Compare and Contrast Interviews Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compare and Contrast Interviews - Assignment Example Dinkins was as poised as Rahm. For every question, he had a justification that oozed his professional experience. When it comes to leadership, NYC Mayor David Dinkins defines this in many ways. Leadership is stemmed from experience or the desire to succeed beyond others. Successful leaders deflect attention away from them and encourage others to voice their opinions. Dinkins is a great leader as a person who guides a group of individual towards a certain goal. In order to rectify this issue, Dinkins took a strong initiative as he began a hiring program that grew the police force by 25%.This, in fact, is the manifestation of being a good leader because Dinkins has paid his dues in the army and improved the race relations. I asked Dinkins about his past experience and what motivated him. He explained to me that he always wanted a social reform. Social reform has been the focal point for Dinkins as he continued to champion for women rights, reduce pollution, and help lower-class families with financial assistance. This is exemplified in NYC Mayor David Dinkins because of his ability to understand the struggle of a common man. A man with a very humble beginning, Dinkins was exemplary of reform and civil rights. A man similar to his caliber was Rahm Emmanuel. The interviewer asked Rahm about what appealed to him about this position. It is clear that Rahm stated that Leaderships is undeniably stemmed from an inner motivation to excel and lead a group of individuals to a collaborative success. Under Rahm’s professionalism, harnessing the growth of the community, championing the cause for lower-income individuals. Rahm Emmanuel was a confident public speaker who was making reformations in Illinois. Cognitive research indicates that each person attributes contribute to their upbringing. The interview asked Rahm about the worst schooling system in the USA, and Rahm was quite calm. Rahm answered with a fact that he plans to propagate for more resources. Under Rahm’s leadership, the school system has drastically been enhanced.more resources. Under

Apple iphone analysis Essay Example for Free

Apple iphone analysis Essay The phone starts ringing, were going to pick it up and when we touch it, the ringer volume smartly goes down! Yes! Today a company like HTC could make this kind of cellphone. Since the launch of the IBM Simon in 1993, smartphone technology has reached levels that until recent times had only been dreamed about. Features such as wireless sharing, HD video recording and mobile internet are now commonplace and today’s average smartphone has more processing power than computers used by NASA to land a man on the moon. All over the world, the smartphone experience is being shared by more and more people every day. The convergence of mobile telephony, Internet services, and personal computing devices is resulting in the emergence of a â€Å"mobile Internet† (Ishii 2004; Funk 2001). The key devices for accessing the mobile Internet -currently dubbed â€Å"smartphones† are powerful new computing devices offering traditional wireless voice service as well as native software applications and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to connect to and run a myriad of Internet-based services including email, geo-location, streaming video, and social networking, while providing a good user experience. The business opportunities presented by this new category have attracted many of the major global information and communications technology (ICT) firms, including firms from the mobile telephony, personal computer, Internet, and personal digital assistant (PDA) industries, into a complex new landscape of competition. For many of these firms, capturing a portion of the total value created by the smartphone industry is believed to be a key to future growth and profits. The interest is understandable. Today more than 1. 3 billion mobile phone handsets are being sold annually, and in 2010 smartphones made up almost 20% of that total (Gartner, 2010; Ahonen, 2010). Sales of smartphones are increasing almost 100% per year, and total global sales volume is expected to surpass that of PCs by 2012 (Gartner, 2010). By collapsing the boundaries between previously distinct devices, smartphones are subsuming sales of mobile phones entirely and, increasingly, netbook and notebook PCs. To complicate the landscape, the smartphone is not the only device at stake, tablets and ebook readers are emerging as key components of the mobile universe. Across all devices, total mobile revenues including advertising, subscriptions, handsets, applications, and so on are forecast to surpass $1 trillion by 2014 (Gartner, 2010). Given the rate at which smartphone are penetrating the market and component prices are declining by 2015 there will be, at least, 2 billion smart mobile devices in use globally. According to the instructions we should make a report with a organizational business plan structure to depict current situations of Apple Inc. / iPhone division, and then analyze strength and weakness of the company. I will start with SWOT and PESTEL analysis. Then we review the most effective force on iPhone production with Porters 5 forces. Then we will analyze Apple iPhone Growth and market share in depth with BCG matrix. I use mostly 2012 figures to draw an up to date image from Apple iPhone production and market situation. Ansoff matrix will be the next analysis which helps us understand iPhone market penetration and how it reached diversification. Apple is a big company with several products and services that provide along with products. Each product has its own market. It is possible to use multiple factors and combine related statistics for analyzing a company with different product. But in this case we are required to analyze smartphone industry only. I use recent figures (2010 to 2013) for analyses. For brands comparisons I consider Apple, Samsung, HTC, ZTE, and RIM (BlackBerry). For set goals and making the report’s objectives we should specify what we want. It is required to indicate strength and weaknesses of smartphone section. In my opinion weaknesses are more important. They could emerge in any areas such as production lines, technological aspects or selling process and cause big failures. Prominent strength and weaknesses will be identified and then will be matched with political, social, technological and environmental factors. Industry intensity will be assessed using Porter’s 5 forces analysis. This analysis classifies strong and weak points within 5 forces: Threat of new entrants and substitute products, bargaining power of suppliers and customers, and segment rivalry. These forces analyze micro environment. For macro factors we could look into PESTEL analysis. For market share and growth analysis Growth-share matrix (BCG matrix) will be used. This method indicates a product strength using its sales cash flows. iPhone position will be determined among 4 BCG matrix’s categories: Star, Cash cow, Dog and Question mark. Apple iPhone as a new product in comparison with existing products within a new or existing market will be analyzed using Ansoff matrix. Result shows that iPhone as a new product in 2007 was magnificent. 270,000 units were sold at that time. Expanding the concept of the marketing mix is important for companies that want to adapt to new markets. For example, just placing a product in stores is not enough. A manufacturer with retail outlets also needs to think about physical environment and layout. The store should convey the right look and feel, leading consumers to build up positive associations with the brand. Products inside the store should be displayed logically and consistently, in the locations customers would check first if they were looking for specific items. Because of all these factors a complete extended marketing mix (7Ps) will be presented. Global Smartphone trend The global smartphone market has been experiencing explosive growth for the last several years. Competition has remained fierce all throughout, but the numbers dont lie. Two technology titans dominate the market, taking a whopping 92% of market share for themselves. These two companies are Google and Apple. Data regarding smartphone sales during Q4 2012 has come out during the last several days, evidencing how much people all over the globe want to get their hands on a smartphone. After a quick look at the information, it becomes evident that the high-end phone market is a one of the most extreme oligopolies of the 21st century. With the release of Blackberry 10 just two days away, investors are starting to ask if there really is any room left for Research In Motions latest offering. Smartphones are flying off the shelves. According to Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments have increased from 490. 5 million during 2011 to 700. 1 million during 2012, which is roughly 30% growth year-over-year. If anything, there is room for disruption within the industry: people will keep buying more phones. As the market grows, however, so does Androids market share: Android went from having 48. 7% of the market in 2011 to a whopping 70. 1% in Q4 2012. Apples iOS has also grown slightly, capturing 22% of the market share by the end of the same period. How much is there left for everyone else? As of Q4 2012, a meager 7. 9%. The success of the iPhone, Pre, and Blackberry shows the strength of consumer demand for an intelligent, multifunctional device. The appeal of the smartphone will create significant new revenue streams for carriers and developers, who should strive to create new service bundles that build off this mobile platform with converged video, voice, and data applications. Future Smartphone sales forecast Smartphone sales blew past the number of PCs sold last year, and theyll be nearly twice PC sales this year, analyst Alex Cocotas of BI Intelligence predicts. More startling, smartphone sales will exceed 1. 5 billion units per year by 2016. This compares to about 350 million PCs and 1. 7 billion mobile handsets sold globally last year. Smartphone sales will be driven by two main factors, BI Intelligence says: Replacement of nearly 5 billion dumbphones with smartphones (smartphones currently make up only 10% of handsets worldwide) Price declines. The average price of a smartphone will drop from about $315 last year to $200 over the next several years This will obviously have a huge impact on the mobile Internet economy, which is already exploding from the growth of smartphone penetration in the past few years. Some other highlights from the report: Smartphone unit sales will grow at nearly a 30% compound annual growth rate over the next five years Smartphones will represent about two-thirds of all mobile phone purchases by 2016, Smartphones will be a $320 billion market by 2016. These forecasts are much higher than those of other industry analysts, who generally expect smartphone unit sales to hit about 1 billion a year by 2015. Apple Mission and Vision statement Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad. Apple vision statement: Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings. Apple Background On December 2012 The Economist reported that â€Å"Apple became the most valuable company ever (in nominal terms), beating the record that Microsoft hit in December 1999. Apple’s share price peaked at $705 before entering bear territory and falling by 25%, to $510; at the start of 2012 it had been $410. † Apple Incorporated is an American corporation that designs and manufactures computer hardware, software and other consumer electronics. The company is best known for their Macintosh personal computer line, Mac OS X, extremely loyal user-base, iTunes media application and the iPod personal music player. The company headquarters is in Cupertino, California, CEO and co-founder is Steve Jobs and the company boasts 284 retail locations spanning 10 different countries. Apple Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976 in a garage by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The young entrepreneurs brought different strength to their fledgling company: Jobs had a flair for conceptualizing products, while Wozniak had the technical know-how to make them happen. Apple I was the first product that Apple Inc. produced. It was a personal computer (PC) with a MOS 6502 cpu clocked at 1 MHz and 4Kb memory. In 1977, Apple introduced Apple II which became a very successful device. After that the company began to produce Apple II series. The Apple II was followed by Apple II plus, Apple IIe, Apple IIc, Apple IIGS, Apple IIc Plus and Apple IIe Card. Apple introduced Macintosh in 1984 that became a very successful computer. It was a first computer featuring a graphical interface and a mouse for navigation. The new computer sold very well, pushing apples fiscal 1984 sales to an unprecedented 1. 5$ billion. By 1985, however Jobs and Scully began to disagree over the direction they wanted the company to take. After Jobs attempt to remove Scully failed, Jobs left Apple in May to start his own new business, NeXT Computers. In December 1996, Apple acquired NeXT, with the plan of using its technology as the basis for a new operating system. After being gone for more than a decade, Jobs returned to the company he had originally cofounded with Wozniak.. In 1998 Apple introduced the new generation of PowerMacs, PowerBooks, and the highly anticipated iMac and iBook, which were less expensive computers aimed at the how-end computer market. After an entire year without showing a profit, the first quarter of 1998 began three years of profitable quarters for Apple. Apple ventured into the market of legal downloads with the introduction of its iTunes Music Store in 2001. iTunes offers downloads at a specified price without requiring subscription or monthly fees. iTunes offers its users a selection of more than 6 million songs, with new songs continually added. For music lovers, the iPod is the greatest invention since the Walkman. With up to 160 GB of storage, it allows users to carry up to 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video wherever they go. There are currently four different iPod styles: the iPod shuffle, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod touch. Apple earned 5,615 million just from iPod in 2012 . Brief Chronology: 1976 With $1,300, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, Inc. 1980 Apple converts to public ownership. 1982 Apple becomes the first personal computer company to reach $1 billion in annual sales. 1985 John Scully assumes the helm after a management shakeup that causes the departure of Jobs and several other Apple executives. 1991 PowerBook line of notebook computers is released. 1994 Power Macintosh line is released. 1996 Acquisition of NeXT brings Steve Jobs back to Apple as a special advisor. 1997 Steve Jobs is named interim chief executive officer. 1998 The all-in-one iMac is released. 2000 Jobs, firmly in command as CEO, oversees a leaner, more tightly focused Apple. 2001 The iPod is released; Apple opens its first retail store in Virginia. 2003 Apple opens its first store in Japan. 2005 The release of a video iPod, the fifth generation of the device, pushes total iPod unit sales to 30 million. In first-quarter 2007, Apple launched its revolutionary product, the iPhone. iPhone combines three concepts popular with customers: a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and a internet communication device. The iPhone brags an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering software. which users can control with just their fingers. The iPhone default Internet browser will be Apples own Safari **, but it is open to other software as well. The iPhone allows for 8 hours of talk time. Apple sold 1million iPhone less than three month after this product was available to customers. Apple expects this trend to continue during 2008 and to reach sales of 10 million iPhones, stealing 1 percent of the mobile phone market share. . One year following the untimely death of Steve Jobs, the company he co-founded and led for most of his adult life appears to be thriving and lacking any serious obstacles to its break-neck growth in a rapidly changing technology market. That said, Apple Inc. still has plenty of challenges ahead. Some of those stem simply from the nature of the fast-paced, hyper-competitive consumer technology business the company currently competes in — and largely dominates. Other challenges may be more unique to Apple and its singular focus on a relatively narrow line of products. And long-term, the company may still feel the loss of a leader who possessed an uncanny ability to see around corners, and bend other strong personalities to his will. â€Å"The guy who could literally pull rabbits out of his hat no longer exists,† said independent technology analyst Roger Kay. Apple’s had a phenomenally strong year since Jobs’ death from cancer last October, which left the company permanently in the hands of the senior management team he spent years cultivating, led by CEO Tim Cook. It’s also had some stumbles along the way. Some missteps with features such as Siri — the infamous personal digital assistant first embedded into last year’s iPhone 4S — and the Apple Maps tool in the latest iPhone 5 have caused some level of embarrassment. The company under Jobs’ direction was not free of slip-ups either, and some issues have spanned both periods, such as growing concerns about the treatment of workers in the massive Chinese factories that produce the company’s popular products. But if proof is in the numbers, investors may find it hard to argue against the crew running Apple now. The company is conservatively projected to report a 44% revenue gain for its just-ended fiscal year — with earnings expected to post a gain of more than 60% from the previous year. Apple’s stock is up more than 70% from the day Jobs passed away, despite the stated concerns at the time of many investors and analysts about how well the company could keep its pace of innovation without its chief visionary at the helm. The key challenge for Apple’s management team will be in keeping the company’s strongest profit engines humming. And this will involve the right mix of technological innovation and deal making. The iPhone is the most crucial element. First launched in 2007, the smartphone accounted for nearly 55% of Apple’s total revenue in the first nine months of the just-ended fiscal year. While the company does not disclosed profitability data on its product lines, analysts believe the iPhone is the major driver of operating profits, with a gross margin of well over 50% on the devices. Apple can command those high subsidies because of the strong consumer demand for the iPhone. But competitors are pushing hard into the smartphone space. Samsung has already outpaced Apple in global shipments thanks to its use of Google’s Android operating system and its wide line of phones that appeal to a broader array of markets and consumers. Apple’s old nemesis Microsoft is launching an updated Windows Phone platform this fall, with Nokia and Samsung building devices for the software. Investors will continue to watch closely for signs that Apple’s current team can not only push forward its existing product line, but add to them with new categories and innovations. Though the iPhone 5 launched a year following his death, a report by Bloomberg BusinessWeek cited unnamed sources as saying that the device received â€Å"detailed input† from Jobs prior to his death. Despite Apple’s strong run of success, it’s narrow product line and strong reliance on the iPhone makes it vulnerable to competitors who may come up with better ideas. Apple’s future success will likely hinge on its ability to maintain that posture —no matter who’s in charge. Apple SWOT Analysis: SWOT is a great indicator of an agencys strategic ineptitude. This involves you creating a two-by-two grid and then populating it with a list of incredibly obvious client strengths and weaknesses, and another list of equally palpable opportunities and threats. Then you stand back and gaze at this list of incredibly humdrum words, such as competitors and new product, and attempt to intuit a bold, new, innovative way of doing business. The table below provides information about current situation of Apple’s smartphone market position, strength and weaknesses and also its possible future situations, threats and opportunities. Table Apple Inc. Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths Weaknesses Universally accredited and well-known brand which also began kind of revolution in smartphone industry Apple is a Big name in the technology world. It brings so much responsibility and kind of obligation for company and its product. New iPhone map application problem and customer frustration would be a good example. Brand loyalty is incredible. People will line up in the freezing cold overnight just to be one of the first to get their hands on the new iPhone! From the anti-capitalism point of view devices like iPhone counts as luxuries. They think this kind of huge prices could be spend somewhere more vital. Employ high technologies. This offers unique features for at least two purposes. One, First degree price discrimination and two, luxury customer satisfactions Utilize high technology along with high quality hardware component turn Apple iPhone into very costly merchandise. Probably many people cannot afford the price. Ease of use. Apple utilizes user friendly design elements for both hardware and software parts of iPhone. 3. 5 mm audio jack would be a good example! iPhone is equipped with own Apple closed operating system, iOS. And apps which work with iOS can only be downloaded from App Store. Other rivals like Android have more distribution channels. Former CEO, Steve Jobs’ role in developing iPhone and leading Apple to the market incredibly. Steve Jobs died on Oct 2011. We can still see his works and ideas in Apple iPhone. His lost can be an excessive damage to the company. Having strategic agreements with well-known mobile carriers. like T-Mobile and ATT Apple summary of PESTEL Analysis Political factors The supply and manufacture of many critical components is performed by sole-sourced outsourcing partners in the U. S. , Asia and Europe. Outsourcing partners in Asia perform final assembly of substantially all of the company’s hardware products. Manufacturing or logistics in these locations or transit to final destinations may be disrupted for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, natural and man-made disasters, information technology system failures, military actions or economic, business, labor, environmental, public health, or Political issues. War, terrorism, geopolitical uncertainties, public health issues, and other business interruptions have caused and could cause damage or disruption to international commerce and the global economy, and thus could have a material adverse effect on the Company, its suppliers, logistics providers, manufacturing vendors and customers, including channel partners. The Company’s business operations are subject to interruption by natural disasters, fire, power shortages, nuclear power plant accidents, terrorist attacks, and other hostile acts, labor disputes, public health issues, and other events beyond its control. Economic factors The global recession is having a serious impact on Apples retail performance The follow-on effects from global economic conditions on the Company’s suppliers could affect the Company’s ability to obtain components. Therefore, the Company remains subject to significant risks of supply shortages and price increases. The Company expects to experience decreases in its gross margin percentage in future periods, as compared to levels achieved during 2012, largely due to a higher mix of new and innovative products with flat or reduced pricing that have higher cost structures and deliver greater value to customers and anticipated component cost and other cost increases. Future strengthening of the U. S. dollar could also negatively impact gross margin. Social factors The Company’s business requires it to use and store customer, employee, and business partner personally identifiable information (â€Å"PII†). This may include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, contact, preferences, tax identification numbers, and payment account information. Although malicious attacks to gain access to PII affect many companies across various industries, the Company may be at a relatively greater risk of being targeted because of its high profile and the amount of PII managed. Technological factors Apple RD expense is increasing year by year. $1. 8 billion for 2010, $2. 4 billion, and $3. 4 billion for 2012 which is a crucial manner in these days competition Environmental factors The Company also sells its hardware and software products to enterprise and government customers in each of its geographic segments. The Company’s products are deployed in these markets because of their performance, productivity, ease of use and seamless integration into information technology environments. The Company’s products are compatible with thousands of third-party business applications and services, and its tools enable the development and secure deployment of custom applications as well as remote device administration. Legal Factors The Company is subject to laws and regulations affecting its domestic and international operations in a number of areas. These U. S. and foreign laws and regulations affect the Company’s activities including, but not limited to, areas of labor, advertising, digital content, consumer protection, real estate, billing, e-commerce, promotions, quality of services, telecommunications, mobile communications and media, television, intellectual property ownership and infringement, tax, import and export requirements, anti-corruption, foreign exchange controls and cash repatriation restrictions, data privacy requirements, anti-competition, environmental, health, and safety.

Singapore Banking and Finance Services Sector

Singapore Banking and Finance Services Sector Introduction What is the banking and finance services sector? Definition of banking and finance gives information of definition of banking and definition of finance. Finance means circulation of capital such as money and currency, or procurement and management of the capital, in connections with financing activities. Finance and banking service is Services and products provided to consumers and businesses by financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms, consumer finance companies, and investment companies all of which comprise the financial services industry (InvestorWords, 2015). Two of both sectors are related to each other. What does this sector mean to the Singapore economy? Banking and Finance of Singapore economy is finance and banking services. In recent years, Asian countries are receiving attention from the world because they have an infinite of possibilities and capabilities such as enormous number of population, geographical position and abundant natural resources. Most of all, Singapore have grown up and developed rapidly. Since 1970’s, Singapore was called ‘four Asian dragons’ with several Asian countries, which are Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea because Singapore and those countries could become rapidly industrialized by cheap and plentiful labor and active export policy. Especially, Singapore have been developed by finance and banking services. Contribution of these sectors to the national economy Singapore economy could be developed by contributions of finance and banking services sector such as Job market and Financial Hub and attracting foreign direct investment and so on. Especially, the reasons of developing is that Singapore is a huge financial hub and attracting foreign direct investment. Early Singapore was limited land space and natural resources. To overcome those disadvantages, Singapore pursued trade liberalization. And to make the best use of a geographic benefit, this country intermediated trade. Therefore, Singapore is able to be a finance hub and attract foreign direct investment. Nowadays, Singapore is an international major financial trading hub to lift up its head in dealings of foreign exchange and the domain of asset management. Foreign-exchange market of Singapore is ranked top five in the world after London, New York, Zurich and Tokyo. And then, there is 110 number of foreign banks. The scale of asset management is about S$ 1trillion. Recently, Singapore is pushing forward a business of Islam finance. For attracting foreign direct investment, Singapore is a trade liberalization because there is a transport center by its conditions of a location. Because of using this benefit, there is total 5 container terminals and 45 berths. This container port processes one-fifth amount of international transhipment. Moreover, Singapore airport ‘Chang-I’ is connecting with 200 cities in 60 countries. There is 85 airlines. Second contribution is Job Market. According to improving Singapore’s finance and banking services, there is the number of foreign banks and businesses. It means that getting job in Singapore is able to be easy. And then, GDP per capita in Singapore also will increase. Below graph is GDP per capita in Singapore from 1960 to 2013. -GDP per capita of Singapore (GDP of Singapore, bln. Dollar, 1970-2013) According GDP per capita in Singapore line graph, the GDP per capita was rising steadily from 1970 to 2013. In 1960, the GDP per capita is only 925 USD. It is the lowest GDP per capita from 1970 to 2013, ranked 74th in the world. For example, the figure measured lower than GDP per capita of Indonesia (86 USD) and Malaysia (343 USD), which are Singapore’s neighbor countries, and then one of developing countries in the Asia currently. On the contrary, the highest GDP per capita was a near 54,649 USD in 2013. The measured value of GDP (54,649 USD) per capita is higher than some developed countries such as U.S.A (5126 USD) in about 6 times, Japan (2016 USD) in 2 times, and Germany (2712 USD) in 3 times. Generally, this graph is drawn by upward curve. (Kushnir, n,d) Challenges facing by this sector in the future Singapore economy has been improved by banking and finance services. However, the sector is able to face challenges such as dependency of global economy and other regional financial hub in the future. Singapore is the biggest Asia finance hub. Thus, economy of Singapore is exposed and influenced by global economic conditions. And then, it is shown by GDP of Singapore. GDP of Singapore, 1970 to 2013 (GDP per capita in Singapore, bln. Dollar, 1970-2013) The Above line graph illustrates GDP of Singapore from 1970 to 2013. Generally, GDP of Singapore draws upward curve. In 1970, GDP of Singapore was an estimation of 1.9 billion USD (United States Dollar). It is ranked 74th in the world. By 1980, the GDP slowly increased to about 12.08 billion USD. Moreover, after 1980, the GDP took a sharp increased from to 1997. However, from 1997 to 2004, the graph of GDP is generally decreasing by Asia economic crisis. The issue appeared from South Korea. Some of Asian countries tried to be capital decontrol. But without capital, the countries should take out a loan from IMF (International Monetary Fund). Thus, Singapore economy was also affected from Asia economic crisis. Eventually, most companies in Singapore ought to restructure with layoff, and is under threat of bankrupt. Nevertheless, once again, it steadily increased to the year 2013. In 2013, the GDP was about 297.94 billion USD. (Kushnir, n,d) According to GDP, after 2004, Singapore economy has been grown. However, from 1997 to 2004, had been decreasing because of Asia economic crisis in the period. It means that the same economic condition will be happened by global and regional economy in the future. Other challenge in Singapore is competitive from other regional financial hub. The number of Asian international financial centers (IFCs) such as Seoul in South Korea, Tokyo in Japan and Shanghai in China want to become international financial hub. Nowadays, the international financial centers of those cities are developing and making an effort, and then each cities are competitors of Singapore financial center. For example, one of the competitor, Seoul in South Korea, establish the Korea National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (KOPEC). In 2007, KOPEC had a convention of an international conference in Seoul with 3 Asian countries such financial centers (Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore). Another microeconomic challenge is a ‘Shortage of skilled talent’. In Singapore, is already international financial hub, there is the number of business and banks are having competitions. If employees in organization have shortages of skill and talent, they would not survive in the rapidly changing world economic situation. For example, ‘Accounting and writing skills are crucial’, ‘International talent in High demand at money-center banks’, ‘Marketing types wanted’, ‘Days of easy hours long gone’ and then ‘MBA optional’. They should develop their own skills and talents, and then may follow the economic flow. (Hean Hoo, 2015) Strategic planning by this sector in the present and the future In Singapore’s finance and banking services sector, there is the number of competitors such as banks and businesses as well as financial centers from other Asian cities. Singapore should have strategic planning such as training and education, and global innovation. Training and Education Most of organizations should train and educate their employees for the rapidly changing world economic situation for employees’ effective, accurate and practical performance of tasks. After training and education, the employees would be more developed. One of way in effective training and education is E-learning by developed technology. When organizations open online lecture, the employees may get the organization’s training and education through their Smart-Phone and Tablet PC. This kind of training for adults looks helpful and effective for them that they can be able to learn all of the necessary things that they need in improving their skills and techniques. (Stephanie, 2014) Stress testing and risk management Stress testing for risk management is one of the useful method for identifying how a portfolio would be fair during a period of financial crisis. One of the most general used ways of stress testing is ‘The Monte Carlo’ simulation. Moreover, this simulation technique is also used to be aware of how several risks will influence an organization and industry. Before an economic a financial crisis, using the simulation is able to detect and predict future economic crisis with solutions. Therefore, countries and organizations ought to do stress testing and manage future risks. Conclusion How the MAS supports this sector? The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is a Singapore central bank, a kind of Singapore government department. MAS has authority of regulation and supervision of Singapore finance and banking, and then it issues money and drafts a law of financial and banking policy. This department focuses on exchange rate rather than interest rate otherwise other central banks. According to developing Singapore, Singapore is complicated by the number of bank works with finance, so the government established ‘Monetary Authority of Singapore Act’ in January, 1991. (Monetary Authority of Singapore, 2014) What is the outlook for the future of this sector in Singapore? Nowadays, Singapore is one of the most developed countries in the world, as well as in Asia because of the finance and banking services. Through the GDP and the GDP per capita from 1970 to 2013, the graphs are illustrated that it has increased and grown up in the future. In the end, Singapore finance and banking services will be more by several contributions. However, Singapore will also face several challenges in the future, so the country should have strategic planning of the sector, and predict and manage future risks. References InvestorWords (2015) InvestorWords. Availanle at: http://www.investorwords.com/19080/financial_services.html [Accessed 15 May 2015]. Kushnir, I. (n.d) World macroeconomic research, 1970-2013. Available at: http://kushnirs.org/macroeconomics/gdp/gdp_singapore.html [Accessed 15 May 2015]. Kushnir, I. (n.d) GDP of Singapore, bln. Dollar, 1970-2013. Available at: http://kushnirs.org/macroeconomics/gdp/gdp_singapore.html [Accessed 16 May 2015] Kushnir, I. (n.d) GDP per capita in Singapore, bln. Dollar, 1970-2013. Available at: http://kushnirs.org/macroeconomics/gdp/gdp_singapore.html [Accessed 16 May 2015]. Hean Hoo, W. (2015) Economics Policy and the Global Environment LECTURE SLIDES. Kaplan/Dublin: Veritas. Stephanie, R. (2014) ‘Workplace Training and Education: Effective Methods for Training Adults’, Human Resources Blog, 17 Feburary. Available at: http://tribehr.com/blog/workplace-training-and-education-effective-methods-for-training-adults [Accessed 18 May 2015]. Monetary Authority of Singapore. (2014). Monetary Authority of Singapore. Available at: http://www.mas.gov.sg/about-mas/overview.aspx [Accessed 17 May 2015].

Does th FAA over regulate the aviation industry :: Essays Papers

Does th FAA over regulate the aviation industry The roots of today’s aviation regulations extend back to December 17, 1903 when the Wright Brothers first took to the skies in North Carolina. The Wright Brothers set the stage for aviation regulation. After World War I returning pilots bought some surplus war airplanes and went into business. These pilots were known as the barnstormers. These barnstormers performed acrobatic shows and gave local people rides. During this period of time the public perception of the aviation industry was that of a daredevil or reckless. Aviation took off very slowly because it was too expensive for most consumers. Primarily the wealthy were able to take trips to the East Coast. Uses of aviation included advertising, aerial photography, crop dusting and carrying illegal shipments of alcohol during the prohibition. Growth of commercial aviation was greatly influenced when the U.S. Air Mail Service was created in the early 1920’s. The Post Office was one of the first to impose aviation regulations. It required its pilots to be tested, pass medical exams and have at least 500 hours of flying experience. The Post Office set up aircraft inspection schedules and preventive maintenance programs for the pilots to have a safe airplane to fly. These early regulatory requirements improved air carrier safety. During the infancy of aviation no federal safety program existed. Some states passed legislation that required aircraft licensing and registration. Local governments passed ordinances that regulated flight operations and pilots. What this created was a patchwork of safety related requirements. In 1926 Congress passed the Air Commerce Act, which created the Department of Commerce. Historically the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dates from the Air Commerce Act of 1926. This was the first federal legislation of the government in aviation safety. The government finally realized that by regulating aviation a safer aviation industry could be attained. For example the Post Office suffered one fatality for 463,000 hours of flying versus non-regulated flying there was one fatality per 13,500 hours. As seen by regulating aviation safety is vastly increased. The Department of Commerce had the regulatory authority over commercial aviation. They began by regulating aircraft and pilots in interstate and the foreign commerce.

Treatment of us pows by the germans in world war II

One of the significant features of World War II was a great number of prisoners of war (POW‘s) to be kept both by Allies and Axis. The way those prisoners were treated differed greatly dependently on the nation of a prisoner and the country of imprisonment.   This paper discusses the treatment of the American prisoners captured on the European theatre and compares it to the treatment of prisoners from other countries, such as Britain, Poland and Russia.In total Some 95,000 American and 135,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen were incarcerated in prisoners of war (POW) camps in Germany during World War II. The prisoners were held in some fifty German POW camps, of several types. These included the Stalag (Stammlager, permanent camps for noncommissioned officers and enlisted men), Stalag Luft (Luftwaffestammlager, permanent camps for air force personnel), and Oflag (Offizierslager, permanent officers’ camps). American POWs were found in many of the POW camps, but the majority of camps contained only a few Americans. In some camps (Stalags II-B, III-B, IV-B, XVII-B, Luft I, Luft III, and Luft IV), however, the number of American POWs ran into the thousands.The basic international instrument, regulating the POW‘s status at the time was the 1929 the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, signed by 47 governments. Subject to this convention, no prisoner of war could be forced to disclose to his captor any information other than his identity (i.e., his name and rank, but not his military unit, home town, or address of relatives). Every prisoner of war was entitled to adequate food and medical care and had the right to exchange correspondence and receive parcels. He was required to observe ordinary military discipline and courtesy, but he could attempt to escape at his own risk. Once recaptured, he was not to be punished for his attempt.Officers were to receive pay either according to the pay scale of their own country or to that of their captor, whichever was less; they could not be required to work. Enlisted men might be required to work for pay, but the nature and location of their work were not to expose them to danger, and in no case could they be required to perform work directly related to military operations. Camps were to be open to inspection by authorized representatives of a neutral power.  Germany in general followed the 1929 Geneva Convention in the treatment of American and British servicemen in POW camps, with little difference to be found in treatment with Americans and British. POW‘s were not to be individually confined, and the food served them should have been equal to that served to German troops. The ration was reduced by the end of the war, but this was related to the general situation with food in Germany. Much greater problem for the POW‘s was the warm clothing, often not provided by the Germans, however the prisoners could receive acceptable clothes from th e Red Cross and from their families via the Red Cross.The prisoners were allowed to arrange recreational activities, such as sport games by their own, also some attention was paid to the religious demands of catholic and protestant POW‘s, the largest POW camps had chapels on their territory. The prisoners, involved in work received small payment (5 to 10 marks) for their effort, though the amount of money, which a POW could possess was limited. An important right for the British and American prisoners was a right to send and receive mail, although the delivery of mail was very erratic, and a letter or a parcel required several weeks to transit.American and British prisoners’ worst enemy was usually boredom. One of the most important activities which overcame this enemy was reading. The American and British peoples, through the various agencies which undertook the task of providing POWs with books, made it possible for prisoners to obtain books which were so necessary an d useful. It helped the prisoners to occupy their time and keep their mental capacity. When the American and British POWs left the prisoners of war camps, approximately 1 million books were left behind.One can notice, that the treatment of British and American POW‘s was tolerant enough, except for some cases of spontaneous violence, such as murder of USAF and RAF pilots by the German civilians, angry with their air raids. However, this human attitude was hardly applied to the prisoners from other countries, retained in Germany. Polish, Yugoslavian and especially Russian prisoners received the worst treatment ever imaginable.There were several reasons for it, and the most important of them was the notorious Nazi racial doctrine, which considered the Slaves to be Untermenschen or underhumans, almost equal to Jews. The Soviet Union was also not a party to 1929 Geneva Convention, and so could not count for Red Cross assistance. Finally, Stalin, being suspicious of everyone out of his control, proclaimed all the Russian POW‘s to be traitors and deprived them with any rights or aid.Dealing with Russian prisoners became even more complicated as the amount of captives at the first year of war reached 5 million, creating problems even with simple accommodation. Russian soldiers, captured in the great encirclements, were often left without food for weeks, causing starvation and typhus. Some categories of prisoners, such as Jews or Communist party members were usually shot immediately. The survivors were taken to the concentration camps on the territory of the Soviet Union, Poland and Germany itself.At the later period working with Russian POW‘s became more organized. Germans point now was to use the mass of people in their disposal in the most rational way. Those of the prisoners, who conformed with the racial demands (mostly originating from the Baltic or western regions of Russia) could voluntary join the Wehrmacht. Other volunteers, mostly recent ca ptives, were used as Hiwi Hilfswillige), or helpers in the army units.The fate of the others to be kept in the concentration and death camps, such as Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Dachau. Forced labour of the Russian POW‘s was actively used at the German civil an military enterprises, including aircraft factories and V-2 rockets production.  Another way of exploiting the Untermenschen was to use them for medical and military experiments. For example, 600 Soviet prisoners were gassed in Auschwitz on 3 September 1941 at the first experiment with ZyklonB.  Based on the overstated one can make a conclusion, that treatment of the American and British POW‘s, captured by the Germans was surely   preferable to the treatment of other POW‘s. General observance of international law towards allied prisoners by Germany along Red Cross activity, provided them with huge benefits in comparison with the Slavic, Jewish and other POW‘s.BIBLIOGRAPHYM. R. D. Fott, â€Å"Prison ers of War,† The Oxford Companion to World War II (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.  Ã‚  2001.American Prisoners of War in Germany. Prepared by Military Intelligence Service, War Department 1 Nov 1945W. Wynne Mason, Prisoners of War (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945) (Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1954)Antony Beevor Stalingrad (Penguin Books, New York, 1999) [1] M. R. D. Fott, â€Å"Prisoners of War,† The Oxford Companion to World War II (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 913–915;[2] The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.  Ã‚  2001. [3] American Prisoners of War in Germany. Prepared by Military Intelligence Service, War Department 1 Nov 1945[4]W. Wynne Mason, Prisoners of War (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945) (Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1954), pp. 42–43; [5] Antony Beevor Stalingrad (Penguin Books, New York, 1999), pp.- 15, 60, 166 [6] Antony Beevor. Ibid. p.-59

Apophenia †Filling the Blanks

Apophenia - Filling the Blanks Apophenia Filling the Blanks Apophenia Filling the Blanks By Maeve Maddox Readers comments on What Does [Sic] Mean? point up the curious feature of the human mind that infuses meaning into the meaningless. I always thought it was an abbreviation for â€Å"Spelling Is Correct.† I think I read on this site that someone believed â€Å"sic† to stand for â€Å"said in context†. I had previously thought it was an acronym for â€Å"Spelled InCorrectly†. This type of fill-in-the-blanks reasoning is at work in elaborate conspiracy theories and when someone sees the face of Jesus in a tortilla. The tendency to find meaning in the partially-known is called apophenia: finding meaning or patterns where none exist. Unfamiliar with the source of the notation [sic], readers make use of the letters and the context to create something that makes sense to them. We all fall into this kind of fallacious reasoning at some time or another. Uncomfortable in a new situation, we hear laughter and are certain that the people are laughing at us. The narrative of the movie A Beautiful Mind revolves around the protagonists apophenic beliefs. For those of us who write fiction, some aspect of apophenia must be at work when we spin whole narratives out of a chance remark or the glimpse of an oddly-dressed person on a train. The human mind craves meaning. We look at our lives and see a meaningful narrative. We find evidence for beliefs that other people find preposterous. If you browse the Wikipedia articles that stem from the one on apophenia, youll find several types of this kind of thinking. One type is called Mortons Demon, named by Glenn R. Morton to explain what was at work in his mind when he believed in a widely-held theory he no longer believes in. Morton entered the study of physics believing firmly in creationist theory. His study of geology changed his belief. He then gave a name to the type of reasoning that had enabled him to believe in a theory with insufficient physical evidence: Mortons demon stands at the gateway of a persons senses and lets in facts that agree with that persons beliefs while deflecting those that do not. With a national election only days away, were being hammered with all kinds of assertions about the candidates. Its probably a good time for voters to watch out for apophenia in their thinking. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire YouHang, Hung, HangedIs "Number" Singular or Plural?