withdrawals like the thousands of offline brick and mortar banks. Brick and mortar banks are best for people who demand customer service. From the availability of many banking options, fee-free ATMs open 24/7 and the candy at the corner of the banking desk; brick and mortars have it all. They also have many costs that cut into savings rates, and make their lines of credit and loans more expensive. Brick and mortars offer a high level of comfort to customers, ensuring them that their money is right around the corner when they need it, rather than just a digital number on a computer screen. For long term savings, an online bank is the winner hands down. Savings rates at online banks are much higher and the fees are much lower. An online bank is perfect for an emergency fund, or other savings that you do not need on a day to day basis. A brick and mortar savings account will never become obsolete, it is far too convenient, even though the rates are traditionally much lower. Keep just enough in a brick and mortar account to utilize it conveniently, and keep the substantial savings at an online bank to earn more in interest. For most people, two accounts is now the necessity. Traditional Banking Vs Online  Banking Internet banking works in a similar manner to traditional banking, the major difference being the way one is making payments, accessing his account and personal details, and reconciling statements. Rather than visiting the local branch of his bank, the customer uses his computer to complete transactions. Internet and traditional banking have their pros and cons to consider. The choice of online vs. brick-and-mortar banking is often based on ones lifestyle and priorities. As a major advantage of internet banking, the customer can accomplish multiple tasks in the comfort of his home. Efficiency is what makes online banking attractive to customers: they can pay bills, move money between different accounts, check multiple accounts, and much more. Banking is fast and saves customers valuable time. Transactions are completed in seconds and one can print out the receipts for his personal records. The customer may access his account at any given part of the day, even during weekends and holidays. Moreover, the online account may be accessed from any place around the world, provided that internet connection is available. Online bank accounts make banking expedient, convenient, and inexpensive. Many banks charge fewer fees for the online banking services they offer. Furthermore, banks have higher interest rates on savings accounts and certificates of deposit, and offer more financial services and products. Customers dont need to buy envelopes and stamps, run to the post office at the last minute, and risk being late on their payments. Monthly bank statements and bills can be accessed electronically. Finally, online banking employs sophisticated tools that help manage ones money and accounts with ease. Despite increased security measures and the availability of anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, identity theft is still a concern. Other threats associated with online banking include phishing and hacking of online accounts. Time is among the precious commodities, especially for multi-taskers. On the other hand, some people prefer to visit their local bank and interact with the teller in person. Customers can turn to the banks special account representative or even to the bank manager. Clients are physically present when cash is handed over to them and when they place valuable items in their safety deposit boxes. When customers hold their money in banks, they expect to have them available when required. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation offers coverage of up to $100.000 if banks cannot cover their clients accounts. Most banks have increased the level of security by installing more surveillance cameras and hiring a larger number of security guards. With traditional banking, customers are better protected against identity theft. However, security is still a concern with traditional banking. While criminals cannot hold a gun to ones personal computer, they can rob a bank the traditional way. Inconvenient locations, fixed schedules, and more limited financial services are some of the disadvantages associated with traditional banking. In contrast to internet banking, customers opting for traditional banking services need to draw money before using it. The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) pays up to $100,000 of coverage, in case that a bank cannot cover its accounts (both online and traditional). However, protection from identity theft is an aspect of banking that traditional banks take better care of. Disclaimer: This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional and/or financial advice. The information found in this article is provided AS IS, and all warranties, express or implied, are disclaimed by the author. Top 5 Reasons to Use Online  Banking In recent years online banking has become increasingly popular, and many consumers have benefited from being able to conduct all of their banking transactions online without having to resort to queuing in the local bank or spending time trying to get through automated switchboard in order to speak to someone on the phone. Online banking allows you to run your day to day finances, and manage your bank account, with ease and convenience, and with this method of banking you are always in control. With online banking you get to enjoy convenience, ease, speed, and increased control, which is why so many people now decide to conduct their banking transactions online rather than at a branch. The main reasons many people opt to use online banking are: 1. The ultimate in convenience: When you use online banking you can conduct your transactions from the comfort and privacy of your own home, so you wont have to worry about going out to your local branch, spending time queuing up, and trying to fit your banking commitments into your busy day, which can be particularly difficult for those that work full time. 2. No time constraints: With regular banking you are restricted in terms of when you can contact or call in to the bank in order to conduct transactions, and this can prove difficult for those with busy lifestyles and full time jobs. However, when you opt for online banking you can conduct transactions at any time of the day or night, which means that you can effectively manage your account around the clock. 3. Do everything you need to online: You will find that you are able to conduct pretty much any banking transaction that you can perform by phone or visit to your branch by going online, other than withdrawing and depositing cash. This means that you can effectively control your finances from the privacy of your own home. 4. Increased security: Banks now use very secure software to ensure the safety and security of customers, making it safer than ever to bank online. Just remember never to link to your bank account from an email link, as this could be a false link, and do not save your banking passwords and security details on a shared computer that could give others access. 5. 24 hour access to your account: With online banking you can access your account 24 hours a day, conducting transactions such as making bill payments, checking your balance and statements, setting up or cancelling direct debits and standing orders, and more. Gone are the days when you could only gain access to you bank between the hours of 9.30am and 3.30pm. How brick Mortar Banking Model will become a thing of past- Robin Trehan The reason is that maintaining bank locations is extremely expensive and hurts the bottom line. Each physical branch generates a laundry list of expenses, including rent, insurance, real estate taxes, utilities and employees. ; Attachment FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) Sep 01, 2009 How brick    Mortar Banking Model will become a thing of past- Robin Trehan A penny saved is a penny earned. That is why the banking industry needs to continue to shift to an online model for business banking. There is no longer any need for a bank to have several brick and mortar locations in every city. The reason is that maintaining bank locations is extremely expensive and hurts the bottom line. Each physical branch generates a laundry list of expenses, including rent, insurance, real estate taxes, utilities and employees. If the branch is located in a major metropolitan area such as New York, Chicago or Paris, operating it is even more costly. It makes much more sense for the bank to provide only ATMs in metropolitan area and locate its main center of operations in a suburb. Customers can easily and quickly handle their banking business online, at an ATM or even over a mobile phone at any time of the day or night. The technology keeps getting more sophisticated even checks can now be deposited using a picture taken by a cell phone. Even if they are out of the country, customers who bank online can access their accounts at any time with ease. The savings realized by eliminating unnecessary branch locations can be passed on to the banks customers in the form of a higher interest rate. However, there can be some challenges when it comes to moving business banking out of the building and into cyberspace. Like many new ideas and ways of doing business, it will take some time for people to get used to. Banks need to make sure that all their business customers understand how online banking works and why it is a safe option. It can be helpful to point out that online banking is actually in many ways more secure than the traditional model. For example, customers can be quickly notified via email or text if there is unusual account activity or if an account is close to being overdrawn. They can then take appropriate action (a balance transfer, for instance) immediately rather than having to wait to visit a branch. Online banking is truly an idea whose time has come. The internet has come a long way since Tim Berners Lee discovered it under two decades ago. There have been remarkable progress to create value added services from the internet, among them online banking. The capacity to use internet to deliver online banking services is yet to attract due attention from scholars on the impact of online banking on the efficient delivery of services by the bank (Harnando, Nietoa, 2006). The most obvious contribution online banking has brought to the banking industry is the reduction of overheads that would have otherwise been incurred particularly in relation to the staff and advertising and others services like information technology as no special software is needed (wikipedia 2007[online]). The reductions in costs in those areas have undoubtedly added positively to a bank bottom-line. The emerging consensus on the future role of online banking is that it can be used to add value to overall banking services as appertaining service delivery, but onlin e banking has failed to marshal potent force to dislodge physical banks branches. The reason why online banking is yet to dislodge the brick and mortar traditional branches is because risk management on online banking applications have not walked with tandem with other advances in information technology. The imperfections of technology sometimes mean that online banking may not be a perfect substitution for a bank branch, and some functions (such as depositing cash) might still require the need to have physical branches for some foreseeable future.   There are three major ways in which financial institutions exploit the internet (Ramakhrishnan, 2001), or basically online banking means these three things. They can do it for information purposes whereby the bank can disseminate information about its products over the internet. Secondly, online banking can be about communication with a certain identifiable set of people (in this case a customer) about matters of interest to them such as account information. Thirdly and at the highest level, online banking can be transactional, whereby a customer may give the bank a certain mandate to operate the account in a certain way, like to make payments to a third party. This would happen without the customer stepping into the banks hall. Numerous risks abound in online banking, and it is impossible to discuss here them all (Comptroller, 1999). But the main ones are, Credit risk Interest rate risks Foreign exchange risks, Transaction risks, Compliance risks, Reputation risks. Risks arise from events, foreseen and unforeseen, that may have an unfavourable effect on the banks earnings or capital. The risks are not particularly peculiar to online banking, but they become more potentially threatening in online banking. Bank management for online banking system may be ill advised to leave these risks to the IT department to handle. Many of them require the management careful considered exercise of discretion. This may involve the establishment of effective management controls over the online banking risks, for instance accountability and appropriate policy directives for containment of these risks. New online banking projects that have a risk factor should be reviewed by the management and they should ensure that adequate technical expertise is available at all times. For securities risk management strategy, the banks should have in place adequate identification (authentication) of online banking customers before a transaction is carried out. Measures should also be in place to ensure that such customer cannot deny he transacted over the internet. Measures should also be in place before embarking on an online banking project to protect customers privacy and Know Your Customer rules for online banking customers should be stricter than usual (Basel, 2001).

Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should Be Legalized :: Argument, DUI, Alcohol

Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should be Legalized   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drunk driving should be legalized in the United States to help improve our standard of living. The legalization of driving while intoxicated would severely reduce the numbers of crimes that are committed on the roads. The number of illegal actions occurring on the roads would be reduced by the number of people that used to break the law by driving while drunk. Allowing people to drive drunk would also reduce the number of accidents occurring on the road systems. For example, only twenty percent of all auto accidents involve a person who has been drinking, where as almost all accidents involve someone who has not been drinking. Removing the restrictions against drinking would remove most of the eighty percent of the accidents that do not involve alcohol. Also, the accidents that would still be occurring would not have as many injuries. Out of the accidents that involve alcohol the person who has been drinking is usually the one who survives the accident, often with out a scratch. Allowing people who have been drinking to drive would also improve the quality of life for those who choose not to drink. Currently people who have been drinking are legally required to use some form of transportation other than them operating a motor vehicle. This requires them to hang around where they are and get a ride with someone else or wait or some public transportation. With the legalization of driving while drunk the non-drinking population would not need to be bothered by drunk people that do not have rides. Finally, this would help stimulate the economy which may be in dire trouble. For example, with the removal of restrictions on alcohol, many more alcoholic beverages would be sold because a Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should Be Legalized :: Argument, DUI, Alcohol Drink Up - Drunk Driving Should be Legalized   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Drunk driving should be legalized in the United States to help improve our standard of living. The legalization of driving while intoxicated would severely reduce the numbers of crimes that are committed on the roads. The number of illegal actions occurring on the roads would be reduced by the number of people that used to break the law by driving while drunk. Allowing people to drive drunk would also reduce the number of accidents occurring on the road systems. For example, only twenty percent of all auto accidents involve a person who has been drinking, where as almost all accidents involve someone who has not been drinking. Removing the restrictions against drinking would remove most of the eighty percent of the accidents that do not involve alcohol. Also, the accidents that would still be occurring would not have as many injuries. Out of the accidents that involve alcohol the person who has been drinking is usually the one who survives the accident, often with out a scratch. Allowing people who have been drinking to drive would also improve the quality of life for those who choose not to drink. Currently people who have been drinking are legally required to use some form of transportation other than them operating a motor vehicle. This requires them to hang around where they are and get a ride with someone else or wait or some public transportation. With the legalization of driving while drunk the non-drinking population would not need to be bothered by drunk people that do not have rides. Finally, this would help stimulate the economy which may be in dire trouble. For example, with the removal of restrictions on alcohol, many more alcoholic beverages would be sold because a

Natural Born Killers Essay -- Film Review, Classic, Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone’s 1994 classic, Natural Born Killers, excited and traumatized its audiences while also causing controversy. The tale of white trash lovers caught up in a realm of chaos that includes a continuous murderous rampage from state to state, draws in audiences with its graphic violence and riveting pulse inducing music. Yet, the message of this film seems to be much deeper than just exposing audiences to yet another chaotic action movie filled with guns, blood and mayhem. Stone’s Natural Born Killers examines the subject of media’s investment in serial murder very thoroughly, and so it seems likely that it has the potential to offer a more rigorous interrogation of the nature of the American public’s fascination with the serial killer superstar (Schmid 123). Natural Born Killers is a film that exposes modern society’s obsession with serial killers and how the media aids in the glorifying of these notorious icons. The film also plays into the f act that society while finding murder repulsive are just as sick as the serial killers because the enjoy watching such films. In Natural Born Killers, Mickey and Mallory the main characters kill 52 people before being caught and imprisoned. Prior to the arrest, the manhunt for them has gained them celebrity and half of the country if not the world are rooting for their triumphant escape form the law. Though their clean getaway is shattered by imprisonment their celebrity persists. When they do break out of prison, in the midst of a riot, their escape is filmed live by the host of a true-crime program. Naturally Born Killers gets most of its message across visually as all films do. By making use of animation, colored filters, a variety of different types of film stock, in both col... ... the satisfaction of a dual and related curiosity on the part of the spectator about celebrities and killers, but this satisfaction can come about only if these films can discipline effectively the unstable structures of identification they generate (Shmid 113). While it seems that Oliver Stone’s mission is to bring a satirical eye-opener to the its audience while exploring an underlying theme of obsession with murder, the audience looks their own inner demons, while examining their own morals as well. And just as an obsession with murder would exude, it has been found that Natural Born Killers has been implicated in 15 murder cases, with the most infamous being the murders of four people in Paris by Florence Ray and Audry Maupin, and in the United States the killing of William Savage and injury of Patsy Ann Byers by Sarah Edmondson and Benjamin Darras (Young 6). Natural Born Killers Essay -- Film Review, Classic, Oliver Stone Oliver Stone’s 1994 classic, Natural Born Killers, excited and traumatized its audiences while also causing controversy. The tale of white trash lovers caught up in a realm of chaos that includes a continuous murderous rampage from state to state, draws in audiences with its graphic violence and riveting pulse inducing music. Yet, the message of this film seems to be much deeper than just exposing audiences to yet another chaotic action movie filled with guns, blood and mayhem. Stone’s Natural Born Killers examines the subject of media’s investment in serial murder very thoroughly, and so it seems likely that it has the potential to offer a more rigorous interrogation of the nature of the American public’s fascination with the serial killer superstar (Schmid 123). Natural Born Killers is a film that exposes modern society’s obsession with serial killers and how the media aids in the glorifying of these notorious icons. The film also plays into the f act that society while finding murder repulsive are just as sick as the serial killers because the enjoy watching such films. In Natural Born Killers, Mickey and Mallory the main characters kill 52 people before being caught and imprisoned. Prior to the arrest, the manhunt for them has gained them celebrity and half of the country if not the world are rooting for their triumphant escape form the law. Though their clean getaway is shattered by imprisonment their celebrity persists. When they do break out of prison, in the midst of a riot, their escape is filmed live by the host of a true-crime program. Naturally Born Killers gets most of its message across visually as all films do. By making use of animation, colored filters, a variety of different types of film stock, in both col... ... the satisfaction of a dual and related curiosity on the part of the spectator about celebrities and killers, but this satisfaction can come about only if these films can discipline effectively the unstable structures of identification they generate (Shmid 113). While it seems that Oliver Stone’s mission is to bring a satirical eye-opener to the its audience while exploring an underlying theme of obsession with murder, the audience looks their own inner demons, while examining their own morals as well. And just as an obsession with murder would exude, it has been found that Natural Born Killers has been implicated in 15 murder cases, with the most infamous being the murders of four people in Paris by Florence Ray and Audry Maupin, and in the United States the killing of William Savage and injury of Patsy Ann Byers by Sarah Edmondson and Benjamin Darras (Young 6).

Globalization More Poweful Force Than Localization Essay -- Globalizati

Kofi Annan, a UN diplomat, once said, â€Å"...that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity.† Globalization and localization are two terms used to describe policies a government would take on dealing with its ideals. Globalization and localization are almost opposite concepts but can coexist. Countries must decide how they will approach their situation in an integrated global economy and integrated cultural surrounding. In this paper, I plan to discuss what globalization and localization are and discuss some of the costs and benefits associated with each. I will use the reading by James N. Rosenau, "The Complexities and Contradictions of Globalization, to discuss globalization and localization in international politics. Globalization deals with the spread of ideas relating to peoples, activities, norms, ideas, goods, services, and currency that are confined to a specific geographical place and its established norms. It is something that is changing these set norms of activities and concerns of a society that have long served as the foundation of a certain way of life. Globalization indicates moving away from a set standard in the fields of political, economic, and political ways of life. Rosenau puts it as "a transformation of practices and norms". So globalization is more of a process than a "prevailing condition or a desirable end state". The aspirations for a particular state is something different, it is globalism. Localization is a term used to describe those factors that cause a nation, an ... ...things but secondary to the positive gains of globalization. The things gained by globalization help keep a nation economically and politically stable or more so than if localization was practiced. This was illustrated through the two New York Times articles. Though there is a lean towards globalization, Rosenau believes that both globalization and localization can coexist. As he put it, "for globalizing and localizing tendencies to accommodate each other, individuals have to come to appreciate that they can achieve psychic comfort in collectivities through multiple memberships and multiple loyalties, that they can advance both local and global values without either detracting from the other". He does believe this coexistence is possible and almost inevitable so he says that it is all about how well a nation can wok with both of them and make them work efficiently.

Investment Banking

Investment Banking in 2008 Group Report 1. Failure Analysis: Identify the major factors that contributed to Bear Stearns’s failure? Who stood to benefit from its implosion? How did Bear Stearns’s collapse differ from the ‘Long Term Capital Management’ failure a decade earlier? What could Bear Stearns have done differently to avoid this fate? In the early 2000’s? And during the summer of 2007? And during the week of March 10, 2008? (1) Identify the major factors that contributed to Bear Stearns’s failure? Bear’s somewhat cutthroat and renegade culture of maverick may have contributed a lot to their failure.This culture somehow made it killed by the credit crisis, while other investment banks survived. But the direct factors resulted in Bear’s implosion were the failure of Ralph Cioffi’s High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund and Enhanced Leverage High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund, which invested in sophisti cated credit derivatives backed by mortgage securities. And these failures cost Bear more than 1. 6 billion dollars to prop up two hedge funds. And the failures of two hedge funds led to a continuous questioning about Bear’s financial stability.At the same time, Bear concentrated its business on CDOs, which means it had high exposure to this item. Thus when credit crisis happened, it is significantly impacted. And in early 2008, Moody’s downgraded 163 tranches of mortgage backed bonds issued by Bear. Almost everyone realized that Bear will face liquidity problem. But meanwhile, Bear highly relied on repo to finance itself. When lender lost confidence in Bear, it failed in finding another effective way to find cash. In sum, the reasons above contributed to the failure of Bear in 2008 crisis. (2) Who stood to benefit from its implosion?JP Morgan is the beneficiary from Bear’s bankruptcy. It gained a company which had $172. 61 worth less than 8 months ago with an i ncredible low price of $10 a share. (3) How did Bear Stearns’s collapse differ from the ‘Long Term Capital Management’ failure a decade earlier? The origin in LTCM’s failure was the high-leveraged structure. It obtained excessive debt for the investment of the bonds. Simultaneously, the market capacity was not sufficient to support LTCM’s large bloated size. As time had gone, market competition and capacity diminished its profitability.But with such a high leverage, LTCM had no other choice but to gain enough profit to move on. Therefore, they got a foot into some unfamiliar area. Meanwhile, as to the trading strategy, LTCM held a large quantity of asset with low liquidity. However, situation was different from what they had predicted. Big loss happened eventually, but LTCM could not sell asset for enough cash. It inevitably had to go bankruptcy. High leverage structure of Bear’s hedge fund also had great impact on its collapse. But the awful strategy of Bear’s management should blame most for its bankruptcy.If it was in a less turbulent environment, things might be different. Continual bad news about Bear from executives’ unmannered behavior to its first quarterly loss since foundation ruined the confidence of investors. And another difference in the failure of both was that Bear mainly died of market failure. When the whole market was fear of the loss of subprime asset, the large subprime assets holding companies such as Bear Stearns, could not avoid a fate of great loss and liquidity problem. (4) What could Bear Stearns have done differently to avoid this fate?In the early 2000’s? As an investment bank, Bear was just in pursuit of the return while underestimated the potential aftermath of being too risky. Most of its profit was composed of fixed income securities. Meanwhile, Bear should not let each hedge fund manager just specialize in a particular security to make volatility. It is obvious that Bear’s risk management had significant flaw. Furthermore, since the over-confident Bear was desperate for the incredible return, it was not attentive to such supernormal growth of the housing price.They should not just concentrate on CDOs without also devoting their asset in other business, as diversification is so important for a firm. But it may not happen, since Bear was not less greed than the surrounding. And during the summer of 2007? If Bear realized the market could not be defeated, they should have controlled Cioffi’s risky action of raising new hedge fund with a higher leverage. Conversely, they should liquidate the fund. If the liquidation was performed, they should not have lost such great amount in this worthless fund.And meanwhile it began to try to search for cash to finance itself. Except those worthless ‘toxic assets’, Bear still had some assets, which could provide it some cash flow. If Bear sold these assets earlier with determination, they might not sink in liquidity problem so deeply. And during the week of March 10, 2008? After Bear was downgraded by Moody, market had lost confidence in it. Almost everyone realized bear’s liquidity problem. When pointed out to have liquidity problems, Bear’s executives should realize the severity of the crisis rather than believing the worst was once again behind them.Even though they could not recover from the difficulty, prime actions could be taken, including exposing the reality to the market, reassuring the investors, making urgent strategies, applying for emergent aids from the Fed, and applying for temporary held in stock trading. 2. Liquidity Crisis and Business Model of Investment Banks: What is the role of Liquidity for banking and investing banking firms? Is perception of Liquidity more important for a banking/investment banking firm than manufacturing firms (such as Ford or Boeing)? Why?What could Bear Stearns have done to address its Liquidity concern s, which initiated the run on the bank? Looking back, what lessons can we infer from Bear Stearns’s failure regarding the business model of investment banks? Looking forward is the concept of ‘pure-play’ investment banks sustainable? (1) What’s the role of liquidity for banking and investing banking firms? Liquidity can reveal the untrue existence of cash (and cash equivalents), short-term investments, accounts receivable and accounts payable, etc. To which extent it lives up to the real condition.It measures whether the bank’s business is legal, reasonable and whether the financial status is promptly and properly reflected on the financial reports. Liquidity risk is also important. It values the repayment of debt and reminds the board of the corporation’s risk at any time. Managing liquidity is a daily process requiring bankers to monitor and project cash flows to ensure that adequate liquidity is maintained. The investment portfolio serves as the primary source of liquidity and represents a smaller portion of assets. Investment securities can be liquidated to satisfy deposit withdrawals and increased loan demand. 2) Is perception of Liquidity more important for a banking/investment banking firm than manufacturing firms (such as Ford or Boeing)? Why? Yes. The main sources of funding for commercial banks are deposit, interbank borrowings, commercial banks deposits, the international money market borrowings and the issuance of financial bonds, among which the short-term deposit accounts for the vast majority of the proportion. However, these funds are primarily used for commercial loans, discounting business, securities investment, etc. These higher profitability and long-term loans account for the absolute proportion in the composition of assets.This mismatch between assets and liabilities makes the liquidity of assets very important in banks’ operation. Since when sudden changes occurred in the market, a large n umber of customers will be forced to perform withdrawal, therefore the bank will be very difficult to realize its assets and to meet its liquidity needs. In some sense, it is similar for the investment banks. The difference is just that they do not raise money from retail depositors; most of the money is funded in the interbank market and is used to hold illiquid mortgage backed securities.Once banks were not able to provide funding for business, a banking contagion will occur and spread. A traditional manufacturing business is generally funded by equity or long-term debt and has steady cash flows from business operations. Even in the case of a collapse of such businesses, it would not have the same contagion effect as banks. (3) What could Bear Stearns have done to address its Liquidity concerns, which initiated the run on the bank? 1. The basis of the modern financial system is not physical assets, but people’s confidence in this system.Actually when the rumor of BSC runnin g out of cash was widely spread, BSC was forced to make a public announcement to ensure the public that their financial situation was solid and their liquidity was sufficient. Unfortunately, BSC did not take valid action or provide strong evidence such as strengthen its financial sheets or reducing leverage to convince investors. The board should pay more attention to the operation of the corporate rather than participate in a bridge tournament. 2. BSC could reduce leverage by selling their risky assets to generate cash during a period of financial stress.They should maintain enough reserves in the form of short-term instruments of the highest credit quality to meet the obligation. So an amount of funds should be invested only in instruments that have guaranteed liquidity, like treasury instruments. 3. Bear Stearns, three-quarters of whose revenue was still dependent on the market (see the source below), should adopt diversification strategy to find a real alternative to business an d improve its finance. The plans could be accelerate the development in other countries and diversified business, including equities, investment banking and asset management businesses.Source: http://finance. sina. com. cn/money/future/20080403/09024705325. shtml (4) What lessons can we infer from Bear Stearns’s failure regarding the business model of investment banks? Diversification of the investment is the foremost thing to consider for any matured investor. Investing heavily into one company, one industry, or having only one investment strategy is unadoptable. You are banking for speculation that one company or industry will always do well. But in fact, it is hardly possible to be in perfect condition at any time.You must make your investment portfolio diversified. Maybe an element of international stocks can be added into the portfolio. When the U. S. market is unprofitable, it still has the chance to get profits from Asia and Europe so as to keep the portfolio solid. So metimes high leverage can kill a firm. In March 2008, Bear owned tangible equity capital of about $11 billions versus total assets of $395 billions—a leverage ratio of 36. For several years, this reckless financing bring the company a profit margin of about one third and a return on equity of twenty percent.However, when the market endured a sharp downturn, Bear lose a lot of capital and willing creditors. During the ensuing months, the same story was to be played out at scores of other banks and non-banks. (5) Looking forward is the concept of ‘pure-play† investment banks sustainable? The performance of a pure-play investment bank can be highly influenced by the type of investing style which targets at it. For instance, if a pure-play bank's business is favored by growth investing, the company will do well during a bull market, where growth stocks tend to outperform the market.Conversely, a pure-play bank associated with growth investing will do poorly during bea r market, when a value investing strategy is historically more profitable. What’s more, the pure-play investment banks have relied heavily on short-term capital, especially repo transactions in which counterparties take collateral as security against the cash they lend. As public companies, pure-play banks faced pressure to deliver return on equity comparable to that of universal banks, even as those banks put competitive pressure on traditional advisory businesses such as M;A, underwriting, and sales and trading.In response, pure-play banks resorted to the two advantages they had over non-depository institutions: unlimited, unregulated leverage capacity, and increasing reliance on proprietary trading to deliver earnings. 3. Systemic Banking Crisis and Regulation: What is a â€Å"systemic banking crisis†? What is ‘banking contagion†? What was the rationale for the creation of ‘fire-wall’ of separation between investment banking and commercial b anking in USA that was institutionalized by the Banking Act of 1933? Why did the regulators weaken and phase out that ‘fire-wall of separation’ in 1990s?Identify the major Deregulatory Acts and its role in the meltdown of the investment banking industry? In your opinion, based on lessons from past global banking crisis, what steps should regulators institute now to address similar future problems? (1) What is a â€Å"systemic banking crisis†? Systemic banking crisis refers to the crisis detrimental to the whole financial system. It is the fatal chaos that several disastrous crises occur simultaneously, such as monetary crisis, banking system crisis, foreign-debt crisis, etc.The crisis expands from one financial market to another. For example, from the stock market to the real estate market or foreign-trade market, etc. (2) What is ‘banking contagion†? Banking contagion refers to a scenario where the banks, which initially affected by some crisis sprea d to the other banks even the other countries whose economy is previously healthy. In this scenario, the expansion could be very quick and disastrous. The international spread might cause the whole banking system to be paralyzed and need another several more years for recovery. 3) What was the rationale for the creation of ‘fire-wall’ of separation between investment banking and commercial banking in USA that was institutionalized by the Banking Act of 1933? There are 3 major factors. 1. Risk of losses (safety and soundness). Banks that engaged in underwriting and holding corporate securities and municipal revenue bonds presented significant risk of loss to depositors and the federal government that had to come to their rescue; they were also more subject to failure with a resulting loss of public confidence in the banking system and greater risk of financial system collapse. . Conflicts of interest and other abuses. Banks that offer investment banking services and mutu al funds were subject to conflicts of interest and other abuses, thereby resulting in the harm to their customers, including borrowers, depositors, and correspondent banks. 3. Improper banking activities. Even if there were no actual abuses, securities-related activities are contrary to the way banking ought to be conducted.The Act prohibited the combination of a depository institution, such as that, commercial banks (those that accept deposits) were prohibited from engaging in most investment banking activities, including underwriting and selling securities, and from affiliating with investment banks and other companies â€Å"engaged principally† in the trading of securities. Likewise, investment banks were barred from accepting deposits. (4) Why did the regulators weaken and phase out that ‘fire-wall of separation’ in 1990s? Inspired by a desire to make U. S. nvestment banks competitive with foreign deposit-taking investment banks such as UBS, Deutsche Bank, an d Credit Suisse First Boston, a Republican Congress and President Clinton passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act in 1999, permitting insurance companies, investment banks, and commercial banks to compete on equal footing across products and markets. (5) Identify the major Deregulatory Acts and its role in the meltdown of the investment banking industry? 1999–Glass-Steagall Act Fell The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 had larger ramifications than any other steps in deregulation.Repealing this act made it possible for investment banks to be savings and loan banks and to receive to the same government protections as savings and loan banks. An investment bank could make investments with people's savings, sometimes irresponsibly, and those investments now were guaranteed by the federal government. 1988–Securitization In 1988, securitization, or repackaging assets as a financial instrument to sell to investors, became legal. Banks were a llowed to sell their mortgages to SPVs. Mortgages were no longer being made to hold but to sell, and lending requirements became substantially more lenient.This created a combination of bad loans and banks without the funds to back them up. 2004–SEC In 2004, the SEC abolished the â€Å"net capital† rule, which restricted the amount of debt their brokerage units could take on-demonstrated this growing appetite for leverage. This led investment banks to leverage themselves at a financially irresponsible 30 to 1 percent, meaning that for every $1 they had on hand they had $30 in debt. When some of these investments collapsed, the banks did not have the ready capital to maintain their companies. Ultimately, increased leverage and proprietary trading ravaged the nvestment banking industry, leading to the collapse, merge, or restructure of all 5 major pure-play banks on Wall Street. This time, the SEC took the unprecedented step of temporarily banning short sales of financia l institution stocks. The ban caused massive losses in hedge fund portfolios and dissuaded them from making additional investments, denying would-be issuers access to needed capital. Moreover, the SEC placed a ban on so-called ‘naked’ shorting, which reduced the total amount of short interest that could accumulate in a stock. 6) In your opinion, based on lessons from past global banking crisis, what steps should regulators institute now to address similar future problems? 1. The regulations should be placed on the fundamental part of economy. For example, when there seems to have bubbles in one field, the Fed should not ignore. It should adjust the policy towards the industry to change the unbalanced situation. 2. To fortify the risk awareness continuously in traders’ mind, especially those who control the wealth of millions of people. Their behaviors might have huge influence to the market and the profitability of the firms. 3.The Fed should research for adjustm ent for investors from the market of different systems to ensure that obstacles will not exist in multinational trades. Meanwhile, policies of staying resistant to exterior crisis should be prepared in case of the explosion of crisis. 4. Federal Bailout and Public Policy: Why did the Federal Reserve bail-out Bear Stearns? Why was Lehman Brothers allowed to collapse while Bear Stearns was not? Is the Fed orchestrated sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America the optimal solution for addressing the crisis? Could Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have survived with out becoming bank holding companies?In your view, what public policy role should the Federal Reserve play in maintaining sustainability in global banking and stability securities markets? Why was there such a public out-cry against the bailout of Wall Street investment banks? Based on this recent performance how would you rate the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis? (1) Why did the Federal Reserve bail-o ut Bear Stearns? If Bear went bankruptcy, it would affect other firms in Wall Street as well, since Bear was a market leader in prime brokerage and clearing who provided trading and back-end services to many other Wall Street financial institutions.Most customer asset would get frozen in the event of bankruptcy, and many hedge funds had collateral in the firm. Because of Bear’s holding of 13 trillion credit default swaps, the collapse of Bear would influence many other companies, which means too big to fail at that time. However, the Fed didn’t forecast that this kind of matter will happen again. The Fed Reserve bailed out Bear Sterns just to avert crisis and dissuade further irresponsible risk-seeking. The bailout benefited Wall Street at the expense of Main Street and the low share price was to discourage banks from taking on similar risk. 2) Why was Lehman Brothers allowed to collapse while Bear Stearns was not? The decision to let Lehman Brothers fail was largely m ade by then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the British Financial Services Authority. The public outcry over the taxpayer assumption of $29 billion in potential Bear losses made repeating such a move politically untenable. Therefore, the Fed refused to back Lehman’s liabilities and backstop losses from Lehman’s toxic mortgage holdings. Moreover, Barclay’s quitted the acquisition, worrying that it could not be satisfied with the timely shareholder approval, which directly led to the collapse of Lehman.The Fed also wanted to set it as an example, to let other company to know that not every time the government will come out to bail out the company, so they will have deliberate consideration repeatedly before making all kinds of risky investments. (3) Is the Fed orchestrated sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America the optimal solution for addressing the crisis? No. This transaction doubled the investment banking size of Bank of America. Furthermore, it exposed Bank of America to mortgage-backed securities, which had negative impact on the long-term credit rating of the bank.This transaction could not prevent the occurrence of another such case like Merrill Lynch’s, and this behavior could not bring unforgettable lesson to other banks. (4) Could Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have survived without becoming bank holding companies? No. According to the research, Goldman Sachs was a major beneficiary of the government’s bailout of the financial services industry, not only through AIG but also through its ability to fall under the regulatory umbrella as a bank holding company, which made it eligible for debt guarantees and other government backstops.Every financial services company on the earth wanted to become a bank and line up for the handouts coming from Washington such as American Express, GE Capital, and GMAC. Even Willem Buiter, a former central banker, wanted to become a bank. Goldman was in a more precarious position than bank holding companies because of the vulnerabilities of being a broker-dealer. Nouriel Roubini warned repeatedly before Lehman’s collapse that the large full services broker-dealer model was broken. (5) In your view, what public policy role should the Federal Reserve play in maintaining sustainability in global banking and stability securities markets?From the lesson of subprime housing crisis, we think the Federal Reserve should control the capital, but without influencing the supply and demand. Since this crisis was created by those bad loans, the government’s control would limit people to invest on housing market, and somehow be better for people who are really in need of a place to stay. Furthermore, we have several pieces of advice to the Fed, besides in housing matters: a) Regulate the gross domestic and international banking environment. b) Reinforce the supervision over the risk control of investment banks. ) Restrict the expansion of any potential crisis once any symbol occurs. d) Do best to avoid the asymmetric information in the market. e) Ensure a fair and open environment for trading. (6) Why was there such a public out-cry against the bailout of Wall Street investment banks? People’s being against to government’s bailout the Wall Street had 2 main reasons. First, people believed Wall Street got this mess by themselves and they should be the one to clean it up, rather than that the government used tax payer money to save the Wall Street.They thought this was not fair, because this kind of action would increase the US government’s debt, and tax payer would have to pay more tax in the future to cover this debt. This debt may take a long time to be recovered. Second, when the government did get involved in the Wall Street crisis, the free market would not exist anymore, and next time if any firm had problem, they would ask the government to save them, which would totally be against the American economic policy , and belief. 7) Based on this recent performance how would you rate the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis? Based on the recent performance, we think they had done what they had to do, but we think they should let the economic fail, based on the free market of American. They should let the invisible hand control the market, and the market should flow freely by itself. It will come back up, however long it takes. Now the government is using the tax payer’s money to cover Wall Street crisis, which actually is not fair.

Globe Telecom Essay

I. INTRODUCTION Globe Telecom (PSE: GLO), commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. Formed out of a partnership between Ayala Corporation and Singapore Telecom, the company operates one of the largest and most technologically advanced mobile, fixed line, and broadband networks in the country, and maintains a large distributor and over-the-air reload network of retailers, distributors, suppliers, and business partners nationwide. In 1928, Congress passed Act No. 3495 granting the Robert Dollar Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of California, a franchise to operate wireless long-distance message services in the Philippines. The Robert Dollar Company subsequently incorporated in the Philippines as Globe Wireless Limited and in 1934, Congress passed Act No. 4150 transferring the franchise and privileges of the Robert Dollar Company to Globe Wireless Limited. Globe Wireless Limited was subsequently renamed G lobe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation. Congress, through Republic Act 4630 enacted in 1965, further expanded its franchise to allow it to operate international communications systems. Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation was closed in the Philippines by Martial law. Shortly before the expiration of its franchise, the Batasan Pambansa in 1980 enacted Batas Pambansa 95 granting Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation a new franchise. In 2013 Globe Telecom open its new corporate headquarters in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) (Formerly Located In Pioneer Highlands InMandaluyong City) last August 6, 2013. To mark its arrival in BGC, a part of the commercial hub (known as Bonificio High Street) was turned into an amusement park in August 2–4, 2013. As of December 2013, Globe Telecom has a total of 14,952 base stations and 9,012 cell sites nationwide to support its 2G, 3G, 4G HSPA+, LTE and WiMAX services. The Globe Telecom Headquarters at 32nd Street in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, II. STRATEGIC PLATFORM A. Vision Globe is indispensable to people’s lives- We provide our customers with superior experience, We are center of excellence for innovation wolrdwide, We create a rewarding environment where people strive for excellence and grow, We attract people who are innovative, passionate and result-oriented, We create superior value to our shareholders We make great things possible. B. Mission Transform the lives of people, businesses and communities through innovative solutions. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT METHODOLOGY a. SHAREHOLDERS Attractive Dividend Yield For Shareholders Globe Telecom’s sustained revenue momentum and improved market position were reflected in the financial valuation metrics. The company’s market capitalization remained relatively steady at â‚ ±144.6 billion by the end of 2012. Globe likewise maintained an attractive dividend yield of 5.8%. Globe paid dividends totaling â‚ ±8.6 billion in 2012, representing a pay-out rate of 86% of 2011 core net income. This is consistent with its recently updated dividend pay-out policy of distributing 75% to 90% of prior year’s core net income. Continued Commitment To Creating Shared Value For All Stakeholders In addition to our commitment to ensure the sustainability of our core business, we continue to develop opportunities in adjacent spaces. In the area of mobile banking and microfinance, under BPI Globe BanKO Inc. (BanKO), (our mobile microfinance joint venture with Ayala Corporation and the Bank of the Philippine Islands) Globe’s mobile money platform and BPIà ¢â‚¬â„¢s banking infrastructure combined to deliver affordable microfinance services to the unbanked segments of the population. Through 2012, BanKO has continued to expand its network of partner outlets, which today number 2,000. Its wholesale loan portfolio has grown to more than â‚ ±2.4 billion, spread across microfinance institutions, including non-government organizations, rural  banks, cooperatives and financing companies. Within two years of operations, BanKO has gained over 261,000 retail customers and increased its retail loan portfolio nine-fold. Business Incubator Program Another pioneering initiative by Globe is the launch of its business incubator program through Kickstart Ventures, Inc. (Kickstart). Designed to support and develop the Philippines’ dynamic and growing technopreneur community, Kickstart is envisioned to provide aspiring technopreneurs with needed funds, facilities, infrastructure, mentorship and market access to build new businesses. By providing the tools needed to build and test ideas, by providing seed funding, and by providing training and mentorship as well as connecting technopreneurs with partner companies within the Globe, Singtel, and Ayala networks in the Philippines and abroad, Kickstart provides selected startups increased chances to succeed and scale faster. Since its launch last April 2012, Kickstart already has 10 companies in its portfolio covering the digital media and technology, and web/mobile platform space. b. EMPLOYEES A. Employment Diversity Globe Telecom believes in the potential of the Filipino workforce. That is why the company welcomes every employee regardless of gender, age, religion or ethnicity. Any form of discrimination is never acceptable and embracing every unique worker is part of the company’s philosophy. Currently, Globe employs close to 6,000 male and female workers from staff to senior management levels. The table below shows the summary of the company’s total workforce by employment type, contract and region. B. Employee Remuneration The lowest actual salary of Globe Telecom employees covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is 15% above the minimum wage mandated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). As per ratio of basic salary, male employees have a slightly higher rate compared to female employees due to the varied responsibilities undertaken by male employees compared to female employees. however there is no discrimination for a given job profile  based on the gender. The variance in comparative salary is due to the varying job profile undertaken by male and female employees. a. Employee Benefits b. Employee Health And Safety Affirming its commitment to quality health and safety practices in the workplace, Globe obtained an Occupational health and Safety Management System (OhSAS) 18001 certification for the Valero Telepark. Steps are being undertaken for other Globe Telecom locations which aim to achieve the OhSAS certification. To strengthen ensure employee health and safety, the company employs a dedicated health and safety committee. 10.06% of the Globe workforce provides hands-on commitment on health and safety practices covering all areas – nationwide in areas where Globe Telecom operates. For the year 2012, 5.04% employee accident rate was recorded, mostly due to vehicle driving-related incidents. however, no fatalities causing death or permanent disability were recorded. In order to minimize these incidents, the company conducts several trainings and awareness programs for the relevant employees, on safe driving and fuel economy. 1. Defensive Driving Course 2. Construction Safety 3. Confined Space Entry 4. Electrical Safety 5. Industrial First Aid and Basic Life Support 6. Industrial Climbing, hauling & Rope Access Guaranteeing employee safety and security, qualified licensed security guards are hired by Globe to provide protection in case of uncontrolled events. Globe ensures all security staff undergoes trainings every three years. This includes a two-day course on RA 5487 – Private Security Agency Law which discusses professional conduct and ethics that must be performed by the security. Laws on arrests, searches, seizures, strike and lock-outs are also tackled. Furthermore, a one-day course on RA 9372 – human Security Act of 2007 is also undertaken, as well as a half-day course on Gender Sensitivity Awareness. C. Strategic Objectives A. PROFITABILITY B. PRODUCTIVITY C. COMPETITIVE POSITION a. Faster and Better Network Business In 2011, in line with the vision of a differentiated customer experience, Globe shifted beyond the regular Customer Satisfaction mindset and created the total customer experience, which would allow the company to engage not only its customers but also the employees and shareholders who are at the forefront of Globe Telecom’s priorities. Faster customer service feedback was put in place truly making the customers satisfied with the improved modifications. The company’s commercial transformation in the year 2012 focused on changing the very foundations of its back office systems, including the corporate support and internal processes. By allowing changes to ripple out from within, the customers and stakeholders could see past the change in the faà §ade and overall ambiance of its stores. The customers can actually experience the difference with each transaction and interaction in every Globe Store. The company’s strength is its dynamism and boldness to ch ange for its customers, employees and shareholders. In order to fully become a catalyst of change, Globe understands its need to be relentless in the quest for excellence and continuously transforming the company from within. In 2012, Globe continued with the transformation programs under the 5-pillar transformation plan which was started in 2011. b. Network As an innovator in the telecommunications industry, a constant part of Globe Telecom’s transformation includes the continuous development of the network. Invested a total of $700M for its network modernization program which envisioned delivering faster and unparalleled customer experience in the country while positioning itself as the leader and one of the best telecommunications providers in Asia. People have started to rely more and more on social networking to stay connected. Also, with the growing number of smartphone users, Globe saw the need to future-proof the network to accommodate the constant increase in network traffic especially on data. Phase 1 of the Network Transformation is the upgrading of the network system’s access portion. The company replaced the old hardware and technology in its cellular sites, power sources, base stations and switches allowing the access portion to become more powerful and energy-efficient. At the end of 2012, Globe was able to modernize more than 80% of its cellular sites and upgrade its network system nationwide. Starting within the National Capital Region (NCR), Makati City, being the country’s premier business area, significantly benefitted from the network transformation. The network development coverage includes key locations of the city and are now enjoying stronger Globe signal. Aside from Makati, other areas such as Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela (CAMANAVA), Marikina, Manila, San Juan and Mandaluyong were completed in the last quarter of 2012. Taguig, Pasig, Paranaque, Pasay, Las Pià ±as and Pateros followed after. In the Visayas region, Cebu took the lead in equipment modernization. Other Visayan key provinces lined-up for the transformation are Leyte, Samar, Bohol, Iloilo and Roxas, consecutively. Meanwhile in the Mindanao region, the major modernization took place in Davao as well as in Zamboanga and Misamis Oriental. Improved mobile connectivity was achieved through the modernized facilities. Improvements for the province of Sulu, cities of Surigao and Butuan were carried out during the last quarter of 2012 and in Agusan del Sur by early 2013. In addition to the upgrades, Globe installed more resilient fiber optic cables in more areas to serve more customers and greatly improve voice and text messaging quality as well as provide faster internet services. An installation of a submarine cable in Boracay was also completed and the same facility is being worked on in Palawan, which is due for completion during the first quarter of 2013.All in all, the nationwide improvements allowed  clearer voice call quality, easier connection, on-time delivery of text messages and faster mobile surfing and downloading. Globe has successfully upgraded 4,000 cell sites to 4G – LTE, hSPA+ and WIMAX providing better network experience to 91% of its customers. As the transformation program continues to take place in the year 2013, Globe would be able to provide greater network availability, impressive quality on voice calls, instantaneous delivery of SMS, improved call set-up rates and faster browsing with minimal buffering of multimedia content to every Filipino mobile user. D. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT GROW AT GLOBE Globe continues to invest in its people through various professional training and development activities. Globe follows a 70/20/10 Development Plan – 70 % of the learning occurs on-the-job, 20% from others and 10% from formal training. The 70% on-the-job experience includes the regular employee tasks based on their office function. Others are their committee participation, customer immersion and job rotation. Meanwhile for the 20% learning from others, the development comes through the coaching or mentoring of the immediate superiors and other colleagues. Job shadowing and observation also help as well as knowledge transfer from other professionals and consultants. Last but not least, the 10% formal training and learning is expanded through the offered training programs and courses offered by Globe. A. Integrated Leadership Development Programs a. iLeadGlobe iLeadGlobe aims to develop key talents into future leaders who role-model the Globe Way and practice the 7 Globe Leadership Competencies, namely, customer orientation, people orientation, personal values, entrepreneurial mindset, execution excellence, innovation and strategic thinking. The programs are all highly selective with eligibility criteria relevant to the participants that are handpicked by the Senior Leadership Team through a stringent talent review and nomination process. The series of trainings include the Executive Development Program (for the next generation of senior leaders), Fast Tracker Program (for the mid-career talents) and Young Leaders Program (for emerging talents). b. University Partnerships Globe Telecom partnered with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and the Ateneo de Manila – Center for Continuing Education and opened programs for the employees who are interested to develop their leadership and management skills the Globe way. The series of trainings include the Globe-AIM Management Development Program (for managers who aspire to hone and apply management skills), Globe-Ateneo Empowering Leader program (for mid-career to seasoned career employee who has the potential of a Globe Leader) and the Globe-Ateneo Emerging Leader Program (for junior leaders with the potential of evolving as a Globe Leader). To date, more training are being developed by Globe to ensure coverage and eligibility of all employees and grant them more learning and knowledge to future-proof their careers. Course descriptions for Sales and Marketing Academies are presently under development at the time of production of this report. c. Junior Mobile Wizard The Junior Mobile Wizard Program is a one-month summer program offered to Globe employees’ high school children, providing them the opportunity to better understand the Philippine telecommunications industry. Pioneered in 2012, 18 high school students joined the program to assist in selected Globe concept stores in Metro Manila. They were tasked to demo the latest gadgets and mobile data services, as well as sell other Globe offers and services. d. Graduate 2 Globe Graduate 2 Globe (G2G) Program is a development program for high potential, future talents of Globe in partnership with top colleges and universities. Activities include the Get-to- know-Globe (Company Orientation), Singtel Undergraduate Scholarship, Globe Summer Internship and Post Graduate Internship Program, Cadetship and Management Development Program. e. Customer First Circle (CFC) Program Customer First Circle is a continuous improvement program that ultimately  aims to foster and create a customer-centric culture within Globe. In order to achieve this, CFC uses the Lean Six Sigma Methodology as a vehicle to drive down cost, improve customer experience and increase revenue. To date there has been over a thousand employees participating actively with over a hundred projects and billions of financial benefit. B. TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP C. PUBLIC RESPONSIBILITY Globe Telecom continues to aspire growth in all facets of the business but at the same time in fully taking care of the planet. The efforts to minimize impacts persist through the Environmental Management System being implemented in the workplace. The system already began in 2011 for the Valero Telepark office as certified by the ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) while certification of GT-IT Plaza in Cebu started in 2012 with completion in 2014. Such initiatives and environmental system in place contribute to a greener and more sustainable Globe Telecom. a. Environmental Sustainability Policy We are committed to promote environmental sustainability by reducing the impact of our business operations to environment and we shall achieve this together with the help of our employees, business partners and clients. We have robust systems in place to manage our environment impact and integrate them into our corporate social responsibility management. We commit to: †¢ Consciously move towards the continuous reduction of our ecological footprints from our operations. Where possible, we will move beyond regularly compliance and apply best practices and global voluntary standards on environmental and social responsibility. †¢ Manage emissions from our energy use, particularly to our networks and ensure that we carry out regular assessments on how energy is consumed within our network to monitor our climate impact and identify opportunities to reduce it. †¢ Comply with all environmental laws and other laws relevant to our business. †¢ Encourage and train our employees and business partners to help us reduce our environment impact by communicating our policies and programs. †¢ Partner with organizations which share the same environmental values and  find ways of cooperation to protect the environment. †¢ Conduct a review of our environmental management system to ensure that the commitment of this policy are delivered and that we strive for continuous improvement. †¢ Report our environmental performance to our stakeholders. b. Globe telecom Environmental Strategy c. Globe Brigding Communities Globe BridgeCom Pillars 1. i-Prosper The i-Prosper program works with social enterprises and micro-entrepreneurs to establish sustainable forms of livelihood for bottom of the pyramid (BOP) sectors nationwide. Applying the same philosophy of Globe Telecom’s triple bottom-line approach of doing business, the program aims to introduce socially responsible income- generating opportunities for the entrepreneurial poor through capacity development, provision of capital and market access. 2. i-Lead The i-Lead pillar is dedicated to the establishment of peaceful, orderly and progressive communities through the advancement of good governance and excellence in public service. It aims to promote accountability, transparency and increase one’s participation in governance through infrastructure support capacity development. More importantly, the program intends to empower barangay officials and the youth to become transformational leaders and active citizens. 3. i-Conserve i-Conserve is the environmental protection and sustainability pillar of the Globe Bridging Communities, a strategic venture to characterize the commitment of Globe to business and environmental sustainability through the use of its ICT competencies. 4. i-Access The i-Access pillar supports a portfolio of programs harnessing mobile and broadband technologies to improve access to and delivery of social services to help national government agencies, local government units and other development players achieve equitable and responsive delivery of mandates to citizens and disadvantaged communities through sustainable and relevant ICT-enabled content and technology solutions. 5. i-Give The program aims to mobilize Globe employees to be active citizens through volunteerism, whereby its employees are encouraged and supported to volunteer during relief operations, fundraising for Globe Bridging Communities projects, and mentoring the youth, teachers, micro-entrepreneurs, barangay leaders and other non- government organizations. Globe BridgeCom Projects Sagot Ka ni Kap! The â€Å"Sagot Ka ni Kap!† program hinges on the core business and competencies of Globe Telecom—mobile communication and broadband services. More than just equipping the community watch volunteers with mobile phones and hand-held radios, Globe also provides capacity-building workshops designed to inspire and enable them to be more proactive in community development. The workshop includes modules on community leadership, conflict resolution, and crisis management. The beneficiaries also receive a one-year comprehensive personal accident insurance package. The â€Å"Sagot Ka ni Kap!† program also strengthens the local security infrastructure and inspires the essential set of capabilities needed for effective leadership and at the same time, develop their capacities as future community leaders. My Fair Share ProgramIn 2012, Globe Bridging Communities inked partnerships with social enterprises Gifts & Graces Inc. to produce eco-bags for the Globe M y Fair Share program. The bags are made by the Bulacan-based Kaibhan Women’s Association, Caritas Manila, and Pamana ng Pag-asa and are sold for â‚ ±99 each. The program transforms the way Globe gives back—not only by aiding partners and beneficiary communities with capital, funds for capacity and skills development and ICT tools—but also by empowering them with livelihood opportunities and by bringing them into the Globe value chain. Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 Bigger in scale than the previous Globe Cordillera biking events held in 2010 and 2011, the Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 targeted not only Globe employees, members of the media, and stakeholders, but also a broader audience of recreational bikers  and triathletes nationwide to bike a total of 27 kilometer-trail along the Cordillera mountain range from Baguio City to Mount Cabuyao and Mount Sto. Tomas in Benguet. Together with Cordillera Conservation Trust (CCT), Globe Bridging Communities changed the game by creating three different bike trails following the theme, â€Å"Choose your trail, Bike your way, Save the Cordilleras†. Bikers were given the freedom to decide which route to take based on their skill level, bike discipline and bike set-up. Total registered bikers for the Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 reached 319, while 222 bikers were in attendance on the event day, May 5. The event raised a total of â‚ ±800,000 from online registration, corporate sponsorship, and from the pooled donations of Globe Telecom employees’ own fundraising activities. The Globe Cordillera Challenge 3 also raised the bar in employee volunteerism: Globe Telecom bikers from Manila, Negros, and La Union joined the event in Baguio. Since May 2012, the Roots and Shoots nursery program of CCT has established seedling nurseries in twenty-one (21) public elementary schools in the Cordillera area. Global Filipino Teacher (GFT) ProgramThrough the Global Filipino Teacher program (GFT), educators are trained to integrate ICT in teaching basic subjects like English, Science, Math, and heKaSi. GFT is done in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Coalition for Better Education, a Cebu-based non-profit organization composed of various education stakeholders from the academe, students, parents, non- government and business organizations. The GFT training program equips teachers with knowledge using the project- based learning approach and will train 100 new teachers and existing GFT teachers to become peer coaches to their co-teachers on the use of project-based learning (PBL), creating a community-based ripple effect of 21st century learning. Volunteaming. Volunteaming encourages employees to customize their volunteering projects and promote camaraderie in their communities of choice. As part of i-Give’s commitment to support corporate citizenship, Globe Bridging Communities matches the project with minimal funding. This project is open to all Globe employees nationwide who can form a group of five and is willing to commit eight (8) volunteer hours each. Volunteaming  allows employees to be vigilant with the social issues of the communities nearest to them. They are able to customize the assistance needed according to the needs of their communities or charity of choice. Through volunteaming, Globe employees are given access to Corporate Social Responsibility projects regardless of their work location and expertise by simply volunteering their time and talents.

Bay Area Architecture

When talking about California architecture one would surely imagine low red-tiled roofs with white stucco arches, but, in fact, Californian architecture is much more complex and diverse. A strong impact on the building up of the area had Spanish and Mexican occupation that brought in presidios, pueblos, and ranchos. In addition, Victorian tastes were introduced at the arrival of gold-seeking Easterners.In the course of time other factors influenced the landscape of the Bay area and more and more new styles found their embodiment in this ‘alfresco museum of architecture history ’. Namely the turn of the twentieth century was marked by Morris’s idea concerning prevalence of handmade things over those machine-made and return to the Nature, as well as key principles of the Bauhaus school, which said that ‘beautiful’ stands for simple and functional.These trends left traces on the Californian land in the form of bungalows, one- or two-storied houses with g ently pitched broad gables, one large gable covering the major part of the house and often a second, lower gable, covering a porch (1). During the first half of the 20th century, many professionals left their imprint in California in form of amazing collection and mixture of different styles and designs. Among them is perhaps the most influential and mysterious architect of the last century Frank Lloyd Wright.Remarkably, that he introduced his own commonly known as the Usonian style (named after the United States), which reflected his social ideas: â€Å"the buildings were designed for economical construction and to be energy efficient within their specific climate zone† as well as well as shows a dramatic impact of the Japanese culture (open floor plans, flowing interiors with movable screen partitions, an abundance of natural light, overhanging eaves and shallow pitch roofs, etc. ) (2). The Usonian Style is based on the concept that any architectural project should â€Å"n aturally† combine its functions and stay in harmony with the site of its location.Therefore, the Usonian style integrated some elements of the International style architecture of volume, flat roofs, etc. but unlike its prototype, the Usonian style utilizes not industrial but natural materials peculiar for each site such as stone and wood siding (3). In general, the most characteristic features of the Usonian style are: – Open plan – Large overhanging flat roofs, on occasion, low pitched gable roofs were used – Concealed front entrances – Board and Batten siding – Large floor to ceiling windows – Brick used as accent material – Banding of windowsMoreover, windows had typically individual casements, doors were simple panel and house were not typically painted but for an accent color (3). Notably that the architect experimented not only with shapes and forms of the buildings but also with colors, namely he employed purple (maroon) color and the success of such innovation can be seen on the example of his Californian work under the name of Hanna Honeycomb House. Such name is not accidental but due to the specific construction of the building. The house is patterned after the bee honeycomb and incorporates a number of six-sided figures.The author himself gave the following comments on his work: â€Å"The dominant feeling was of wonderful, secluded shelter, with the kind of aura I knew in the big old houses of my childhood†¦ In view of the fact that no house of my childhood was ever so casually joined to the outdoors, so profusely fenestrated and skylighted, or so varied in levels and ceiling heights, I was surprised that I was so emotionally familiar with the place. To feel so secure without the dark and gloom of restricting walls, yet I felt free.Not the kind of airiness associated with open, glass walls, which makes me feel as though I might fall out the windows, but a feeling of having space to move ar ound in and somewhere to go. The hexagon has been conservatively treated, however. It is allowed to appear in plan only and in the furniture, which literally rises from †¦ the floor slab upon which the whole rests. To me, here is a lead into a new, fascinating realm of form—although it is somewhat repressed on the side of dignity and repose in this first expression of the idea† (4:32-33).To see the realized Wright’s architectural design all you have to do is just to come to Stanford campus. The reason for such location is simple – it was designed specially for the Hannas (Paul R. and Jean), a couple of well known Stanford tutors. A first the building was intended for two of them only but as the family widens, so did the house, which was quite easy because of its honeycomb design. In general, the Hanna-Honeycomb house is a one-story building with a central wall adjoining the roof (a clerestory) and made of widespread here redwood, San Jose brick, glass and cement.The whole design of the site comprises not only the main house, but also a guesthouse, storage, garage, as well as a garden house with a pool and a miniature artificial; waterfall. Though seriously damaged during the earthquake of 1989 Wright’s masterpiece was restored and reopened in 1999. Moreover, it is included into the list of National Historic Landmarks and what is more, the American Institute of Architects named it as one of 17 best Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings worth seeing and being preserved as a cultural legacy for next generations.To cut the long story short, the Bay Area may be rightfully regarded the best showroom of various styles and designs, brought in by Spanish and Mexican invaders first, then left as traces of the gold-seekers, and last but not the least, owing to the fact that Californian marvelous landscapes have always attracted famous and not very architects and designers to test their knowledge and skills and to cast their names in the form of beautiful buildings which are so numerous in California.One of them is Frank Lloyd Wright whose first trial on the Californian land proved to be successful and hence we can rest our eyes on of his Hanna-Honeycomb house, which is placed among National Historic Landmarks of the United States. Bibliography 1. Bay Area Architecture. Retrieved on December 3, 2005 from: http://www. cr. nps. gov/nr/travel/santaclara/bayareaarchitecture.htm 2. Frank Lloyd Wright. Retrieved on December 3, 2005 from: http://www. greatbuildings. com/gbc. html 3. The Usonian Style. Retrieved on December 3, 2005 from: http://www. arapahoeacres. org/usonian_style. htm 4. John Sergeant. Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Houses: The Case for Organic Architecture. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1976. ISBN 0-8230-7178-2.