When a Car is More Than Just a Car Essay Example for Free

When a Car is More Than Just a Car Essay The first time I heard the song, â€Å"Fast Car† by Wyclef Jean, I really liked it because it was catchy. After listening to it a few more times, I realized there was a lot of meaning to it. To me, the main goal of this song is to teach the young listeners a difficult lesson to be careful before they do something that could potentially ruin their lives. Also, Jean is showing his listeners there is help out there and tomorrow is not promised – everybody needs take advantage of their available resources so they do not harm themselves. Basically, Jean wants everyone to be careful with the life that they currently have rather than wasting time here on earth. Jean explains his story by using a type of music that will get to young people without making them feel like they are being scolded. He also relates his verses to famous people such as Kanye West, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Sean Bell, Left Eye Lopez, and an innocent 16 year old girl; by using this type of song writing style, young people will listen to the song and learn from it rather than avoiding the topic. The first verse of the song is allduding to Kanye West having a major car accident. He was driving home from a recording studio in Los Angelos at three in the morning when he fell asleep at the wheel. He totaled his car and broke his jaw severely. After this accident, Kanye wrote a song called â€Å"Jesus Walks.† It was part of the album called â€Å"Through the Wire,† which Kanye West actually produced while he had wires holding his jaw together(â€Å"Kanye West†). The first verse of Wyclef Jean’s song says â€Å"I heard a man say Jesus walks, me myself I heard Jesus talk.† This line shows how Jesus is real and how both West and Jean have personally had encounters with Him. The next lines say, â€Å"Cause when I heard his beat I felt Jesus force, I heard it Through The Wire that he made it out the coma, from a fast car.† This line shows West’s devastating accident and the aftermath of it. Kanye was in a coma and nearly died because he failed to be responsible with his car. The purpose of verse one is to show the list eners that driving at late hours of the night or while tired is not safe. It is better to stay somewhere rather than risking a life by driving a car. West was lucky to survive his accident; not all situations have fortunate outcomes however. West dealt with a lot of pain personally, while other peoples’ problems involve their enemies. The second verse of this song is about Tupac and Notorious B.I.G., who is also known as Biggie. Tupac and Biggie had a feud that went on for days before anything was done about it. Biggie was a bad boy, and Tupac was an outlaw. This is explained in the song when Jean writes, â€Å"Some of us are Bad Boys, Some of us are outlaws.† Biggie took the name â€Å"Bad Boys† when he and his producer decided to pair up to make music. Tupac was considered an outlaw because he did not necessarily have any place where he belonged. One day, during November of 1994, Biggie shot Tupac multiple times in the lobby of a recording studio in New York and stole a large amount of jewelry. Everyone suspected Biggie, but he denied it and never got the full blame for it (Huey). During the song, Jean says, â€Å"Unsolved mystery, the killer gets away.† It is very clear he is talking about the incident between Biggie and Tupac. Eventually, their dispute carries on into Vegas and LA, where Tupac is murdered in his SUV from a shot by a neighboring car. The song also explains this because Jean talks about the drama moving on to Vegas and LA and driving a fast car. This rivalry was out of control, especially when Tupac was eventually murdered. Everyone thought the world would become a better place because people would learn from the situation. This was not the case, however, because the rivalries got bigger and America became more violent in the 20th century. Jean is once again trying to show everyone the importance of our lives; he does not want anyone to get into trouble so badly that their lives are ultimately ended by the violence. The chorus speaks the loudest in terms of meaning of the song. The first half is, â€Å"you don’t got to be no billionaire, to get a ticket up to the moon. We all know somebody up there, you need a helping hand, look, I’m right here.† Basically, Jean means everybody goes to the moon, or heaven, one day. However, a person does not have to be rich to take a trip up there. We all know people who have passed away and gone to heaven; it is never easy to say goodbye to people who leave Earth. He wants everyone to know that there is plenty of help on Earth. Jean does not want anybody to mess up their life to the point that it isn’t worth it to fix it. This part of the song has the most symbolic meaning. Cars symbolize the journey of life – from birth to death, just as they help you travel from one place to another. Jean uses the verses to show literal meanings of why we need to be careful with cars; he uses the chorus to show the symbolic meaning associated with fast cars and why they have the ability to be so dangero us. Also, he prefers not to have any hardships to control his listeners’ lives either. The verse goes on to say, â€Å"†¦to help you see clearly now.† Jean wants to be the helping hand for everybody. Why die, when you could fix your problems and live as a happy individual? The whole purpose of the song is to be smart and not let our cars or problems control us. The bridge of the song emphasizes the dangers of cars. A person might be drinking or not in the right mental state to drive, however if they pick up their friends to drive, most of them will probably get in the car. Paul Simon comes into the song at this point and says, â€Å"When that fast car picks you up, you will have no choice. You may hear the tires screaming, but you will have no voice. But as the fast car picks you up, you will weep and smile. And see heaven in the headlights, mile after, mile.† This is a very good representation about what life is really like. People don’t want to stand up to their friends because they will be the only one. However, making the choice to not spe ak up might cost a person their life. Even if it does not ultimately end their life, they will feel regret as they â€Å"see heaven in the headlights, mile after mile.† People know they are making a mistake by getting in a car with people who have been drinking. Yet most people just go along with it in order to fit in. The danger with cars is they do not seem like weapons and people are not very careful with them because they see them as a toy. They can be a weapon though because they can easily hit somebody and injure them or the people in the car. After this song, hopefully everybody begins to see the importance in safety and good decisions. Jean is not even close to done – he keeps bringing in more examples so he can really get is message across. The third verse of this song references the Sean Bell shooting that occurred in November of 2006. Bell held his bachelor party at a Queens Strip Club in New York City. He was drinking and then got into his Nissan Altima with two of his friends. He began to drive and he ran into a New York officer. The rest of the officers thought Bell was a danger so they began to shoot at his car. They killed Bell while injuring two of his friends. All together, they shot 51 times. The officers involved in the incident were indicted, â€Å"charging the two who had fired the bulk of the shots, Detective Michael Oliver and Detective Gescard F. Isnora, with first-degree manslaughter, and the third, Detective Marc Cooper, with reckless endangerment† (â€Å"Sean Bell†). This is explained in the song when Wyclef Jean writes, â€Å"what would you do after your bachelor party? In the bar celebrating with all your homies,† and â€Å"over fifty one shots but you ain’t ready to die.† Jean shows how everybody has a bachelors party and makes bad decisions, but that does not mean he or she deserves to die, or wants to die. Bell made a bad decision by getting in his car when he was under the influence of alcohol, howeve r he did not think it would cause him his life. Jean is showing his listeners a lesson through Bell’s story. He is showing the importance of responsibility, especially when people are under the influence of alcohol. Nobody wants to die, especially right before their wedding. Jean’s lesson is to be careful and mindful of our actions. The fourth verse of the song is about a member of the hip-hop band, TLC. Her name was Lisa – left eye – Lopez and she was on a spiritual trip to Honduras to get her life in order (â€Å"TLCs Lisa Left Eye Lopes dies in wreck.†). Jean explains this by saying, â€Å"Everybody needs some TLC, so she headed to Honduras for some TLC (Tender Loving Care).† Lopez died an innocent death. She was a passenger in a van; she died instantly, while the other seven passengers were uninjured. Jean states, â€Å"Well she was a passenger, never a driver, in that fast car.† At this point in the song, Jean turns to people who are trying to save their lives, yet they still suffer deaths. Lopez was on a journey trying to figure out her problems, but she was killed by a dangerous fast car. She was not ready for heaven, but she ended up taking her trip early. The fifth and final verse of the song is about an innocent 16 year old girl who just had her sweet sixteenth birthday party. She was crossing the street when she was hit by a car and died. The verse says, â€Å"Sweet sixteen, I see her leaving the scene. Crossing the street, she won’t see seventeen.† The person that hit her was under the influence of alcohol. Just as Jean says, â€Å"Blink of an eye, DWI. Hit and run, the assailant flees, in that fast car.† This verse goes along with the chorus very well because the girl was innocent, not ready to die, and she probably was not going through anything difficult that caused her to want to end her life. Instead, she was the victim of a fast car and bad decisions that ultimately ended her life. This song is full of meaning and lessons that meant to be passed on to the reader. Jean is looking out for his listeners while he sings this song. My favorite part will always be, â€Å"You don’t got to be no billionaire, to get a ticket up to the moon.† This line defines the song; it is all about safety and using street smarts so we do not die prematurely. I like to be adventurous and live my life to the fullest, but safety always comes first. I would feel terrible if I left my family behind by making a bad decision – we have to think about our own safety, as well as the way life would change for our loved ones if we took our trip to the â€Å"moon.† This song made an impact on my life, and I hope it changes other peoples’ lives too. Works Cited Huey, Steve. â€Å"The Notorious B.I.G.† Bad Boys Forever. Bad Boys. 2002-2010. http://www.badboyforever.com/artists/the-notorious-big. 21 Feb 2011. â€Å"Kanye West.† Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. n.d. http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/entertainment/music/kanye-west-PECLB004230.topic. 21 Feb 2011. â€Å"Sean Bell.† NY Times Online. NY Times. 28 July 2010. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/sean_bell/index.html 21 Feb 2011 â€Å"TLCs Lisa Left Eye Lopes dies in wreck.† CNN Entertainment. CNN. 26 April 2002. http://articles.cnn.com/2002-04-26/entertainment/obit.lopes_1_watkins-and-thomas-tionne-t-boz-watkins-rozonda-chilli-thomas?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ. 21 Feb 2011.

Frida Kahlo Exposed Her Soul on Canvas Essay -- Biography Biographies

Frida Kahlo Exposed Her Soul on Canvas Frida Kahlo was born in Mexico City on July 7, 1907. Though she wanted many to believe that she was born in 1910, the year of the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. Her father was a photographer of Hungarian Jewish decent, and her mother was Spanish and Native American. From an early age Frida's life would be marked by years of physical suffering. At the age of six she was stricken with polio, this left her right leg to appear much thinner than the other, as well as leaving her with a limp. Though she suffered dearly as a child, she was fearless and brave. She was also extremely intelligent. In 1922 she entered the Preparatoria, the most prestigious educational institution in Mexico, which had only just begun to admit girls. She was one of the only thirty-five girls out of the two thousand students. It was there that she met Diego Rivera, the man that she would eventually marry. In 1925, Frida was involved in a horrific bus accident that would alter the way she would live her life from that point on. She seriously injured her spine, abdomen, pelvis, and right foot. Frida was forced to stay flat on her back, encased in a plaster cast and enclosed in a box like structure for months. Though she survived the accident, the wounds that she suffered led to a lifelong physical battle with pain. Frida eventually regained her ability to walk, but she had many relapses, which caused her to be hospitalized for long periods of time, and also caused her to undergo numerous operations (32 throughout her life). It was her accident that led her to the path of becoming an artist. Frida in itially started painting out of boredom. She would go on to paint many of her masterpieces while being confined to... ...he opening, she of course refused to listen to the doctors and at the last minute she arrived at her exhibition on a hospital stretcher. A few months later she had to have her right leg amputated below the knee, due to a persistent infection. This caused her to spiral into a deep depression. She eventually attempted suicide several times. On July 13, 1954, Frida died. No official autopsy was done, it was a rumored suicide. Her last words in her diary read "I hope the leaving is joyful and I hope never to return". Frida Kahlo would leave behind a legacy of paintings that illustrates the beautiful and talented woman that she was. She offered the world so much beauty, though her time here was spent in such tremendous pain. I only wonder if she would have been able to create such masterpieces without going through such physical and emotional difficulties. Probably not.

Multiple Learning Styles Essay

More than one student in Kindergarten through College has complained of boring courses and tedious homework that had no discernible connection to their immediate environment. Many students describe their courses as lectures that force them to sit and listen to a professor for one to three hours, sometimes without a break in between. It is rare, or even unheard of, for a student to participate in a class-related activity that involved groups, going outside, discussions, or movement. The physical, social, emotional, and cognitive aspects of the classroom are not often addressed, leaving school a less safe and less stimulating environment (Sprenger, 2008). Not surprisingly, school is labeled as a stagnant place lacking in the stimulation of our senses. Students would rather be with friends, play a sport, master a hobby or skill, or even immerse themselves into fantastic games than go to school. Yet these same students appreciate learning new ideas, growing stronger, and having fun in a wide array of visual, audial, and kinesthetic activities. Shouldn’t public and private education use the best methods to impart history, math, science, language, and philosophy to younger generations? While there is no â€Å"best† method to accomplish this, I believe that using multiple learning styles to approach teaching and learning is more effective than using one style to accommodate multiple unique individuals. In its entirety, a learning style is â€Å"the complex manner in which, and conditions under which, learners most efï ¬ ciently and most effectively perceive, process, store, and recall what they are attempting to learn† (Lujan and DiCarlo, 2012). Most professionals and students have used three major learning styles to categorize themselves: Auditory, Visual, and Kinesthetic. These perspectives can be defined in simpler terms to be â€Å"hearing†, â€Å"seeing†, and â€Å"moving/doing†. In the 1980’s, a fourth category was added to differentiate â€Å"visual† and â€Å"read/write† learners, since people like Neil Fleming noticed that â€Å"some students had a distinct preference for the written word whilst others preferred symbolic information as in maps, diagrams, and charts (Fleming, 2006). As a result, the VARK questionnaire was created to identify an individual’s â€Å"preferences for particular modes of presentationâ₠¬  (Lujan and DiCarlo, 2012). Learning style dimensions are connected and related to one another, not â€Å"either/or† categories (Felder and Spurlin, 2005). Some people excel at interpreting locations on maps, while others would rather hear a location described; some would rather draw the map itself. Thus, if a teacher is monotonously lecturing a topic to sophomore students in college, some students will interpret and make connections with the information presented more easily than others. Those students that â€Å"learned less† or â€Å"slower† than other students in that example would have benefitted from other styles of teaching, such as a visual diagram of the information, a mind map, written bullet points, or physical interaction with the subject matter. Without this insight, flexibility, or desire, most teachers would remain unaware that the students who performed worse in their courses might have scored higher on tests or assignments if they had understood the class material from anot her perspective related to learning styles. The use of multiple learning styles outside of the classroom has even more important and practical implications that could lead to more effective problem solving, safety prevention, and innovations that would stimulate more than one sense. Signs on streets could be renovated to accommodate audibly-inclined (or deaf) people while driving their car: their eyes can focus on the road, while their ears would be notified (via radio-wave, for example) of changes in speed limits, lane rules, and traffic congestions. Medical students, who spend roughly two to six more years in school than other college graduates with a bachelor’s degree, would benefit from this in the classroom and during residencies. These future and current professionals are responsible for memorizing and utilizing a multitude of technologies, medications, and other holistic treatments that must be understood through scholarly research papers and on-site administration of those same procedures. How else would they do this without being taught and teaching this complex information via multiple learning styles? In an experiment done by Heidi Lujan and Stephen DiCarlo (2005), only 36.1% of their study’s sample preferred using a single learning style over multiple learning styles. Not only are models and demonstrations useful in imparting information, but peer-to-peer interactions and roleplaying can also foster a student’s ability to create connections between ideas. Some researchers categorize learning styles into eight components: Sensing or intuitive, visual or verbal, active or reflective, and sequential or global. This is also known as the Felder-Silverman Model (Felder & Spurlin, 2005). Each set of words are opposites to each other in terms of ways of interpreting information. According to the Index of Learning Styles (ILS), which adapts these eight ideas into a measureable tool, each of us is a mixture of each learning style, represented by a numerical gradient that connect each paired learning style to itself. When comparing the VARK questionnaire to the ILS, the latter seems to take the four modes in VARK and categorize them even further. However, the audial aspect of the VARK isn’t clearly synonymous to any set of categories in the ILS, but rather, it is a part of the ILS in its entirety. This might be due to the fact that each of us learns things using a unique combination of the VARK, so instead of separating major senses into a questionnaire, the ILS separates major preferences into an index. The accuracy of these tools is always questionable, even by Neil Fleming (2006), who says that the VARK should be used to create conversations that pertain to how each individual learns, and how those learning preferences connect to decisions made by those individuals. As our technological advances increase, teachers, students, and other people will find newer, cost-effective, and dynamic ways to impart and absorb new information (Solvie & Kloek, 2007). Positive uses of virtual reality and MRI’s can lead humans to understanding the way our brains send and receive information. Nano technology might eventually allow us to physically connect our brains to each other’s through the tiniest circuits. This eventual phenomenon will have the potential to collect our natur al resources, connect to each other, and commit to providing excellence in education, our professions, and our daily lives. References Solvie, P., & Kloek, M. (2007). Using technology tools to engage students with multiple learning styles in a constructivist learning environment. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 7(2), 7-27. Fleming, N., and Baume, D. (2006). Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the right tree! Educational Developments, 7.4, 4-7. Heidi E. Lujan and Stephen E. DiCarlo (2005). First-year medical students prefer multiple learning styles. Adv Physiol Educ, 30, 13-16. Marilee B. Sprenger (2008). Environments for Learning. Differentiation through Learning Styles and Memory, 2, 1-10. Richard M. Felder and Joni Spurlin (2005). Applications, Reliability and Validity of the Index of Learning Styles. Int. Engng Ed, 21, 103-112.

Creativity and Innovation in Indian Banks

Topic: Innovative products by Indian organizations in the Banking Sector Akshita Shetty Student K J Somaiya Institute of management studies and research PGDM (RM) Roll no: 56 Email id:[email  protected] com Abstract During the past one decade, one of the sectors which underwent visible sea-change through innovative strategies is undoubtedly the banking sector. The sector has been growing at a fast pace in India and is challenged with several aspects like new regulations from time to time, changing customer needs and perceptions, changing technology and changing operations.Technology has been playing a crucial role in the tremendous improvement of banking services and operations. Indian banking industry has moved way ahead both in terms of offering value added services and delivering quality service. It was thought that the world financial crisis would impact the Indian banking sector in a serious manner. But, because of the strong foundations of Indian banking system with the suppo rt from well structured financial systems, the anticipated impact of the world crisis was almost insignificant. Instead, it helped the banks to get strengthened further and become closer to the customer with innovative approaches.Banks appear to be on the path of achieving sustainability and a long-term survival because of innovation. Keywords: Innovation in banking, technology in banking, changes in banking, transformation in banking, IT in banking, Indian banking. Introduction Technology has brought about a complete paradigm shift in the functioning of banks and delivery of banking services. Gone are the days when every banking transaction required a visit to the bank branch. Today, most of the transactions can be done from the comforts of one’s home and customers need not visit the bank branch for anything.Technology is no longer an enabler, but a business driver. The growth of the internet, mobiles and communication technology has added a different dimension to banking. T he information technology (IT) available today is being leveraged in customer acquisitions, driving automation and process efficiency, delivering ease and efficiency to customers. Many of the IT initiatives of banks started in the late 1990s or early 2000 with an emphasis on the adoption of core banking solutions (CBS), automation of branches and centralization of operations in the CBS.Over the last decade, most of the banks completed the transformation to technology-driven organizations. Moving from a manual, scale-constrained environment to a global presence with automated systems and processes, it is difficult to envisage the adverse scenario the sector was in the era before the reforms, when a simple deposit or withdrawal of cash would require a day. ATMs, mobile banking and online bill payments facilities to vendors and utility service providers have almost obviated the need for customers to visit a branch.Branches are also transforming from operating as transaction processing points into relationship management hubs. The change has been very productive for banks bringing in an increase in productivity and operational efficiency to be more competitive. Better risk management due to centralization of information and real time availability of critical data for decision making. With most of the banks being technology-enabled, the focus is shifting to computerizing regional rural banks (RRBs).In addition, banks are moving toward decision making and business intelligence software and trying to optimize the IT infrastructure created The banking system in India has created a niche for itself in the current competitive global arena where adoption of new and innovative technological developments carries the key to expansion of business and its future development. The Indian banking system has come a long way from being a player restricted to domestic boundaries to a leading giant in the world of financial services across the globe.Credit for this progress goes to a mix of factors like, the introduction of various economic reforms which gave a boost to the banking sector, adoption of new technology by banks in order to streamline their line of businesses and increasing profits by improving cost efficiency and offering doorstep banking convenience to their customers. Banking ‘Then' and ‘Now' Indian villages were deprived of various financial products like mutual funds, insurance and equity trading hitherto, which are now accessible through proxy banking in the form of Internet kiosks and ATMs.The alias given to banking which is not routed through branches is ‘Channel Migration'. Through this route, a bouquet of services is at the customers' disposal in today's banking system. This is possible because banking transactions are stored in a centrally located server with which all other branches of a bank are connected. The technological systems in India are considered far more advanced than those of Russian and Chinese banking sy stems but are lagging far behind the UK, USA and Singapore.Connectivity takes root Today almost all scheduled commercial banks are connected to all the branches on a real time basis extending the anywhere banking facility to the customers, which means that it is not necessary for a customer now to visit the branch personally in order to conduct transactions. Now a customer has various other options available with him like internet banking, mobile banking, ATMs (automated teller machines), phone banking which offers 24 X 7 banking, etc.Whenever and wherever a transaction is done in a bank account, the updated status is reflected in all the branches, thus making anywhere banking possible. ATMs have revolutionalized the banking sector by making cash and other banking services available to customers at all times. Future Outlook The future of Indian banking lies in increased investment in technology platforms and a greater focus on end-to-end solutions provided by IT majors like core ban king products, vertical specific CRM and risk management software. Body scopeInnovation by Indian banks in aspects such as: Service banking ATMS’s Net banking Mobile banking ECS/RTGS/NEFT Debit card/credit cards CRM (customer service) Case studies: (for example) South Indian Bank: The salary disbursement of corporates , firms and such others who maintain accounts with any of the 511 CBS branches would be managed by the Bank, hassle-free and free of any bank charges. The employer would be benefited in that the salary could be disbursed to any employees/any single employee who are/is working even in far-off places where SIB has no presence.Dr. V. A. Joseph ,Chairman & CEO of the Bank and Mr. M. P. Gopalakrishnan,President ,CMS Trust jointly launched the product . In his inaugural address Dr. Joseph said, †This convenience banking product, which is designed for the convenience of both employers and employees, leverages the bank's strong technology platform, which connects all the 511 branches and 26 extension counters of the Bank under Core Banking Solutions network offering anytime banking to its customers. GSSA can be opened with zero balance†.The Chairman and CEO of the Bank also stated, â€Å"South Indian Bank, being a customer – oriented Bank is striving hard to render personalized customer service using the latest technological capabilities. The technological capability of the Bank was recognised when the Bank could bag the banking technology excellence award from IDRBT which is the technical arm of RBI. The service quality of the Bank has also been recognized when the Bank was selected in the ‘Outlook Money – C Fore’ survey as the best private sector Bank in India in the service quality segment. . Dr. Joseph also referred to the facility recently started for online booking of offerings, free of bank charges , through South Indian Bank payment gateway-the first bank to go online booking -by the customers of the bank who are devotees of Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple which is described as the Dwaraka of South India. This facility is being utilized by the NRIs also to effect offerings, hassle –free with greater transparency and security at the click of a button ,either for themselves or their aged parents resident in India.. South Indian Bank had completed on 26. 03. 07 the project ‘SIBertech’ by introducing a centralised Core Banking Solution in technology partnership with Infosys Technologies when many banks had not even started implementation of CBS . SIB, had started this project in 2001 to render personalized customer service. The new product now launched would confirm this belief†, the Chairman concluded his inaugural address.With the following carefully thought-out value additions of this innovative convenience banking product , banking for employers and their employees, is made extremely easy and comfortable: – * ;Free International ATM-cum-Debit Card for which annual maintenance charges are not collected * Online booking of offerings for Lord Sri Guruvayurappan, free of bank charges * O  Withdrawal of cash from the ATMs of other Banks free of bank charges (As charges would be borne by SIB) * O  Free utility payment and e-commerce services * ;No stipulation on minimum balance ;The depositor enjoying many freebies can earn the usual SB interest * ;The depositor can operate his SB account –during his travel/temporary transfer /transfer- hassle-free * ;The account can be closed /transferred to another branch with out any charge * ;Free of cost cheque leaves (subject to limits in each category ) * ;Free fund transfer facility through RTGS/NEFT/Fast Money /DD Customers of this feature-rich Savings Bank account are also provided with facilities to open Depository account and also enjoy mobile banking facility. Indian bank:Indian Bank has won the ‘Golden Peacock Innovative Products/Service Award' for 2011. The award was received by the bank's Chairman and Managing Director, Mr T. M. Bhasin, at the World Congress on Total Quality, held in Bengaluru on Saturday. The award was given to the bank â€Å"in recognition of its contribution to promotion of self help groups (SHGs)†. SHGs have turned out to be major vehicles of women empowerment. In the current year, Indian Bank has so far disbursed Rs 1,360 crore to 55,391 SHGs, taking the total exposure under the SHG portfolio to Rs 2,336 crore, benefiting 175,390 SHGs, says a press release from the bank.State Bank of India: State bank of India, the largest public sector bank in India, offers the following innovative services. 1. SMS Unhappy This innovative idea was initiated by Mr. Siva Kumar, Dy. Managing Director of SBI. Any customer who wants to lodge a complaint sends the message â€Å"Unhappy† to a specified number (8008202020). The Happy Room then calls the customer and records the details of the complaint. The complaint is then forwar ded. SBI has received thousands of such messages since its commencement and this service is a great success.Other banks have also started imitating this service. 2. Crorepati Only Branch SBI has launched first of its kind branch for High Networth Individuals (HNI) where it takes minimum Rs 1 crore to open an account, and that too on invitation only. This branch offers specialized banking facilities like relationship managers, 24/7 lockers, extended banking hours, doorstep pick-up and drop facilities, in addition to pampering customers five-star amenities at the branch. â€Å"We have opened as many as 50 accounts so far.We are confident of opening another 150 by the end of the current fiscal,† as per Mr. Shiva Kumar, Chief General Manager, SBI4. According to SBI, an attractive feature of the branch is 24 hour open lockers. The bank also is providing special dressing rooms for customers to cater to the needs of late night function goers segment. References -Y. Ramakrishna, Serv ice Innovation in Banks for Sustainability, IJMBS Vol. 2, Issue 2, April – June 2012 -Indian banking System: Epitome of continuous innovation, 2008. -Process innovation in the Indian banking industry, 2009 Indian Banking Sector: Challenges and Opportunities -Keertiman Sharma, Innovations in rural financial products and services, VOL. 2(1) – 2011: 35-37 -Outsourcing in the Indian banking sector: gaining momentum, 2008 -Innovation in retail banking -India PRWIRE, South Indian bank launches another innovative convenience product, 2008 -Vortex engineering, Solar power to enable banking and ATM facilities for rural india, 2011 -J U Ahmed, Services Rendered by Commercial Bank: A Customer Oriented empirical Evidence from State Bank of India, Vol. I No. – 2, Jan-2011 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Service Innovation in Banks for Sustainability [ 2 ]. technology in banking: I nsight and foresight [ 3 ]. Indian banking system: epitome of continuous improvement [ 4 ]. Solar power to enable banking and ATM facilities for Rural  India [ 5 ]. Y. Ramakrishna, Service Innovation in Banks for Sustainability, IJMBS Vol. 2, Issue 2, April – June 2012

Barbarous Mexico essays

Barbarous Mexico essays Barbarous Mexico is a book which fully explains the Mexican revolution of 1910. The author John Kenneth Turner travelled to Mexico during the end of Porfirio Diazs rule. Turner gives a shocking portrayl of the abusive planatations were mass amounts of indians lost their lves. Diazs flow of power was downward. This created a dictatorship that allowed Diaz to control every aspect of the peoples lives. The main objection of Barbarous Mexico is to expose the total authoritarian rule Diaz posseses. During the rule of Diaz the people were left behind. They would enivitabley revolt against oppression and try to liberate themselves. Turner has three main parts to this mexican story. First is the slave life on the plantations, the second is the elite society of the Diaz adminstation, and last is foriegn countries. The first chapter sets the tone for the book. The author gives us grim look into the life of the plantation slave. Probaly the worst job in the mexican labor system. The chance of living more than ten years is near immpossible. There is no hope on the plantations. The platations Turner witnessed first hand were in the Yuctan and Valle Nacional. ...

Critical review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical review - Essay Example 118). What emerges are relationships characterized by â€Å"homoscoial desire and dominance† and â€Å"power and dominance over women, gay men, and other straight men† (Kiesling 2006, p. 118). Hirammoto (2010) states that Kiesling’s work is demonstrative of the constructs that reproduce the dominance of heterosexual male models not only outside of a specific group but how they are used to â€Å"claim power in a same-sex social group† (236). Hirammoto (2010) also states that Kiesling’s work is reflective of the findings in the literature relative to theories about heterosexual masculinity. Kiesling informs that the way that men display their heterosexuality is deeply connected to communal practices that segregates heterosexuality and other sexual orientations. This assertion finds currency with McEhinny (2004) who argues that theories about relations among heterosexuals typically err when they take position that gender is an attribute and ignore the fact that it is likewise a practice (150). For McEhinny (2004) Kiesling’s study lends greater weight to heterosexual studies in that it emphasizes heterosexual practices as evidenced by language and speech patterns. To this end, Kiesling (2006) takes the position that heterosexual practices together with â€Å"rituals of speech events† and communal activities contribute toward establishing homosocial and heterosexual identity (p. 118). Keisling (2006) demonstrates this assertion by reference to the Greek alphabet and the concept of Greek sororities and fraternities. As Kiesling (2006) informs: The ‘greek’ letter society system is arranged through an ideology of sexual difference, such that fraternities are all-male, sororities are all-female (p. 118). Even events arranged by the Greek society are predicated on the sexual differences and power differences that emerge as a result. For instance mixers and open parties are designed to distinguish between males and females and emphasize the significance of â€Å"heterosexual desire† and â€Å"sex and alcohol† (Kiesling 2006, p. 119). Kiesling (2006) demonstrates the point by providing an excerpt of a dialogue from a male participant at one of these parties. The excerpt reveals a rather high regard for heterosexual sexual activities. As Kiesling (2006) reports: This high evaluation of heterosexual activity creates a social context in which heterorsexual sex is glorified as an end in itself, thus creating an ideology of heterosexual desire as an important social goal (p. 119). In the dialogue excerpt sexual activities such as â€Å"hook-up† were identified (Kiesling 2006, p. 119). Kielsing (2006) explores these speech activities further by seeking clarification by conducting an interview with another member the male group. During the course of this interview, Kiesling was able to identify a number of heterosexual driven speech activities such as, â€Å"throwin’ raps†, â€Å"scamming† , â€Å"a drunk thing and a do your commitment thing†(p. 121). The last two speech activities demonstrate how men categorize the difference between their heterosexual desires in terms of instant or long-term sexual gratification. The â€Å"drunk thing† is not only for instant sexual gratification but is also a male bonding affair in which these men express their â€Å"sexual prowess† (Keisling 2006, p. 121). The long-term sexual gratification desires are treated differently among the members of the fraternity. It demonstrates that that the male

Nike Case Study on their Supply Chain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nike Case Study on their Supply Chain - Essay Example People from various places across the globe have different tastes for different products hence the need to satisfy these as a way of gaining competitive advantage globally. The other competitive priority for Nike is the need to be cognisant of the changes in consumer behaviour. Consumer wants and needs are different from various parts of the globe hence the need to make an effort to identify and satisfy these so as to be able to remain viable. The cost advantage is another competitive priority for Nike. This is seen as a strategy that is meant to bring goods of an acceptable quality to the market with comparatively lower production costs than its competitors (Strydom 2004). This is achieved through careful and effective management of the cost drivers for the business where it seeks to be a low cost producer while at the same time retaining competitive advantage (Strydom 2004). The other competitive priority that can be adopted by Nike is differentiation. According to Porter (1985:120), differentiation is â€Å"the process when the company provides something unique that is valuable to buyers beyond simply offering low price.† Thus, differentiation strategy is mainly concerned with identifying unique features about a particular product that have a broad perceived value in the market. 2. Nike should reduce product proliferation in an attempt to reduce their supply chain complexity and costs. Product proliferation suggests that there is a rapid growth of a particular product which may be counter-productive as far as demand and supply are concerned. According to the law of demand and supply, when there is high demand the price is likely to go up and this means an increase in the production of new products where costs are likely to be recovered while at the same time an increase in supply will lower the prices (Kotler 1999). Oversupply of products can result in