Comparing Hrm Practices in Australia

Abstract: This essay discusses about how it is impossible to compare South-East Asian Human Resource practices with those employed in Australian companies due to substantial differences in political, legal and social environments. In the political aspect, governments from south-east Asian companies and Australian companies are compared based on their compliance with the labor rights and standards.While in the legal aspect, the Australian flexibility on labor law and the Philippine labor code which states otherwise is discussed and how Australian and Philippine HRM practices are affected. Lastly how culture, norms, attitude, and the social environment of Australians and Filipinos become factors in HRM trying to lay out rules regarding tardiness and absenteeism of employees and how Australia being a first world country and Philippines being a third world country affect job design.An Eagle who was born an Eagle, eats how other Eagles do, surrounded by other Eagles, and flies as high as other Eagles eventually grows up to become an Eagle while a Falcon who was born a Falcon, eats how other Falcons do, surrounded by other Falcons, and flies as fast as other Falcons eventually grows up to become a Falcon. The comparison of Human Resource management practices between south-east Asian companies and Australian companies is both like the Eagle and the Falcon.Depending on the country’s society, government and cultural beliefs, practices of human resource managing of companies differ in approach. Differences of Human resource management practices in connection with the political aspect between most south-east Asian countries and Australia can be differentiated by how well the country’s governments impose to companies in the country the strict compliance on practicing and respecting labor rights and labor standards set by the International Labor Organization. Not a single country has labor laws that are in full compliance with ILO Conventions No. 87 and 98, an d the average score in the region (south-east Asia) for de jure labor standards (DJLS) is 69 (out of 100)† (Caraway, 2010). With this, human resource management practices are somewhat sub standard in south-east Asian countries. Labor rights of employees are not being strictly imposed. In the Philippines for example, career development of an employee is not often given attention by HR managers of companies.Trainings, seminars and certifications of various skill requirement fees are shouldered by employees or are required from persons applying for a specific position in a company. Most employees get minimum wages, little to or no benefits at all, and most of the time they are not compensated for overtime work rendered to the company. The voice of labor unions is often placed on deaf ears. Whereas the government of Australia imposes very strict Labor laws in which employees get the most out of their employment.Wages are above minimum, weekend schedule rates are higher than weekda y work schedules, and overtime work rendered for the company is properly noted and compensated. Career advancement, trainings and certifications required for certain skills by the law are often shouldered by company. Worker safety is closely given emphasis in Australian companies because the government will hold the company liable whatever happens to the employee with regards to safety during working hours. Australian law is very lenient and flexible regarding labor and legal matters about employee and employer relation.The Australian government lets the individual states regulate its own labor law. For example the minimum wages in Melbourne may differ from that of New South Wales and as such. Also maximum working hours per week are set for all employees whether part time or full time. Furthermore international students and holiday workers are given working privileges provided they also pay taxes and with limitations. Therefore as an HR manager, the scope of potential employees are not limited to citizens of Australia or those with working visas only.An Australian HR manager should base his or her decisions with regards to the diversity of culture within the company. While in south-east Asian companies, HR managers are not faced with the same scenario. In the Philippines for instance, â€Å"Only Filipino citizens or corporations, partnerships or entities at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the authorized and voting capital stock of which is owned and controlled by Filipino citizens shall be permitted to participate in the recruitment and placement of workers, locally or overseas. † (Labor code of the Philippines, art. 7), therefore in a Philippine company mostly Filipino employees are working there. An HR manager practices decisions and makes plans based on the culture of the Filipino people. The social environment affects Human resource management practices by putting into account what the set of standard norms are accepted in the society. One examp le of this is the development of human resources as influenced by the company’s demographic location. As stated in the journal made by Kim, 2012 â€Å"Societal development can be defined and applied in various situations.Compared to social, societal is often used by social scientists when they are referring to the influence of societies, or things arising from the conditions set by society. † Although there is no definite or universal way as to how human resources should develop, it is often how each and every employee perceives what the norms are in their society do they act upon the boundaries of right and wrong. Human resource managers should base their actions and plans to fit the employee’s attitudes and environment.In the Philippines for example, most Filipinos have the bad habit of being late most of the time. A major cause of this is that the roadway and public transport system is poor which in turn results to heavy traffic during rush hours. This being a problem which persisted for years now, the people got used to this system which eventually became a habit to them. And this being a normal scenario in the society, the people began thinking that the attitude of being late is within the norms of the society. While here in Australia, public transport system and roadway systems are very efficient.People tend to get to their destination a lot faster and with ease. And because of this company policies in both countries differ regarding employee attendance and tardiness. Following is an example taken from the staff manual of the staff of (St. Scholastica College Manila, 2006) in the Philippines regarding absenteeism and lateness. â€Å"UNDERTIME AND TARDINESS Note that: 1. In spite of a first offense, one can still earn 100% of the merit pay. 2. In spite of a second offense, one can still earn 75% of merit pay. Number of Offense Frequency (Cumulative)Sanction First2 hoursOral Reprimand Second4 hoursFirst Written Warning Third6 hoursSec ond Written Warning Fourth8 hoursSuspension – 3 days Fifth10 hoursSuspension – 5 days Sixth12 hoursSuspension – 10 days, letter of commitment required upon return to work Seventh14 hoursDismissal† As you can see from the example there are six levels of punishment before resulting to a dismissal or termination from work. This is because the company is more lenient to the employees because of being late is one bad habit of Filipinos which is rampant within the society.While in Australia there are not that many stages before termination when it comes to absenteeism and tardiness. An example is that a workplace policy of a business in Australia has two groups; â€Å"Group I: These types of actions may result in immediate discharge: Excessive absenteeism regardless of reason; Group II: These types of actions may result in a written warning followed by suspension and/or termination: Absence and tardiness without reasonable cause, Absence from Salon without perm ission† (BHA Salon Workplace Policy & Procedure Manual, 2011).In regards with the policy in an Australian company, tardiness in the workplace will result to a written warning which will then be followed by a suspension and then termination if excessive absenteeism is done by an employee. There were not much warning given to the employees with regards to tardiness and absenteeism because here in Australia, tardiness doesn’t happen often and isn’t considered a social norm. Another point to look at is that, Philippines is a third world country whereas Australia, being a first world country, has good sets of policies laid out for human resources.Employees are not exploited here in Australia. Whereas in the Philippines, take nurses as an example, the nurse to patient ratio is one nurse is to twenty patients sometimes even going as high as fifty patients per nurse. Hospital administrators, primarily those working for government hospitals, are not able to hire additiona l workforce because of the lack in budget to pay for those additional nurses. Instead they turn their sights on newly graduated and fresh nurse license holders. Hospitals open courses which offer them on the job training and work experience.By doing this, the hospital has answered the need for additional workforce through the use of fresh nurses wanting to have work experience background on their resumes. So in a work area the core of the work force comes from inexperienced nurses who recently acquired there nurse license. Here in Australia, hospitals have ample amounts of budget therefore having the means to adhere to the ideal nurse to patient ratio. Not only that, hospitals are better equipped in making a nurse’s job a lot easier and much safer.Therefore nurses are motivated to give out better work output by delivering quality nursing care to patients. Therefore an Australian company’s human resource manager may have this set of plans, criteria or models, whereas an HR manager in a south-east Asian company may the same or not. So to an extent it is impossible to compare the practice in human resource managing because there are a lot of factors to consider just like the eagle will always be an eagle so as a falcon will always be a falcon.

Concept Paper on Medical Aid Schemes

MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY Concept paper on the proposed State Universities Medical Fund Distribution List Mrs. V. Chirasha / Deputy Registrar (Human Resources) Author Mr. S. Masiyiwa / Lecturer, Department of Insurance & Risk Management 1. Introduction Healthcare finance and services providers in Zimbabwe were not spared by the economic downturn of the past decade. Most medical aid societies, practically collapsed when co-payments demanded by service providers exceeded their global limits on benefit payaments. For example, patients were being asked to pay Z$10 billion cash as o-payment and the medical aid society would only pay Z$1 million according to their tariffs. This mismatch, saw many clients, the state universities included, canceling their membership to such schemes and retaining the risk themselves, either funded or unfunded. The introduction of the multicurrency system in February 2009 brought the much needed stability to various sectors of the economy. However, the system was not backed by significant foreign currency inflows and as a result economic activity has remained subdued. Many organizations are currently operating below capacity and are downsizing to remain afloat. This development has significantly reduced inflow of contributions to medical aid societies, who although operating, are still to fully recover and offer full scale benefits. 2. Recent developments Contributions made to medical aid societies are made on the understanding that â€Å"if you do not use it you lose it†. This is understandable as medical aid schemes are basically risk pooling and sharing solutions and premised on the concept that the misfortunes of a few should be met by fortunes of many. However, the tight liquidity situation is forcing many entities to adopt innovative risk management strategies intended to retain as much cash as possible and only outsource those risks that exceed their risk appetite. The economic challenges of the past decade, we faced as a nation exposed the limitations of insurance as a risk financing mechanism. We have all learnt that insurance is not â€Å"THE† solution but part of the solution and that there are also equally good alternatives to insurance. Some medium to large scale organizations have since created self administered insurance schemes to cater for a variety of risks they face in their operations, e. g. material damage, health, funeral, superannuation, etc. Cell Insurance Company has spearheaded the adoption of the concept in Zimbabwe through its â€Å"rent-a-cell† captive arrangement and today it administers a lot of these schemes. However, a worrisome development in Zimbabwe is the transfer of the superannuation and morbidity risk to the employees by cash strapped or unscrupulous employers. Recently most if not all of the state university staff had no membership to any medical aid or health insurance scheme. They were paying for their health and related expenses from personal resources. The extent to which this approach could be used was obviously limited due to the low salaries and allowances staff is currently receiving. The state universities have started receiving funding from the fiscus and renewed their membership to medical aid societies. However, the concept is still the same: if you do not use it, you lose it! How many times have been to the doctor lately, once, twice or none? Literally, medical aid societies are getting richer at the expense of the members, university staff included. Retaining in-house the contributions state universities currently pay to various medical aid societies and health insurance schemes could make a difference to the underfunded institutions. 3. Suggestions for the state universities It is against the above background that I propose that the state universities should consider setting up a unified independent medical benefit fund to finance health and related risks the state university staff are exposed to on a daily basis. It is also proposed that both the employer (state universities) and the employees should make periodic contributions to the fund, the employer paying 80% and the employees meeting the balance of 20%. 4. Costing basis According to latest personnel records, the state universities employ about 3100 in total. Costing of commercial health and self insurance schemes is based on the â€Å"law of large numbers†. The larger the statistical base, the more accurate the loss ratio becomes. Many schemes operating in Zimbabwe today actually started as in-house schemes with even fewer numbers, e. g. FLIMAS and First Mutual. The 3100 university employees constitute a sizeable number, to allow for costing of the proposed medical benefit fund. In addition to the level of benefits required, existing university clinic utilization figures should be analysed and included in the costing model. 5. Advantages of the proposed scheme The proposed scheme has the following advantages: – Contributions to the fund should be lower as members will not pay for medical aid society or insurer’s administration and profit margins. – Interest from the investment of funds will accrue to the benefit fund – Any profits will accrue to the benefit fund Benefits can be tailor made, improved and enhanced with time as the fund grows – There will be no disputes with medical aid society or insurers over claims settlement – There would be a strong incentive by members to reduce claims and control losses – Global limits can be increased easily with minimum or no increase in contributions fr om the employer and employers – Improvement in staff morale can be achieved thereby increasing productivity and the restoration of financial independence and dignity. 6. Disadvantages of the proposed scheme The proposed scheme has the following disadvantages: – The claims statistics, which are used to decide on contributions will come from a narrow base – A catastrophic loss (although remote) could occur in the formative years and wipe out the fund. However, catastrophe cover can be separately arranged with leading reinsurers for a very low premium to cover the fund against an accumulation of claims above the expected budget in any given accounting period. – Individual small claims may not affect the fund too much but their aggregate effect may have catastrophic effects. Catastrophe cover, described above can also mitigate this risk – There will be need to employ additional staff to handle the fund’s administrative matters. True, but use of existing clinics and facilities at state universities should reduce the number of additional staff required. – There may be a temptation to dip into the fund and pay for unrelated activities. This must be resisted by the board of management/trustees. In any case the business of the fund should be separate from that of sponsoring universities. If the †dip† is to be allowed it should be a loan based on prevailing commercial bank loan terms and conditions. – Benefits from the basic insurance principle of spreading risk will be lost. From the foregoing, it can be concluded that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. The disadvantages, although real, are highly theoretical and remote. 7. Establishment of a technical working committee To expedite the process a technical committee consisting of representatives from the state universities should be set up. The committee should consist of both management representatives (50%) and employee representatives (50%). This intended to ensure buy in at the early stages and also incorporated the various stakeholders’ interests and ideas in the scheme. 8. The mandate The technical committee must be mandated to carry out the following tasks: 10. 1 Drafting of the constitution The proposed benefit fund will be run according to its Rules and Regulations as enshrined in its Constitution. The technical committee will be responsible for drafting the Rules and Regulations, which will include, inter alia: ) The name and objects of the proposed benefit fund b) Board of management/trustees, appointment and composition, meetings, its powers and functions c) Membership issues e. g. eligibility, application, termination, deprivation of membership, etc d) Subscriptions e. g. level, frequency and mode of payment of subscriptions. e) Beneficiaryship e. g. eligibility, application and termination of benefi ciaryship. f) Schedule of benefits e. g. nature and amounts of benefits, eligibility for benefits, waiting periods, claims for benefits, rejection of claims, ex-gratia payments. ) Assets, liabilities, rights and obligations of the medical fund h) Actuarial valuation i) Dissolution/wing-up of medical benefit fund j) Amendment of rules e. g. power, requirements for amending the rules k) General information for members e. g. benefit exclusions, lodging of members’ complaints and requests, payments of awards not supported by receipts, payment of service providers, list of approved providers, letters of guarantees for services provided outside Zimbabwe, shortfalls, travel cover on holiday, business or study. ) Promotion of the medical fund for acceptance by target service providers and establishing working relationships with them 2. Benefit design The technical committee must develop a number of benefit options which members can choose from. I propose the following plans, that I h ave christened, for want of better names, the university premier plan, university medium plan and the university standard plan. a) University Premier Plan This would be similar to the CIMAS Medexec Plan/PSMAS Pinnacle Plan and is meant to provide executive benefits for the principal officers and senior management. ) University Medium Plan This would be similar to the CIMAS Private Hospital Plan/ PSMAS Select Plan and is meant to provide members who want global limits higher than those provided under the University Standard Plan described below: c) University Standard Plan This should be the entry point and would be similar Excel Plan from PSMAS which currently covers most staff. The plan will pay for consultation and treatment received from Government, Mission, Municipal & Private Hospitals, general practitioners and specialists up to a limit, per person per annum 3. Registration of the fund with the authorities The technical committee should be mandated to register the proposed medical benefit fund in terms of the Medical Services Act, Chapter 15: 13 and any other applicable and relevant legislation. 9. Administration The technical committee should consider the following issues that affect the efficient running of the business of the proposed medical benefit fund. 9. 1. Location of registered office and other offices. This could be either in Harare or Bulawayo with satellite offices at all state universities. Any other center could be considered for the location of the head office. My suggestion is based on the density of service providers in Harare and Bulawayo. Most members would be referred to these big centers for specialist medical tests and treatment. Existing facilities could be used as satellite offices e. g. the existing clinics could be expanded and resourced to offer a variety of services normally available from general practitioners. This will save on costs. 2. Staffing issues Additional staff will be required especially for the head office. This will include the principal officer, finance manager, membership and claims administrators. However, they should be very few, because most of the work will be done from satellite offices. Initially there may be a lot of work when the office is set up but that should stabilize with the effluxion of time. 3. Finance and claims administration This could be centralized at head office and payments to service providers and refunds to members made once every fortnight i. e. only on two occasions per month. 4. Dispensary It is advisable to buy the essential drugs from source and keep them in stock for use by members. It will also save on costs. Railmed currently operates such a facility countrywide for the benefit of railway employees scattered across the country. The state universities should use the existing clinics for a similar purpose. Alternatively, mutually beneficial arrangements (drug schemes) can be made with leading private pharmacies to allow members’ access to drugs without paying for them upfront. 5. Approved provider network For the members to benefit, the scheme should be promoted for broader acceptance by as many service providers as possible so that members are not inconvenienced in the time of need. The management of the medical fund should promote the scheme and establish working relationships with all health service providers. This can also save on cost as it is possible to negotiate preferential rates. 6. Access to technical advice The state universities have a large pool of experts on their payroll. The technical committee should tap on that expertise. This will not only serve on cost but show the world that we can use knowledge to the benefit of mankind and practice what we preach! 10. Conclusion Emerging trends in risk management indicate that more and more organizations are electing funded risk retention strategies in an effort to contain cost and get more value for their money. State universities should embrace the philosophy and design and implement robust enterprise wide risk management strategies that mitigate the risks they are exposed to. For a start, establishing a unified independent medical benefit fund to finance the morbidity risk university staff are exposed to will be a good step in that direction. Proposed State Universities Medical Benefit Fund Benefit Limits Schedule General Practitioners, Specialists, Public & Private Hospitals) | |Services |Benefit Limits (US$) | | |General Practitioner |Paid in full | | |Physician specialist |Paid in full | | |Hospitalisation | | | |Prescription drugs | | | |Rehabilitative services | | | |Haemodialysis |Paid in full | | |Chemotherapy |Paid in full | | |Chronic disease drugs |Paid in full | | |Dental services | | | |R efraction |Paid in full | | |Optical |Paid in full | |Maternity |Paid in full | | |Family planning | | | |Hearing aids | | | |Pathology |Paid in full | | |Radiology |Paid in full | | |Blood transfusion |Paid in full | | |Psychiatric care |Paid in full | | |Prosthetic appliances | | | |Ambulance |Paid in full | | |Air Evacuation |Paid in full for life threatening situations| | | |only subject to prior authorization by board| | | |of management/trustees | | |Foreign treatment |Local benefit limit apply subject to prior | | | |authorization by board of | | | |management/trustees | ———————– [pic]

Models of Organized Crime Executive Summary Essay

Within the criminal justice field there are two different types of organizations and those organizations are called bureaucratic and patron-client organizations. Now, throughout this paper the team is going to discuss the many different reasons as to why and how the bureaucratic and patron-client organizations are different. With that being said, some of the basic differences are basically the fact that the patron-client organizations are basically referred to as the organizations that choose to break the law and on the other hand, the bureaucratic organizations are the ones that are there to enforce it. Even though there are many differences between these two organizations there are also some things that they have in common. This paper will identify so many more ways that make these two unique types of organizations different. The Patron-Client ModelThe difference between patron-client model and bureaucratic model is that patron -client organizations are operated by an individual who is considered as the â€Å"boss.† The organization is structured as a family who has a tight bond and demonstrates trust and loyalty to each other. According to Collins 1975, â€Å"patrimonial elites are more ceremonious and personalistic† (Abadinsky, 2007). The role of the patron (boss) is to â€Å"provide economic aid and protection for the client, in return the client shows appreciation by performing necessary duties that are order by the patron. The patron controls the resources of the business and sets up all contact meetings for the client. Within the patron-client model the patron has the power to generate income by networking with other clients who are involved in criminal activities such as, drug trafficking, fraudulent activities and money laundering. A particular geographic area or industry is dominat ed by the patron and his organization. He also has a network of informants and connections, with the police and other officials and with those who are involved in specialized criminal operatives (Abadinsky, 2007). The Bureaucratic ModelWhile assuming that in the world crime things are done the same and the goals are the same for all involved, but this is not the case. The bureaucratic model runs like a cooperation that has CEO’s down to the line workers. In the bureaucratic model they deal with crime on a larger scale and maintain members from a selective group. Unlike the patron-client  model they are not necessarily related to the members and establish close relationships. Responsibilities are usually carried out in an impersonal manner and they maintain an extensive division of labor (Abadinsky, 2007). The orders come from the top and are distributed to the next in command to enforce the orders. Everyone has his or her place in the business and are recruited based on the skill level (Abadinsky, 2007). The hierarchy is one of the main operations of the business. Each member must understand the chain of command in order to carry out the task at hand without question. Once an organization has grown to a size that requires more persons qualified to carry out the expectations the operations develops standard rules and regulations. These are essential for the structure of the organization to run smoothly and every member of the organization will know how the duties are to be carried out. In the event that a member violates the rules the organization will not simply fire them but they will eliminate the person. The organization cannot afford to have a former member expose the operation; this would create a level of venerability for the group and the chance of apprehension is emanate. In conclusion, a patron-client network or organization is one of two contrasting organizational models; the other would be the bureaucratic/corporate model. This paper has discussed the differences between the two models. To recap, â€Å"Patrimonial/patron-client networks characterize most American Mafia groups and the military is an example of a bureaucratic organization and a bureaucracy is the mode of organization that is essential for efficiently carrying out large-scale tasks and Patrimonial/Patron-Client Networks fear of compromised communications makes many aspects of the bureaucratic model impractical for criminal organizations† (Abadinsky, 2007). Understanding organized crime is importatnt because it gives the government the ability to know how they work so that the governement can stop them. Reference Abadinsky, H. (2007). Organized Crime. 8th ed. Balmont.Ca Thomas/Wadsworth.

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 12

Project Management - Essay Example These activity lists proposes all the scheduled activity which will help to complete the project quickly. Implementation of work package during project leads concurrent work on various different mechanism of a project at the equivalent time by multiple teams. Most of the times, the completion of work package has been overseen by the managers or supervisor or a team leader of a project team. Moreover work packages reduce the activity cost and other indirect costs like cost of material, cost of transportation, cost of labor etc. Work breakdown structure is a deliverable and oriented decomposition of a specific project into smaller components. One of the important uses of work breakdown structure is that this structure proposes cost control standard for the future project activities which may or may not be similar. Moreover work breakdown structure starts off with a generalized goal in a quality planning process and helps to identify the progressive narrow level of action that is needed in order to achieve the project objectives. While implementation of work breakdown structure the team should have in depth understanding of the tasks required. Work breakdown structure is the critical input which identifies the risks subsequently in macro and micro level of work packages. To identify the cost variances and scheduled variances, project managers quite often use the performance measurement baseline. The performance management baseline is the collection of work packages that estimates work effort and duration of every work packages. Moreover it controls cost of resources. After determination of scopes and approaches towards a project, work breakdown structure is constructed to complete the work packages efficiently. These will help a project team to identify the project activities. The key elements are required to construct a project work that is the resources. Project managers need to apply

Marketing Planning and Strategy (Global Exchange Rate Effects)1 Assignment

Marketing Planning and Strategy (Global Exchange Rate Effects)1 - Assignment Example For exporting companies the most favorable conditions are when a national currency is week. Gali and Monacelli (2005) demonstrate the case which implies that in countries with weak currencies, what seems good for the exporters, the exchange rates fluctuations are usually high, what decreases the favorability of the situation. Currencies often have inflations at those times, and it implies additional difficulties, as to prognosing that inflation, planning pricing policy, and making urgent decisions when situation changes abruptly. In the example by Taylor (2009) the financial crisis in August of 2007-2008, which touched the whole world, especially South America and Asia – important strategic US trading partners, the exchange rate sharp changes caused the change in the structure of trading in general. For example, the exporting companies in countries with weakened currency have got the

English Lexicon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

English Lexicon - Essay Example Since the middle of the 20th century it has been primarily thought of as a diminutive of Jennifer."1 Jane is the This name has many forms, and as such has many meanings within the English lexicon. A jenny is defined, by Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, as either one of three things, the first two being derived from 1600 from the name Jenny: 1) a female bird, as in a jenny wren; 2) a female donkey; or 3) a spinning jenny, "an early multiple-spindle machine for spinning wool or cotton" (ca. 1783, derived from Jenny, a nickname for Jane).3 Jen is, in Chinese philosophy, "a compassionate love for humanity or for the world as a whole."4 There are multiple dictionary entries, however, for the word jane, which is based on the namesake Jane. One dictionary says that jane is slang for "a girl or a woman."5 The Free Dictionary claims that the word jane is a "coin of Genoa" or "any small coin"; also, a jane could be a "kind of twilled cotton cloth."6 There are other variations on the name Jane and usages of the name Jane. The name Jane Doe has become a part of the English lexicon in order to describe "an average or ordinary woman" or it can be "[u]sed as a name in legal proceedings to designate an unknown or unidentified woman or girl."7 Jane Doe was just a generic name, but it has taken a very popular turn in recent times, becoming part of the vocabulary of the general public. Mary Jane is slang for marijuana.8 Supposedly that name is associated with marijuana because you have Mary associated with mari- and Jane associated with -juana. That's understandable. Also adopted into the English lexicon by way of the name Jane is the term plain-Jane, which means "[l]acking adornment or pretension; basic or simple."9 The name Jean is also commonly used, which is feminine, and "Medieval English variant of JehanneIt was common in England and Scotland during the Middle Ages, but eventually became rare in England. It was reintroduced to the English-speaking world from Scotland in the 19th century."10 The word jean, of course, has been introduced into the English lexicon, and has two meanings, according to the Free Dictionary. A jean can be either a "heavy, strong, twilled cotton, used in making uniforms and work clothes" or plural jeans, "[p]ants made of jean, denim, or another durable fabric."11 Secondly, what will be discussed is boys' names, or masculine names, which have been adapted into the lexicon. First we will begin by analyzing the name Peter. The name Peter is "[d]erived from the Greek (Petros) meaning 'stone'. This is a translation used in most versions of the New Testament of the name Cephas, meaning 'stone' in Aramaic, which was given to the apostle Simon by Jesus (compare Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42). Simon Peter was the most

Should animals be used for research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Should animals be used for research - Essay Example Throughout the paper we establish a single ideal perspective on why should there be continued animal testing for the general good of the public and how proactively can an initiative like this aid in making ground breaking discoveries for the future especially in research fields such as biomedical technology. Should animals be used for research? Medicinal investigators are required to prerequisite and comprehend health complications afore they can cultivate techniques to extravagance them. Certain diseases, illnesses and healthiness complications comprise of procedures that can unsociably be calculated in an active living organism only. Wildlife animals are essential to remedial medicine investigation once it is impracticable or unprincipled to use individual humans as test subjects. Animals brand decent investigative themes for a variation of different explanations. Animals fundamentally stand biologically comparable to humans. They are predisposed to numerous of the identical streng th glitches, besides they obligate to diminutive life-cycles so hence they can straightforwardly be premeditated during their entire life-span or transversely across a number of generations. In accumulative count, researchers can simply govern the surroundings nearby the animal (lighting, temperature, diet, etc.), which would stand problematic to organize for people. Yet, the utmost imperative intention as to why animals are rummage-sale is the fact that it would be ethically erroneous to intentionally render humanoids to health jeopardies in demand to perceive and observe the progression of an illness. Wildlife is casted-off in learning to cultivate medications and medicinal techniques to treat sicknesses. Researchers may regulate such remedies and trials by means of alternate investigation procedures that do not comprise animals. If the new-fangled treatment appears favorable, it is verified in animals to understand whether it appears to be harmless and operational. If the outcome s of the intuitive readings are good, then human participants are requested to yield measure in a experimental trial. The animal trainings are completed initially to give medicinal scientists an improved impression of whatever welfares and technical hitches they are likely to witness in humans. References: "Biomedical research", The Humane Society of the United States, accessed July 5, 2010. "Animal experimentation issues", Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "Introduction", Select Committee on Animals In Scientific Procedures Report, United Kingdom Parliament. Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research", Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, The National Academies Press, 1988. Also see Cooper, Sylvia. "Pets crowd animal shelter", The Augusta Chronicle, August 1, 1999; and Gillham, Christina. "Bought to be sold", Newsweek, February 17, 2006. The use of non-human animals in research: a guide for scientists The Royal Society, 2004, page 1 "Science, Medicine, and Animals", Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, Published by the National Research Council of the National Academies 2004; page 2 Animals Used for Medical Research A Philosophical Viewpoint By Carolyn C. Gargaro Written in July 1991

Coffee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Coffee - Essay Example One study that significantly highlights the growth of the US coffee industry was cited in the article written by H. Holmes. (2004) According to Holmes, "specialty coffee consumption has risen from 9 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2004. Every day, more than half of the adult population drinks coffee, 108.9 million people. The United States accounts for 52 million of those coffee drinkers." (2004) More importantly, Holmes cited various data that helps define the current state of the US coffee market. For one, Holmes pointed out that Even though 75 percent of the cups of coffee brewed daily are consumed at home, 66 percent of Americans buy their coffee outside of their homes. The Specialty Coffee Association of America reported at the end of 2003 that the total number of retail coffee shops in the country had reached 17,400 or 4% more than in 2002. The market size of coffee grew from $7.53 billion in 1999 to $8.96 billion in 2003 (Holmes, 2004). Such findings translates to wonderful prospects for current and future coffee establishments such as the Coffee Connection. What such data means is that Americans are very likely to purchase their coffee drinks from coffee shops rather than make them at home. Also, it was pointed out in the same article that coffee bar patrons are younger, more affluent, and educated and are 22 percent more likely to be aged 18-24. This means well for the Coffee Connection primarily because majority of the people in the inner city campus targeted by the said establishment fall between the said age range. In another study conducted by the research group Data Monitor of the US Coffee Industry, several significant findings were made. According to the said study, "Prepared coffee sales continue to outpace packaged coffee sales, becoming more widely available than ever before. Prepared coffee is not only driving growth in foodservice channels, but in retail channels such as convenience stores as well." What this translates to is that consumers are more inclined to purchase coffee prepared in various establishments such as coffee shops and convenience stores rather than buy packaged coffee drinks. Such findings goes well for prospective coffee shop owners. Also, the said research found that despite the rising prices of coffee brought about by the dry weather in coffee growing regions and damage from natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the retail coffee market remained elastic all through out the said increase. This, again, translate to good prospects for future coffee shop owners as it means that the consumer market continues to drink coffee despite of the increase in price. Another article that has significant bearing on the establishment of Coffee Connection was written by Alex Fisenko (2006). In his article, Fisenko pointed out that there is a bright future that lies ahead for coffee shops, even the small and independent establishments. Basically, Fisenko asserts that "The single most important factor for the success of a retail coffee business is the location" (2006). The amount of sales and profit generated by a coffee shop depends greatly on the location chosen for it. Furthermore, Fisenko pointed out that independent coffee shops should not be deterred by the large-scale coffee chains as these establishments concentrate on the larger

Descriptive Statistics (SLP) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Descriptive Statistics (SLP) - Essay Example (2012) Pilot Study of Internet-Based Early Intervention for Combat-Related Mental Distress, and relate them to the writer’s study. From the research, the writer noted that the researchers used statistical diversion and measures of central tendency explain their findings. Measurements of central tendency are statistical measures that categorize single values as descriptive of an entire allotment (Gravetter FJ, Wallnau, 2000). They submit to the hypothesis that there is one figure that best sums up the complete collection of measurement. The main function of central tendency is to provide accurate descriptions of sets of data and is mainly displayed as median, mean or mode. According to Sundaram et al. (2010), a large amount of people use mean because of its mathematical qualities, and is paramount for data distributed across ranges. A summary conducted to guide this study reveal that in their research, Van Voorhees and his colleagues used mean of 2 to explain participant’s completion of internet-based lessons. This means that the numerical digit 2 represented the number of lessons attended by each member of the sampled data. The mean is a representative of the average number representing a whole sample. It is the computation of all measurement s, divided by the number it represents. Similarly, I can use measurements of central tendencies to test my hypothesis by calculating the mean of participants who would likely to seek medical healthcare. Statistical dispersion observes fundamental variations in a continuing phenomenon. This method differentiates between inter-individual variables and operates in tests taken under different conditions and times, or whose subjects display diverse characteristics (Dawson &Trapp, 2004). Dispersion mostly refers to the notion that another number explains the extensiveness of all measurements from the central number. Statistical dispersion is present in nominal or

Starbucks Corporation and Brand Loyalty Essay Example for Free

Starbucks Corporation and Brand Loyalty Essay In today’s highly competitive business markets, a consumer’s loyalty to a brand often adds reassurance to the company’s stable and lasting position in the marketing world. As the new year continues to unravel, brands must maintain strong marketing strategies in order to keep their current buyers interested as well as capture the eye of new buyers. Brand loyalty after all, is the consumer’s conscious and unconscious decision, expressed through intention or behavior, to repurchase products from a brand continually. It occurs when the consumer perceives that the brand offers the right product features, image, or level of quality at the right price. One of the industry’s most successful companies, with over 19,000 stores worldwide, is Starbucks Corporation. Through the use of various marketing tactics, Starbucks has established itself as the largest coffeehouse company in world with a continuously expanding flock of loyal consumers each year. Pricing: As the leader of the coffee market, Starbucks Corporation is known for setting its prices on a simple idea: providing high value products at a moderate cost. When consumers are drawn to a product they find worthy of their money, they often are willing to pay any cost to attain the item. For Starbucks’ loyal consumers, quality is key. To maintain its brand loyal consumer base, Starbucks ensures their buyers quality coffee to justify its costs. Differentiation: Starbucks spends a large sum of time and energy annually to differentiate itself from its competitors. When one steps foot into one of the coffeehouses’ many locations, he or she will immediately be exposed to the music played in the shop as well as the types of products the shop sells, from bags of freshly ground coffee to jazz CDs. Starbucks also tries to stay up-to-date on the latest technology, often times being the first to introduce the newest advancements to its customers. Through new approaches such as location-based promotions and mobile payments, Starbucks uses various techniques to set itself apart from other coffeehouses in the hopes of attracting brand loyal consumers. Customer Service/Satisfaction: Starbucks has always been strongly devoted to providing its customers with quality service. To ensure this goal is achieved, the company aims to hire motivated and committed employees. Each individual hired by the brand is employee trained for all classes of employees, including part-time workers. Starbucks relies on its baristas and other frontline staff to provide customers with the best â€Å"Starbucks Experience†. My Starbucks Rewards Card: Another tactic Starbucks has used to reel in brand loyal consumers is the introduction of the â€Å"My Starbucks Rewards Card† in 2009. The free, no-contract rewards system allows customers to accumulate stars for each purchase they make at a Starbucks shop. Each star collected is put towards the three level reward system, qualifying card owners for free drinks on birthdays and other benefits. Similar to a reloadable gift card, card users can check there can easily assess and manage their card balances online. The My Starbucks Rewards Card is the perfect way to attract and keep brand loyal Starbucks consumers since customers have the incentive of earning rewards for simply buying products from their favorite coffeehouse. Starbucks’ Social Media Strategy: In addition to operating fan accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, Starbucks also owns its own version of a social networking site called, MyStarbucksIdea. com, where customers are asked to contribute their ideas on anything related to Starbucks. The site allows to users to see what others are suggesting, vote on ideas and check the results. MyStarbucksIdea. com is a brilliant and important aspect of Starbucks social media strategy. Users who are part of this network feel that they have some role in the decision making process of the company and it makes them feel a part of it. Starbucks employees also play role in the company’s social media strategy by participating in the blog entitled, â€Å"Ideas In Action†. This blog is written by various Starbucks employees and discusses how the brand is incorporating the ideas submitted by users on MyStarbucksIdea. com. The blog keeps customers in the company loop by keeping them informed regarding what is happening with their ideas. This strategy helps to increase the loyalty of consumers to the brand as well as showing potential customers, â€Å"Hey, we care about what YOU have to say†. Free Samples: On Tuesday, January 12, 2012, Starbucks Coffee released a new roast of its famous coffee, the â€Å"Blonde Roast†. To help introduce customers to its new lighter roast product, the company offered free samples of its brews during a 3-hour event each day, for two days. The research from tasting event called the, â€Å"Find the Roast You Love Most†, showed that more than 54 million U. S. coffee drinker said they prefer the lighter-roast coffee. Customers who came for the sampling were also given free samples of the light roast to brew at home and a $1 off coupon off a pound of any Starbucks coffee. By offered free samples of their new product to the public, Starbucks was able to draw forth brand loyal consumers as well as other coffee lovers. Today, Starbucks Corporation is one of the most successful and admired companies in the world. Since the company opened its first coffee shop in Seattle, Washington in 1971, it has expanded into a billon-dollar international brand. From its tasty beverages and treats to its specialty, whole-bean coffee blends, Starbucks has developed strong strategic methods that have led the coffeehouse to success, winning over the hearts of many coffee indulgers. Through strategies of pricing, differentiation, providing quality customer service, introducing a rewards program, social media networking, and free samples, Starbucks has been able to acquire thousands of brand loyal consumers each year.

The Christians Doctrine Of Trinity

The Christians Doctrine Of Trinity During my a yearlong stay in Australia in 2009, once I happened to visit St Marys Cathedral in Sydney and witness Sunday Services, a formalized way of communal worship by the followers of worlds largest and celebrated religion the Christianity. The services involved singing of hymns, reading of verses from the Holy Scriptures and possibly a Psalm, a sermon by the Archbishop and then Baptisms of a few young believers. The services were followed by a very informative guided tour of the Cathedral giving a quick insight into the history of the Christianity in Australia in general and of St Marys Cathedral in particular. Impressed by the enriched history of the Christianity and captivated by this very orderly and benevolent way of offering prayers by the Christians Catholic community, I aimed to study the Christian religion in detail and explore its various aspects. However, the most vital factor which led me to write this paper is my eagerness to understand and analyze a shadowy and controversial yet vital Christians Doctrine of the Trinity, as during my visit to the Cathedral I was amazed to view the sermon and hymns glorifying the God, the Christ and the Holy Spirit while putting them all at equal to one and another, despite of the fact that the Christianity, besides Judaism and Islam, is a Monotheistic religion which believes in only one God. In pursuance to my eagerness to understand and research on the subject matter, I went through a number of books and research articles about Christianity in general and the Doctrine of Trinity in particular written by numerous writers professing differing school of thoughts. Having gone through all these writings, my understanding about the Doctrine of Trinity remained as bewildering as ever before. However, being a student of MPhil in Socio-Cultural Anthropology once I tried to analyse the subject matter in anthropological perspective, my understanding of the issue became much explicit and I could make sense of many underlying facts about this mysterious faith of Christianity. While doing my research work and writing this paper I have used the secondary data. However, I fully acknowledge and thank for the continual assistance provided by my instructors, my class fellows, and the Bahria Universitys library staff during my drawn-out research work. Introduction The most debated mystery of the Christian faith has been the Doctrine of Trinity, which defines God as three divine persons God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three persons, though distinct from one another, co-exist in unity and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. Most Christians often say they believe in the Trinity, yet they differ in their understanding of it. There are numerous Trinitarian conceptions that exist today, but generally the Trinity belief is that in the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; yet, together they are but one God. Supporters of the Trinity say that it is founded not only on religious tradition but also on teachings of the Bible. The Greek Orthodox Church calls the Trinity the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, even saying Christians are those who accept Christ as God. In the book Our Orthodox Christian Faith the same Church declares: God is triune . . . . The Father is totally God. The Son is totally God. The Holy Spirit is totally God. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church describes the Trinity as the central dogma of Christian theology. On the other hand, the critics of the Doctrine of Trinity say it false and man self-fabricated, as the God Almighty stands alone as a separate, eternal, and all-powerful being. They argue that Jesus in his prehumen existence was, like the angels, a separate spirit person created by God, and for this reason he must have had a beginning, i.e. there was a time when he was not. They instill that Jesus has never been Almighty Gods equal in any sense; he has always been subject to God and still is. They also believe that the Holy Ghost is not a person but Gods spirit, his active force. The opponents of the doctrine claim that it is not a Bible teaching, one history source even declaring the origin of the Trinity as entirely pagan. Since the inception of doctrine of Trinity into Christianity about fifteen centuries ago, most Christians who believe in this doctrine have never actually checked it out to see why they believe it. They just assume that it must be true because it is what most churches teach. In addition, many people think it is wrong to question doctrines like this. But the reality is that many Christians who accept the doctrine of Trinity, remain confused and even those who have a deeper understanding of it admit that they do not understand it completely and cant defend it when challenged. Once stuck, their eventual response is that the Trinity is hard to understand because God is beyond human thinking. There is another disturbing aspect of this debate that many Christians believe in different Trinity doctrines or at least they understand this doctrine in different ways. Some believe that God is one being that shows himself in three different ways, like water shows itself in the form of ice, steam, and liquid. Others believe that the Trinity is made up of three distinct personalities and these three are in complete unity in love and purpose. Notwithstanding the above, the aim of this paper is to explore and comprehend the Christians Doctrine of Trinity from different aspects including the anthropological perspective. In doing so, I will first briefly glance at Christianity as a religion while looking into its origin, brief history and the basic beliefs. Then I will deliberate upon one of Christianitys most controversial yet pivotal teachings, i.e. the Doctrine of Trinity. In this part of the paper, I will address some of vital questions concerning the Doctrine of Trinity and will try to find their answers from the available texts and writings. Thereupon, I will analyse the said doctrine from anthropological perspective while applying a French social theorist Michael Foucaults renowned theory on knowledge is power. I will also highlight perspectives about religion by a few other great philosophers like Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Sigmund Freud. At the end I will draw my conclusion. Christianity at a Glance Its Origin, Brief History and Basic Beliefs The Christianity is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of a Jewish preacher named Yeshua, commonly known as Jesus Christ, who lived in Nazareth, a small town in Galilee of Roman province Judaea, about 2,000 years ago. Yeshua was born to a Virgin Mary probably between 7 and 4 BCE, and was executed in Jerusalem in the spring of the year 30 CE on the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate. After Yeshuas death, his apostles formed the Jewish Christian movement, concentrated in Jerusalem. One of Yeshuas Apostles Simon Peter and then James, who is viewed as either Yeshuas brother or cousin, headed the group. They regarded themselves as a reform movement within Judaism; as they continued to sacrifice at the temple, circumcise their male children, and follow Jewish kosher food laws etc. Around 34 CE, Saul of Tarsus, originally a persecutor of the Jewish Christians, while travelling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to apprehend the Jewish Christians had a vision of the resurrected Jesus in a great light. He converted to Christianity and adopted the new name of Paul the Apostle, and became the greatest theologian of the early Christian movement. His writings, along with those of the author(s) of the Gospel of John, provided much of the theological foundation for what has been called Pauline Christianity, a movement that spread throughout the northern and eastern Mediterranean basin. Paul Christianity, which started around 37 CE, was directed primarily to Gentiles, i.e. non-Jews. The third contesting belief system was Gnostic Christianity, which taught that Jesus was a spirit sent by God to impart knowledge to humans so that they could escape the miseries of life on earth. In addition to Jewish, Pauline and Gnostic Christianity, there were many other versions of Christianity being taught. However, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Army in 70 CE, the Jewish Christian movement was largely dissipated which left Pauline and Gnostic Christianity as the dominant Christian groups. Gentiles within the movement took over control of the former movement. As compare to other beliefs systems, the Pauline Christianity grew quickly in size and influence over a few decades, and by 313 CE Roman Empire recognized it was a valid religion and by 387 CE it became the official religion of the Roman Empire, replacing other forms of religions earlier being practiced under the Roman rule. Gnostic Christianity was severely persecuted, both by the Roman Empire and the Pauline Christian churches. During the Middle-Ages, most of the Europe was Christianized. Following the Age of Discovery, through colonization and missionary work, Christianity spread to the American subcontinents, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world. As of today, the Christianity is the most popular and largest religion in the world with around 2.34 billion followers, constituting 33.35 % of worlds total population and growing further at the rate of 1.38 % per annum. It is the predominant religion in Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa, and, in one form or another, is the sole state religion of several countries. During the 7th century CE, power in the Christian world became polarized in Constantinople and Rome. These two Christian centers gradually grew apart in belief and practice. In 1054 CE, a split was formalized between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Later on, in the 16th century various schisms including the Protestant Reformation led to a fragmentation within the Western Church. The Protestant movement has since splintered into what is now many groups of denominations, and tens of thousands of individual denominations. Consequently, as of today there are three main groups practicing Christianity worldwide; the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Churches. There are other Christian groups as well that do not fit neatly into any one of these primary categories, like Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church. Of all the Christians in the world today about half are Roman Catholic. Though, there are many differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible on which the Christianity is based, Christians share a set of beliefs that they hold as essential to their faith. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). The title Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mÄ Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¡ià ¡Ãƒâ€ž meaning anointed one. Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as saviour of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The foundation of Christian theology is expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds which contain claims predominantly accepted by followers of the Christian faith. These professions state that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary, was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead in order to grant eternal life to those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their sins. They further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven where he rules and reigns with God the Father. Most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, living and dead, and grant eternal life to his followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life, and both the revealer and physical incarnation of God. Christianity has played a pivotal role in shaping of the worlds socio-cultural, political and economic scenario, especially the Western civilization. In words of a renowned American scholar Sam Pascoe, Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise. The Doctrine of Trinity Exploring the Doctrine of Trinity The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial. According to this doctrine, there is only one God in three persons. Each of them is said to be without beginning having existed for eternity. Each is said to be Almighty, neither greater nor lesser than the others. Each is said to be a complete God in every sense of the word which includes Gods attributes and all are equal in time, position, power and knowledge. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead. In the words of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God. According this Doctrine, though distinct from one another, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. In other words, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God. The distinction lies in their relations, the Father being un-begotten; the Son being begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and (in Western Christian theology) from the Son. Regardless of this apparent difference, the three persons are each eternal and omnipotent. While distinct in their relations with one another, they are one in all else. This ancient diagram explains the Trinity quite well. According to researchers, the word Trinity is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Scripture, but used by the ancient Christian theologians to express the doctrine of the unity of God as subsisting in three distinct Persons. Some historians are of the view that the English word Trinity is derived from the Greek word trias, meaning a set of three or the number three and its first recorded use in Christian theology was by Theophilus of Antioch in about 170 AD. However, some researchers argue that the word Trinity came from the Latin word Trinitas, meaning the number three, a triad, and was first used by a Latin theologian Tertullian in 220 AD to express this doctrine. Development of Trinity into a Christian Doctrine Up until the end of the second century at least, most of the Christians were united in one basic belief; i.e. they all believed in the supremacy of the God Father. They all regarded God the Father Almighty as alone supreme, immutable, ineffable and without beginning. However, with the passing of those second century religious theologians and leaders, the Church found itself slipping slowly but inexorably toward trinity. Most of the researchers are of the view that the origin of the trinity doctrine is linked to a controversy, often known as the Arian controversy, that occurred in the city of Alexandria in the early part of the fourth century. A certain Alexander was bishop of Alexandria, Egypt who attempted to explain the unity of the Holy Trinity that whether the Son of God, is of the same substance, or only of like substance, with the Father. Alexander professed that The Son is immutable and unchangeable, all-sufficient and perfect, like the Father, differing only in this one respect that the Father is un-begotten and the Son was begotten. In explaining how the Son was begotten, Alexander quoted Jesus saying that He proceeded from the Father. Arius, who was a presbyter in charge of a parish church in the same city, dissented from the views set forth by Alexander. This disagreement reached the level of confrontation between Bishop Alexander of Alexandria and his presbyter Arius. So at a synod held at Alexandria in 321 C.E., in which Arius was deposed and excommunicated. However, Arius still had much support outside Egypt. Many of the important bishops theologically agree with Arius: Jesus Christ is not God. The sustained controversy caused unrest in the whole Roman Empire and Constantine the Great, in order to resolve the issue invited all bishops of the Christian Church (around 300 at that time) to Nicaea (which is now in modern Turkey) in May 325 C.E. Consequently, the creed of Nicaea was signed by 218 bishops who endorsed the Son as co-equal to God. However, the controversy over the nature of Jesus continued for next more than sixty years and gradually involved every conceivable authority; general councils, Popes, Emperors, bishops alone or in parties, and the faithful at large. A second ecumenical council met in Constantinople in the year 381 CE. This Council gave the finishing touch to the doctrine of three persons in one God stating that Jesus and God were co-equal, co-eternal and the deity of the Holy Spirit. From that time the Roman Emperors resolved and proclaimed they would punish all Christians who would not believe in and worship three persons in one God. Thus, the doctrine of the Trinity came to be formally established as the basic foundation of Christian faith for the next fifteen centuries. Subsequently, the doctrine of the veneration of Mary as the mother of God and bearer of God was also formulated at the Second Council of Constantinople (553 C.E.) and the title of Eternal Virgin was added. In the prayers and hymns of the Orthodox Church the name of the mother of God is invoked as often as in the name of Christ and the Holy Trinityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In the Roman Catholic doctrine, Mary, the mother of God, was identified with the figure of the divine Wisdom. The process of deifying the mother of God went a step further here, in that Mary is treated like a divine hypostasis (substance), the figure of heavenly Wisdom. All through this period of development there had been protests made by those who wished to preserve the truth of the Gospel from the innovations; but they were gradually overborne, until at length, when the innovators were strong enough, they called other Christians Heretics, and persecuted them. Factors that Influenced the Doctrine of Trinity According to most of the researchers the prime factor that influenced the doctrine of Trinity to formulate into a fundamental belief of Christianity has been its connections with the paganism. Throughout the ancient world, as far back as Babylon, it was common for pagans to worship triad gods. This practice was also prevalent before, during and after Christ in Egypt (Horus, Osiris Isis), India (Siva, Brahma Vishnu), and Babylon (Ishtar, Sin Shamash). With the spread of Christianity especially the Paulines ministry during the first two centuries CE, most of the pagans in the Mediterranean basin converted to Christianity. They brought with them their centuries old socio-cultural traditions and religious beliefs. After the death of the Apostles, such pagan beliefs began to creep in Christianity. One may think that Paganism was dominated by Christianity, but it is perhaps more accurate to say that Christianity adapted it. Even the fact that Christians worship on Sunday was the adoptio n of a Pagan festival, because the Jews used to worship on Saturday. Some researchers are also of the view that one of the factor behind formulation of doctrine of Trinity as Christians fundamental faith had been the personal interest of the Roman emperors to wield maximum powers over masses by exploiting religion through the use of Church as a tool. It was in this context that the Constantine the Great, after coming into power in 312 CE, ended the persecution of the Christians and the suppression of the early Church which were continuing since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through conversion to Christianity special favors were offered to the people in the form of political, military and social gains. As a result, thousands of non-Christians joined the Church and enabled Constantine to exercise great power over the Church affairs. Constantines involvement in religious affairs was to such an extent that he himself presided over the proceedings of the Council of Nicaea and exercised his political power to bring to bear the bishops to accept his theo logical position. The Encyclopedia Britannica summarizes the proceedings of the Council of Niacea as follows: The Council of Niacea met on May 20, 325. Constantine himself presiding, actively guiding the discussion, and personally proposed (no doubt on Ossius prompting) the crucial formula expressing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued by the council, of one substance with the Father. Over-awed by the emperor, the bishops, with two exceptions only, signed the creed, many of them against their inclination. Justifications by the Trinitarians about the Doctrine of Trinity The people who support the Doctrine of Trinity, commonly known as the Trinitarians, justify it on the basis that some verses in the Holy Bible, of which a few mentioned below, have specific reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as distinct entities in a single narrative. As soon as Jesus Christ was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! The Trinitarians interpret these verses as support for the doctrine of Trinity, because these verses speak of distinct entities mentioned by name in a single nerative. They argue, though the New Testament does not use the word ÃŽÂ ¤Ãƒ Ã‚ ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¹ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ (Trinity) nor explicitly teach it, yet it provides the referencing material upon which the doctrine of the Trinity could be formulated. In addition, the Old Testament has also been interpreted as foreshadowing the Trinity, by referring to Gods word, his spirit, and Wisdom, as well as narratives such as the appearance of the three men to Abraham, which the Trinitarians view as support of a Trinity. Rejection of Doctrine of Trinity by the Non-Trinitarians Many groups in Christianity, commonly known as non-Trinitarians, do not believe in the Doctrine of Trinity or the way the God is described in the Trinity and His relation with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Non-Trinitarian groups also differ from one another in their views about the nature of Jesus Christ, depicting him variously as a divine being second only to God the Father, as God but not eternally God, as Son of God but inferior to the Father (versus co-equal), as a prophet, or simply as a holy man. The non-Trinitarians reject the Doctrine of Trinity on the basis that the expression God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were not known or advocated by Jesus or the early Christians. They argue that the Apostolic Fathers and those of the succeeding generations up to the last quarter of the 4th century CE never have thought of a triune God. They believed in One Omnificent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and Transcendent Creator Who alone is to be worshipped. Some Christian history researchers and scholars also dispute the authenticity of the Trinity and argue that the doctrine is the result of later theological interpretations of Christs nature and function. In their view, the doctrine of the Trinity was coined by the Christians about three hundred years after Jesus. The four Canonical Gospels, written between 70 and 115 CE, contain no reference to the Trinity. Even Saint Paul, who imported many foreign ideas into Christianity, knew nothing of the Triune God. The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the doctrine of the Trinity was unknown to the early Christians and that it was formulated in the last quarter of the 4th century. At first the Christian faith was not Trinitarian . . . It was not so in the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages, as reflected in the New Testament and other early Christian writings. The early Christians, however, did not at first think of applying the (Trinity) idea to their own faith. They paid their devotions to God the Father and to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and they recognized the Holy Spirit; but there was no thought of these three being an actual Trinity, co-equal and united in One. Denouncement of Doctrine of Trinity by the Holy Quran Islams holy book the Quran denounces the concept of Trinity as an over-reverence by Christians of Gods Word, the prophet and Messiah Jesus Christ son of the Virgin Mary. The Quran declares Jesus as one of the most important and respected prophets and Messengers of God, primarily sent to prevent the Jews from changing the Torah, and to refresh and reaffirm his original message as revealed to Moses and earlier prophets. The Quran reveals that the creation of Jesus is framed similar to the creation of Adam out of dust, but with Jesus birth meaning his creation excludes male human intervention rather than creation completely without human participation. According to Quran teachings belief in Jesus as a prophet, as well as belief in the original Gospel and Torah and belief in Jesus virgin birth are core criterion of being a Muslim and Quranic criterion for salvation in the hereafter along with belief in the Prophet Muhammad and all the prior prophets. In short, in Quran the God is seen as being both perfect and indivisible. He can therefore have no peer or equal. Jesus, being Gods creation, can never be considered to be equal with God or a part of God. So, any believe in the concept of Trinity is considered as blasphemy in Islam. Anthropological Perspective about the Doctrine of Trinity In the preceding paragraphs I have tried to explore the Christians Doctrine of Trinity from different historians and researchers point of view. The study confirmed that this doctrine had no roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ, his Apostles or the early Christian theologians. It was gradually evolved and formulated after at least three hundred years of Christ resurrection. No doubt, this doctrine has been in hot discussion in the Christian world for centuries and has retained the central most space in Christian theology. Though, tons of literature has been written down to analyse this Trinitarian doctrine, but its understanding remains as bewildering as ever before. Now, in order to comprehend this doctrine from anthropological perspective I will try to deconstruct it by going through its contents and by discourse analyses while applying Michael Foucaults theory on knowledge is power. In order to do that I will apply his structural theory to deconstruct this doctrine as power is employed to analyse knowledge, i.e. the concept of discursive formations. Foucault has a unique lens to see the world, societies, and its different institutions, and to use his own perspective about the knowledge and power. His philosophical theories addressed what power is and how it works, the manner in which it controls knowledge and vice versa, and how it is used as a form of social control. His first argument is that all relationships are the relationships of power which are diffused in the fabric of society ontologically, and its intrinsic urge to control others, everyone, and everything. He argues that in the human cultural history irrespective of time and space as a major rule human wants to control human by nature. Foucault divides all human history in three episteme; pre-historic, religious and scientific episteme respectively. He describes religion as a tool to control people. I n his view, knowledge such as scriptures, symbols, myths and rituals play a pivotal role to prove legitimacy of any religion. Knowledge is information and skills acquired through experience and education. Foucault describes four types of contesting knowledge that exist at parallel in a society; i.e. dominant, subordinate, marginalized and muted knowledge. According to Foucault, knowledge as power is used very carefully and politically by the knowledge creators to control human mind. Dominant knowledge creators are the drivers of the society as an elite class in the Marxist paradigm. Dominant knowledge producers create knowledge as discourse which elect some people, and give them the gaze to judge masses in the society, which means society is panoptical and individuals are under constant surveillance that they are doing their jobs properly. If some deviate from their role then the system declare them unfit and put them into asylum. In Foucaults perspective the society is held up in illusion and false consciousness. He annihilates all beliefs, norms, traditions and rules as discourse created by the dominant knowledge producers which are overwhelmingly imposed on the society. He proclaims that no knowledge is authentic, all are socially constructed. In line with many other postmodernists, Foucault argues that the reason to contest between knowledge is that there is a gap between the surface knowledge and living knowledge. Through discourse analysis, power structures may be uncovered and questioned by way of analyzing the corresponding fields of knowledge through which they are legitimized. This is one of the ways that Foucaults work is linked to critical theory. The corollary of the concepts of Foucault is ruling under the rubric of knowledge as power to dominate the thoughts of society. Now applying Foucaults theory on to the Doctrine of Trinity, we would evaluate its legitimacy as divine revelation or socially constructed theology. As we explored earlier, the doctrine of Trinity came into existence through a gradual evolution that took over two centuries. The Christianity that started its career as a pure monotheistic religion drifted slowly but inexorably toward polytheistic beliefs under the influence of pagan traditions and the dominant class of that time, i.e. the Roman emperors. The earlier Christian theologians and council of Bishops like Gnostic (50 CE), Justin Martyr (150 CE), Theophilus (169 CE), Irenaeus (177 CE), Tertullian (192 CE), Clement (215 CE), Hippolytus (220 CE), Origen (230 CE), Sibellius (255 CE), Arius (320 CE), Council of Nicaea (325 CE), Council of Constantinople (381 CE), Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) played their role in the formulation of doctrine of Trinity by continuously defining and re-defining the nature of God, Jesus Christ, and th e Holy Spirit and their relations to one another. Throughout this process the dominant class of that time used its political muscles to keep the doctrine in line with the state mechanism. In short, the knowledge created by the religious theologians and scholars in collaboration with the ruling class was employed to wield maximum power, and that power was used to control the masses. Now we will exchange the lens of Michael Foucault with other great philosophers of nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to analyze this doctrine in their own conceptions and perceptions. One of the great figure the social philosopher and the most influential political atheist Karl Marx has a very unique materialistic world view to see the processes in the society. He proclaims a conflict view of religion as the sigh of the oppressed creature, the illusory happiness of men, the reflex of real world, the opium of

Cultural Analysis On Death And The Afterlife :: essays research papers

If there is one constant in this world, it would surely be death. Dying is an unavoidable part of life. Indeed, everything that lives will at sometime die. The fear of death is held by everyone. Perhaps it is the correlation of death with pain or the unknown state of the human consciousness after death, maybe a combination of both, that creates this fear. The fear felt is undoubtedly universal, however, the ways in which it is dealt with are varied and diverse. The concept of human mortality and how it is dealt with is dependent upon one’s society or culture. For it is the society that has great impact on the individual’s beliefs. Hence, it is also possible for other cultures to influence the people of a different culture on such comprehensions. The primary and traditional way men and women have made dying a less depressing and disturbing idea is though religion. Various religions offer the comforting conception of death as a begining for another life or perhaps a continuation for the former. Christians, for example, believe that souls that have lived by the words of their God will exist eternally in heaven as divine beings themselves. This conception of an afterlife is generally what we people who are residents of the Unitied States hold to be true. For American culture has its roots in Europe and European culture was and is still influenced by Christian faiths. Similar to Christianity, the Hinduism also eases the fear of death by presenting a life after death. Disimilarities present themselves in the two faiths concerning exactly what kind of afterlife is lived. Believers of the Hindu faith expect to be reincarnated after their demise, either as an animal or human being depending on the manner in which their lives were carried out. These ideals have influenced our culture though our use of language and thought. The implications are apparent in the common references to one’s past lives. For instance, if someone has a natural talent for music one may refer to the person as being once a talented musician in a past life. A religion which describes death as a continuation of existance is held by the Crow tribe of middle America. They viewed death as a journey with the final destination as a place where all their anscestors have gone before them. This notion of an afterlife eased the tribes assimilation into Christian culture when colonists came in contact with the Native Americans during the colonial expansion period.

Emotional Release: Benefits of Art Therapy Essay -- Art Therapy

Title Emotional Release: Benefits of Art Therapy A 6-year-old girl sits next to her therapist, with signs of anxiety upon her face. Pieces of paper, pencil and some markers are placed in front of the girl. She is hesitant to speak out, but these colors do help release some of the tension in the air. She begins to draw and paint, in a matter of fifteen minutes she finishes with a sequence of fourteen pictures: â€Å"A little girl pig is attacked by a man who wax her with a big stick and hits her in the face with a stone, although she has done nothing wrong to him. So the police come and take the man away in their car, under a blanket, and the little pig is taken to hospital by ambulance, â€Å"real bad hurt†. It’s a very long way. In hospital, she is put a stretcher, also under a blanket, and taken for an x-ray. She’s â€Å"real worried† about it and her mother doesn’t know she’s been hurt. In the x-ray picture, sticks and big lumps of stone can be seen inside the pig, where the man has wounded her. The little pig is so ill, she looks sick and her face is still damaged, she might die†¦ she is going to get better? She’s a bit better†¦ just a bad eye†¦ now she’s really better, wearing a pretty dress, decorated with a red heart. The End† (Murphy 1). Estimates predict more than 3.3 million children experience verbal or spousal abuse each year, (Osofsky 3) but not all can tell such complete or symbolic stories; what many choose to do with art materials is make a tremendous mess. Through just this story, many significant themes for the abused child can be reflected: the experience of physical damage, the trepidation of dying, feelings of isolation, the absence of the mother, the sense of injustice, the longing to feel whole an... ...02).  Ã‚  Creativity  in art therapy: Prime mover or silent partner.  Ph.D. dissertation, The Florida State University, United States -- Florida. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.   Malchiodi, Cathy A. (2006). The art therapy sourcebook. McGraw-Hill Professional. Web. 3 Dec. 2010. Murphy, By Jenny. (2001). Art therapy with young survivors of sexual abuse: lost for words.  Psychology  Press.Web.14 Dec. 2010.   Osofsky, J.  The Impact of Violence on Children.  The Future of Children: Domestic Violence and Children  (1999) 9(3):33-49. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. Specht, Sanne.  (30  July). A Picture Is Worth: The stories behind the art therapy pieces on display as compelling as those of the young artists.  McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Web.15 Nov. 2010. Wolff, Rudi. (2007,  May). Engaging art.  Behavioral Healthcare,  27(5),  34-5.  Web. 20 Nov. 2010.                                            

French Revolution Essay -- essays research papers

ON 9th JULY 1797 the statesman and the philosopher Edmund Burke died, after having contracted stomach cancer. He was buried in Beaconsfield Church near his Buckinghamshire home. Burke had been a distinguished Member of Parliament but never attained high office. His political career must be judged a failure. However, Edmund Burke's true legacy was contained in his extensive writings. In letters,pamphlets and books he expounded a coherent system of ideas about human nature;the organic state; the benefits of prejudice;the dangers of government by secret consensus and the role of political parties. Two hundred years on, most scholars would agree that Burke had a gift for deep analysis conveyed in stylish English prose.Yet the content of his work though remains controversial. Supporters included the poet William Wordsworth, who called Burke: "the most sagacious politician of his age". Karl Marx, on the other hand, complained in Das Kapital that Burke was a bourgeois stooge of the English ruling class. Marxists took particular offence at Burke's critique of egalitarianism, perhaps realising the radical threat which this presented to their own vision of a future society. Modern liberals and conservatives still acclaim some of Burke's ideas, but their interest is largely rhetorical. Burke's liberal tendencies would almost certainly not go far enough for today's liberals. His support for the abolition of slavery was only gradualist, his religious toleration did not extend to atheists (whom he saw as dangerous criminals) and, whilst in favour of curbing royal patronage, Burke supported monarchy and aristocracy. Meanwhile, his conservative defence of Parliament, the nation and the Anglican Church would presumably be a sheer embarrassment to today's Conservative Party, which has embraced European Union and a secular, free market ideology. This two-part article will outline some of Edmund Burke's key ideas and assess their relevance to nationalism. His contribution is an important one. Sadly, Burke's clarity and complete lack of political correctness must limit his appeal in the modern age. In 1997 and beyond Burke seems destined to become a forgotten prophet except to those who challenge the prevailing orthodoxy. 1.THE NATURE OF MAN All societies are based on a particular view of human nature. Today's view, springing from Enlightenment philosophy, is that peo... ...ng nature is unworkable, equality is "a monstrous fiction" (7). At worst, ambitious elites use equality as a pretext to reallocate resources to themselves. At best,well-intentioned people see equality as no more than a benign aspiration. They think it would be just in theory but of course not when applied to themselves in practice, lest this endanger their own privileges. This is perhaps the greater error. "Abstract principles,however appealing, cannot be applied directly to solve real political problems. Any attempt to do so will have futile or harmful results. There is no such thing as a political principle which is good in itself, but not practicable. If it is not practicable then it is not good. In Part II of `Edmund Burke's Legacy' the focus will be on other pertinent aspects of Burke's thought. These include his views on:prejudice as being a form of wisdom; "human rights" as being rooted in a specific culture rather than inherited by all people; the dangers of a dual system of government (open and secret) and Burke's belief that political parties should be ideological and that their ideologies should involved "pursuing the national interest'.

Electronic Payment System

UNIT – 3 Electronic Payment System Contents †¢ What is E-payment? †¢ Types of E-payment Systems †¢ Digital Token-based Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Smart Cards & Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Credit Card-based Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Risk & Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Designing Electronic Payment System What is E-payment ? †¢ E-payment systems is the mechanism of transferring money over the Internet and technology used in this transfer is called as EFT. EFT defined as â€Å" any transfer of fund initiated through an e-terminal, telephonic instrument, or computer or magnetic tape to order, instruct or authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account. It is mostly used for Business to business (B2B) commerce where companies doing business together tend to use electronic data interchange (EDI) system to send each other bills and notices of payment. E-Payment †¢ Information online offline $Products/services Adva ntages of E-Payment †¢ †¢ †¢ Increase payment efficiency – Reduce transaction costs – Enable trade in goods and services of very low value Increase convenience of making payments – Payment can be made swiftly and remotely using various devices Can be used for – e-commerce / e-Trade – For other purposes like paying bills, taxes, etc MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 1Categories of EFT Banking and financial payments * Large-scale or wholesale payment * Small scale or retail payment * Home banking Retailing payments * Credit cards * Debit cards On-line electronic commerce payments * Token-based payment system ~ Electronic cash ~ Electronic checks ~ Smart cards or debit cards * Credit card-based payment systems ~ Encrypted credit cards ~ Third-party authorization numbers Main factors when selecting e-payment method †¢ Availability (bank system, laws and regulations) †¢ The consideration of size and type of business, type of a target group of consumers, types of products and services. The ability to provide security against fraudulent activity †¢ Being cost effective for low value transaction fees †¢ Being protective of the privacy of the users †¢ Easy to use, and being convenient for purchasing on the web based e-business Token-based E-Payment Systems Electronic tokens are the new financial instruments which are in the form of electronic cash/money or checks.Electronic tokens are same as cash that is backed by bank. They are of three types: 1. Cash or real-time ( e-cash) 2. Debit or Prepaid (smart cards, e-purses) 3. Credit or Postpaid (credit/debit cards, e-checks) E-cash Electronic cash is a consumer-oriented electronic payment. Though it replaces the cash but still cash is quite dominant form of payment for three reasons: 1. Lack of trust in banking system 2.Inefficient clearing and settlement of non-cash transaction 3. Negativ e real interest rates paid on bank deposit Advantages of cash over credit cards †¢ It is negotiable †¢ Cash is a legal tender †¢ Cash is a bearer instrument †¢ It need require bank account to operate †¢ No risk on the part of acceptor that the medium of exchange may not be good MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 2Properties of e-cash E-cash must have following four properties: Monetary values: Interoperability Retrievability Security E-cash in Action †¢ E-cash based on cryptographic systems called â€Å"digital signature† †¢ †¢ †¢ This method involves pair of two numeric keys (very large number or integer) that work in tandem (cycle): one for encoding and another for decoding. Message encoded with one numeric key can only be decoded with other numeric key and none other. The encoding key is kept private while the decoding key is made public. E-checks †¢ E-checks are a nother form of electronic tokens. †¢ †¢ A new electronic version of paper check. E-check is an instruction to a financial institution to pay a given amount of money to the payee. It is a specially formatted email message sent over the Internet. It contains as the same information as on paper based check. Check service providers PayByCheck (http://www. paybycheck. com) CyberSource (http://cybersource. com) Transaction Payment Sequence in E-check system Payer Transfer e-check Payee Deposit e-check Forward e-check for payer authentication Bank Accounting Server MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof.Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 3 Transaction Payment Sequence in E-check system †¢ Buyer must register with third party account server using electronic check. †¢ On receiving the check, the seller presents it to accounting server for verification and payment. †¢ The accounting system verifies the digital signature on the check. †¢ Proper ly signed and endorsed checks can be electronically exchanged between financial institutions through electronic clearing house. Advantages of E-Check †¢ They work in the same way as traditional checks. †¢ E-checks are suited for micro payments. Eliminate the need for expensive process reengineering and taking advantage of the banking industry. †¢ Financial risk is assumed by accounting server. †¢ E-checks create a float through third-party accounting server. They make money out of buyers and sellers transaction by providing deposit account. Difference b/w EFT and E-check †¢ In E-Cheque, electronic versions of the cheque are issued, received & processed. So, payee issues an E-Cheque for each payment. †¢ In EFT transfer automatic withdrawals are made for monthly bills or other fixed payments; no cheques are issued.Smart cards †¢ A smart card is a plastic card with an embedded microchip containing information about you. †¢ A smart card can store about 100 times the amount of information that a magnetic strip plastic card can store. †¢ A smart card contains private user information, such as financial facts, private encryption keys, account information, credit card numbers, health insurance information, etc. †¢ So far not successful in U. S. , but popular in Europe, Germany, Singapore and Japan to pay for public phone call, transportation.Mondex Smart Card †¢ Holds and dispenses electronic cash (Smart-card based, stored-value card) †¢ Developed by MasterCard International †¢ Requires specific card reader, called Mondex terminal, for merchant or customer to use card over Internet †¢ Supports micropayments and works both online and off-line at stores or over the telephone †¢ Secret chip-to-chip transfer protocol †¢ Loaded through ATM – ATM does not know transfer protocol; connects with secure device at bank MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi , SOM, SIMS, Indore Mondex Smart Card Processing Mondex Smart Card †¢ Disadvantages – Card carries real cash in electronic form, creating the possibility of theft – No deferred (overdue) payment as with credit cards – cash is dispensed immediately Types of Smart cards Smart cards are basically of two types: 1. Relationship-based Smart Cards 2. Electronic Purses and Debit Cards Relationship-based Smart Cards It is the enhancement of existing card services that offer customers far better options like: 1. Access to multiple accounts (debit, credit, e-cash) on one card. 2.Offer various functions ( cash access, bill payment, balance inquiry, fund transfer) 3. Multiple access options at multiple location using multiple access device (ATM, PC, PDA or screenphone etc) Electronic Purses and Debit Cards Electronic Purses or E- wallet are the smart cards embedded with programmable microchip that store sum of money instead of cash. Once a purse is loaded with money it require card reader vending machine which verifies its authenticity . Then after amount is deducted from balance. It shows the remaining balance on the card hence eliminate the small bill in busy stores.E-wallets when depleted can be recharged with money . MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 5 Credit cards-based e-payment system Credit Cards †¢ A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users dealing in e-commerce. Most credit cards are the same shape and size, as specified by the ISO 7810 standard. †¢ A credit card is different to a debit card in that it does not remove money from the user's account after every transaction. In the case of credit cards, the issuer lends money to the consumer (or the user) to be paid to the merchant.Credit cards-based e-payment system Customers who purchase any goods send their credit card details to the service provider involved and the credit card organization will handle thi s payment. Online credit card payment has following categories: 1. Payment using plain credit card details 2. Payments using encrypted credit card details 3. Payment using third-party verification Entities involved in Credit card Transaction Consumer (Buyer or Card holder) Merchant (Seller) Card Issuer (Consumers’ Bank) Acquirer or Principal (Merchant’s Bank) Card Association (Visa, Master Card etc) Third party processor How an Online Credit Transaction WorksEncryption and Credit cards Encryption process starts when credit card information is entered into a browser and sent securely over network between buyer to seller. Encryption process includes following steps: 1. Customer presents his credit card information securely to merchant. 2. Merchant validates the authenticity of card holder 3. Merchant relays this information to its bank or on-line card processor. MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 6 4. The bank r elays the information to customer’s bank for authorization approval 5.The customer’s bank returns the credit card , charge authentication and authorization to the merchant Processing Payment with Encrypted Third-party authorization and Credit cards In third party processing, consumer register with third party on the internet to verify emicrotransaction. The companies providing third party payment service on internet are: ( First Virtual) †¢ http://www. fv. com †¢ http://www. openmarket. com †¢ http://www. 2checkout. com/ †¢ http://www. paypal. com/ Payment can be made by credit card via clearing house.Online Third-Party Processor (OTPPs) has following steps for buying information online. 1. Consumer registers for an OTPP a/c that is backed by credit card. 2. To purchase customer request merchant by her OTPP account no. 3. Merchant then contact the OTPP payment server with customer’s account no. 4. OTPP payment server verifies the customerâ₠¬â„¢s account no. for vender (merchant) & checks for sufficient funds. 5. OTPP server send a message to buyer that can be responded back by buyer as ; yes/agree; No/disagree; fraud. 6.If OTPP gets ‘Yes’ from customer, merchant is informed & then customer is allowed to download material. MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 7 Online Payment Processing using a Third-party Processor Risk in using Credit cards †¢ Customer uses a stolen card or account number to fraudulently purchase goods or service online. †¢ Many people who will be on the Internet have not even had their first Web experience. †¢ Hackers find the ways into an e-commerce merchant’s payment processing system and then issue credits to hacker card account numbers. Many users are also likely to be younger and have less access to credit and debit cards †¢ Many purchases they make will be micropayments. †¢ Credit cards canno t be used for large sums of B2B transactions †¢ Customer falsely claims that he or she did not receive a shipment Limitations of Online Credit Card Payment Systems †¢ Security – neither merchant nor consumer can be fully authenticated. †¢ Cost – for merchants, around 3. 5% of purchase price plus transaction fee of 2030 cents per transaction. †¢ People living in rural areas don’t have same access to computers and Internet that others do. Social equity – many people do not have access to credit cards (young and old age), disabled, individuals who are not computer savvy and individuals who cannot afford cards ( poor credit risk). Designing Electronic Payment Systems Following criteria should be satisfied while designing any new E-payment System: 1. Privacy 6. Pricing 2. Security 7. Standards 3. Intuitive Interface 4. Database Integration 5. Brokers MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Ind ore 8 Electronic Payment System UNIT – 3 Electronic Payment System Contents †¢ What is E-payment? †¢ Types of E-payment Systems †¢ Digital Token-based Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Smart Cards & Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Credit Card-based Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Risk & Electronic Payment Systems †¢ Designing Electronic Payment System What is E-payment ? †¢ E-payment systems is the mechanism of transferring money over the Internet and technology used in this transfer is called as EFT. EFT defined as â€Å" any transfer of fund initiated through an e-terminal, telephonic instrument, or computer or magnetic tape to order, instruct or authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account. It is mostly used for Business to business (B2B) commerce where companies doing business together tend to use electronic data interchange (EDI) system to send each other bills and notices of payment. E-Payment †¢ Information online offline $Products/services Adva ntages of E-Payment †¢ †¢ †¢ Increase payment efficiency – Reduce transaction costs – Enable trade in goods and services of very low value Increase convenience of making payments – Payment can be made swiftly and remotely using various devices Can be used for – e-commerce / e-Trade – For other purposes like paying bills, taxes, etc MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 1Categories of EFT Banking and financial payments * Large-scale or wholesale payment * Small scale or retail payment * Home banking Retailing payments * Credit cards * Debit cards On-line electronic commerce payments * Token-based payment system ~ Electronic cash ~ Electronic checks ~ Smart cards or debit cards * Credit card-based payment systems ~ Encrypted credit cards ~ Third-party authorization numbers Main factors when selecting e-payment method †¢ Availability (bank system, laws and regulations) †¢ The consideration of size and type of business, type of a target group of consumers, types of products and services. The ability to provide security against fraudulent activity †¢ Being cost effective for low value transaction fees †¢ Being protective of the privacy of the users †¢ Easy to use, and being convenient for purchasing on the web based e-business Token-based E-Payment Systems Electronic tokens are the new financial instruments which are in the form of electronic cash/money or checks.Electronic tokens are same as cash that is backed by bank. They are of three types: 1. Cash or real-time ( e-cash) 2. Debit or Prepaid (smart cards, e-purses) 3. Credit or Postpaid (credit/debit cards, e-checks) E-cash Electronic cash is a consumer-oriented electronic payment. Though it replaces the cash but still cash is quite dominant form of payment for three reasons: 1. Lack of trust in banking system 2.Inefficient clearing and settlement of non-cash transaction 3. Negativ e real interest rates paid on bank deposit Advantages of cash over credit cards †¢ It is negotiable †¢ Cash is a legal tender †¢ Cash is a bearer instrument †¢ It need require bank account to operate †¢ No risk on the part of acceptor that the medium of exchange may not be good MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 2Properties of e-cash E-cash must have following four properties: Monetary values: Interoperability Retrievability Security E-cash in Action †¢ E-cash based on cryptographic systems called â€Å"digital signature† †¢ †¢ †¢ This method involves pair of two numeric keys (very large number or integer) that work in tandem (cycle): one for encoding and another for decoding. Message encoded with one numeric key can only be decoded with other numeric key and none other. The encoding key is kept private while the decoding key is made public. E-checks †¢ E-checks are a nother form of electronic tokens. †¢ †¢ A new electronic version of paper check. E-check is an instruction to a financial institution to pay a given amount of money to the payee. It is a specially formatted email message sent over the Internet. It contains as the same information as on paper based check. Check service providers PayByCheck (http://www. paybycheck. com) CyberSource (http://cybersource. com) Transaction Payment Sequence in E-check system Payer Transfer e-check Payee Deposit e-check Forward e-check for payer authentication Bank Accounting Server MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof.Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 3 Transaction Payment Sequence in E-check system †¢ Buyer must register with third party account server using electronic check. †¢ On receiving the check, the seller presents it to accounting server for verification and payment. †¢ The accounting system verifies the digital signature on the check. †¢ Proper ly signed and endorsed checks can be electronically exchanged between financial institutions through electronic clearing house. Advantages of E-Check †¢ They work in the same way as traditional checks. †¢ E-checks are suited for micro payments. Eliminate the need for expensive process reengineering and taking advantage of the banking industry. †¢ Financial risk is assumed by accounting server. †¢ E-checks create a float through third-party accounting server. They make money out of buyers and sellers transaction by providing deposit account. Difference b/w EFT and E-check †¢ In E-Cheque, electronic versions of the cheque are issued, received & processed. So, payee issues an E-Cheque for each payment. †¢ In EFT transfer automatic withdrawals are made for monthly bills or other fixed payments; no cheques are issued.Smart cards †¢ A smart card is a plastic card with an embedded microchip containing information about you. †¢ A smart card can store about 100 times the amount of information that a magnetic strip plastic card can store. †¢ A smart card contains private user information, such as financial facts, private encryption keys, account information, credit card numbers, health insurance information, etc. †¢ So far not successful in U. S. , but popular in Europe, Germany, Singapore and Japan to pay for public phone call, transportation.Mondex Smart Card †¢ Holds and dispenses electronic cash (Smart-card based, stored-value card) †¢ Developed by MasterCard International †¢ Requires specific card reader, called Mondex terminal, for merchant or customer to use card over Internet †¢ Supports micropayments and works both online and off-line at stores or over the telephone †¢ Secret chip-to-chip transfer protocol †¢ Loaded through ATM – ATM does not know transfer protocol; connects with secure device at bank MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi , SOM, SIMS, Indore Mondex Smart Card Processing Mondex Smart Card †¢ Disadvantages – Card carries real cash in electronic form, creating the possibility of theft – No deferred (overdue) payment as with credit cards – cash is dispensed immediately Types of Smart cards Smart cards are basically of two types: 1. Relationship-based Smart Cards 2. Electronic Purses and Debit Cards Relationship-based Smart Cards It is the enhancement of existing card services that offer customers far better options like: 1. Access to multiple accounts (debit, credit, e-cash) on one card. 2.Offer various functions ( cash access, bill payment, balance inquiry, fund transfer) 3. Multiple access options at multiple location using multiple access device (ATM, PC, PDA or screenphone etc) Electronic Purses and Debit Cards Electronic Purses or E- wallet are the smart cards embedded with programmable microchip that store sum of money instead of cash. Once a purse is loaded with money it require card reader vending machine which verifies its authenticity . Then after amount is deducted from balance. It shows the remaining balance on the card hence eliminate the small bill in busy stores.E-wallets when depleted can be recharged with money . MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 5 Credit cards-based e-payment system Credit Cards †¢ A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users dealing in e-commerce. Most credit cards are the same shape and size, as specified by the ISO 7810 standard. †¢ A credit card is different to a debit card in that it does not remove money from the user's account after every transaction. In the case of credit cards, the issuer lends money to the consumer (or the user) to be paid to the merchant.Credit cards-based e-payment system Customers who purchase any goods send their credit card details to the service provider involved and the credit card organization will handle thi s payment. Online credit card payment has following categories: 1. Payment using plain credit card details 2. Payments using encrypted credit card details 3. Payment using third-party verification Entities involved in Credit card Transaction Consumer (Buyer or Card holder) Merchant (Seller) Card Issuer (Consumers’ Bank) Acquirer or Principal (Merchant’s Bank) Card Association (Visa, Master Card etc) Third party processor How an Online Credit Transaction WorksEncryption and Credit cards Encryption process starts when credit card information is entered into a browser and sent securely over network between buyer to seller. Encryption process includes following steps: 1. Customer presents his credit card information securely to merchant. 2. Merchant validates the authenticity of card holder 3. Merchant relays this information to its bank or on-line card processor. MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 6 4. The bank r elays the information to customer’s bank for authorization approval 5.The customer’s bank returns the credit card , charge authentication and authorization to the merchant Processing Payment with Encrypted Third-party authorization and Credit cards In third party processing, consumer register with third party on the internet to verify emicrotransaction. The companies providing third party payment service on internet are: ( First Virtual) †¢ http://www. fv. com †¢ http://www. openmarket. com †¢ http://www. 2checkout. com/ †¢ http://www. paypal. com/ Payment can be made by credit card via clearing house.Online Third-Party Processor (OTPPs) has following steps for buying information online. 1. Consumer registers for an OTPP a/c that is backed by credit card. 2. To purchase customer request merchant by her OTPP account no. 3. Merchant then contact the OTPP payment server with customer’s account no. 4. OTPP payment server verifies the customerâ₠¬â„¢s account no. for vender (merchant) & checks for sufficient funds. 5. OTPP server send a message to buyer that can be responded back by buyer as ; yes/agree; No/disagree; fraud. 6.If OTPP gets ‘Yes’ from customer, merchant is informed & then customer is allowed to download material. MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Indore 7 Online Payment Processing using a Third-party Processor Risk in using Credit cards †¢ Customer uses a stolen card or account number to fraudulently purchase goods or service online. †¢ Many people who will be on the Internet have not even had their first Web experience. †¢ Hackers find the ways into an e-commerce merchant’s payment processing system and then issue credits to hacker card account numbers. Many users are also likely to be younger and have less access to credit and debit cards †¢ Many purchases they make will be micropayments. †¢ Credit cards canno t be used for large sums of B2B transactions †¢ Customer falsely claims that he or she did not receive a shipment Limitations of Online Credit Card Payment Systems †¢ Security – neither merchant nor consumer can be fully authenticated. †¢ Cost – for merchants, around 3. 5% of purchase price plus transaction fee of 2030 cents per transaction. †¢ People living in rural areas don’t have same access to computers and Internet that others do. Social equity – many people do not have access to credit cards (young and old age), disabled, individuals who are not computer savvy and individuals who cannot afford cards ( poor credit risk). Designing Electronic Payment Systems Following criteria should be satisfied while designing any new E-payment System: 1. Privacy 6. Pricing 2. Security 7. Standards 3. Intuitive Interface 4. Database Integration 5. Brokers MBA-II, EBF (FT-204C) Unit-3, Study material compiled by Prof. Vanita Joshi, SOM, SIMS, Ind ore 8