Zombies

Zombies There is a current fad of entertainment in popular culture about zombies and zombie apocalypses. Have you ever heard of a real â€Å"Zombie†? Have you ever thought of where this idea of â€Å"Zombies† came about? Theyre history does not stem from Hollywood or comic books. Zombies have a real history as well as an actual scientific capability of existing. Isak Niehaus (writer for The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute) explained the cultural connection to zombies in Africa, and Wade Davis (writer for New York: Simon & Schuster) researched the reports in Haiti of he zombie culture there.Ker Than researched the topic for National Geographic news and came up with startling possibilities of a zombie-like outbreak. Just about everybody knows about fictitious zombies, but less are familiar with the facts about zombies. There are many people zombies are very real. They aren't a fable and are something to be taken seriously. Belief in magic and witchcraft is widespread throughout Haiti and the Caribbean, often in the form of religions such as Voodoo and Santeria.The Oxford English Dictionary, the term â€Å"zombie† initially showed up in English around 1810 when historian Robert Southey declared it in his book â€Å"History of Brazil. † But this â€Å"Zombi† wasn't the typical Hollywood version of the brain-hungry horror. Instead it was a West African deity. The word â€Å"zombie† later came to propose the human life force exiting the body, ultimately leaving a creature human in form but lacking self-awareness and intelligence. The word was introduced to Haiti and to other places from Africa through the slave trade.Isak Niehaus found that the term Zombie is used to describe a spellbound person deprived of cognizance and self- wareness, yet able to move and react to immediate provocations. Though many people treat the current â€Å"zombie apocalypse† as a fun pop culture meme, Haitian culture † li ke many African cultures † is greatly immersed in faith in magic and witchery. Belief in zombies is related to the Voodoo religion, and has been widespread in Haiti for many years. Haitian zombies were said to be people brought back from the dead through magical means by voodoo priests called bokors or houngan.Sometimes the zombification was done as punishment which struck fear in those who believed that they could be abused even after death. Often the zombies were said to have been used as slave labor on farms and sugarcane plantations. A mentally ill farmer claimed to have been seized captive as a zombie worker for two decades, though he couldn't show researchers where this had taken place. Researchers pursued a case in Haiti, 1937 of rumors that the affected persons were given a powerful psychoactive drug, but they were not able to locate anyone willing to offer much evidence.After many years the researchers concluded that there is more to Voodoo than ritual and that there is a medical base behind what is going on. Several decades later, Wade Davis, a Harvard ethno botanist, offered a pharmacological case for zombies some of his books. Davis went to Haiti in 1982 and, after investigations, claimed that a living being could be changed into a zombie by way of two specific powders being put into the circulatory system, most of the time by an open wound.One of the powders includes tetrodotoxin (TTX), a potent and often tatal neurotoxin tound in the putte The second powder consists ot dissociative drugs like datura. These powders could induce a deathlike state where will of the eing would be completely open to that of the bokor. Davis also popularized the story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was claimed to have succumbed to this practice. Davis described the case of an initial state of deathlike suspended animation, followed by reawakening into a psychotic state.The insanity induced by the drug and psychological trauma was hypothesized by Davis to strengthen s ocially learned beliefs and to cause the individual to rebuild their characteristics as that of a zombie, since they actually thought they were dead, and had no other role to play in the Haitian society. Though dead humans can't come back to life, certain viruses can induce such aggressive, zombie-like behavior, scientists say in the new National Geographic Channel documentary The Truth Behind Zombies.For instance, rabies, a viral disease that infects the central nervous system can drive people to be violently mad. If a rabies virus was to combine with the ability of a flu virus, in order to spread quickly through the air, you might have the makings of a zombie apocalypse. The first signs a human has rabies, such as anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, and paralysis ont typically appear for ten days to a year after infection, as the virus incubates inside the body. This is very unlike movie zombies, which become reanimated almost immediately after infection.Once rabies sets in, thoug h, it's fatal within a week if left untreated. If the genetic makeup of the rabies virus went through enough changes, or mutations, its incubation time could be condensed dramatically. Many viruses have naturally high mutation rates and constantly change as a means of evading or bypassing the defenses of their hosts. For the rabies virus to cause an event like a zombie pandemic, not unlike the ones ou might see in a movie, it has to be much more contagious.Typically a human could catch rabies after being bitten by an infected animal and the infection usually stops there, but thanks to pet vaccinations, people seldom get rabies in the U. S. nowadays, and even fewer people die from the disease. For example, in 2008 only two cases of human rabies infection were reported to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A faster mode of transmission would be through the air, which is how the influenza virus spreads. The movie 28 Days Later depicts a scenario of a age virus. If ra bies somehow became airborne this movie would be very plausible.In order to be transmitted by air, rabies would have to mutate or use traits from another virus like influenza. Elankumaran Subbiah, a virologist at Virginia Tech, states that diverse forms, or strains, of the same virus can change pieces of genetic code using reassortment or recombination. Unrelated viruses, although, don't Just randomly create hybrids in nature. Likewise, he also said â€Å"They're too different. They cannot share genetic information. Viruses assemble only parts that belong to them, nd they don't mix and match from different families. It's theoretically possible for scientists to use a rabies virus and an influenza virus, though extremely difficult, to create a hybrid rabies-influenza virus using modern genetic engineering techniques. Sure, you could imagine a scenario where you mix rabies with a flu virus to get airborne transmission, a measles virus to get personality changes, the encephalitis viru s to cook your brain wit n tever and throw in the ebola virus to cause you to bleed from your guts. You would probably get something like the zombie virus, but nature oesn't let these things to happen all at the same time.Yet†¦ There is a vast history of zombies, from Africa to Haiti and other trade lands, all the way to Hollywood. The general focus of zombies is the entertainment of it all. To this day there are still cases of zombie voodoo and stories of dead people coming back from the grave. The focus should be on the possibilities of the future though. If Just one team of scientists with access to the means to hybrid existing viruses the entertaining idea of zombies on a TV would not be funny at all. It's not all that unreal now is it?

Of Mice and Men: My Impression of Curley’s Wife Essay

Curley’s wife is just a young woman seeking attention, feeling the only way she can receive it is if she throws herself at the men around the ranch. In all honesty, Curley should give her more attention than she could ever wish for, however, in the 1930s things were a lot different to how they are now for women. Curley’s wife gives off the impression that she is a floozy and an extremely flirtatious woman throughout the whole novel. For example, when she leans her body against the pole â€Å"So her body was thrown forward.† This suggests that she is aiming to make all the males in the bunk house admire her female beauty, since her husband won’t. Also she talks very playfully towards the men around the ranch, which illustrates that she seeks some fun and enjoyment, which she is clearly not receiving from Curley. This is why she wonders elsewhere. An example of this playfulness is when she says â€Å"If he ain’t, I guess I better go look some place else,† You may think that she is talking about looking for Curley, but in fact, this symbolises her looking for other sexual pleasures, with the other men. The character of Curley’s wife shows an awful mean streak with her racism towards Crook’s in one of the chapters. Crook’s makes it clear that he does not have the desire to talk to her, resulting in a very serious threat towards him â€Å"Well you can keep your trap shut then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny† are the exact words she uses in the novel. This not only demonstrates that she is infuriated by the fact that nobody wants to talk to her, but it also shows the horrific racism that went on in the 1930’s, both Curley’s wife and Crook’s know that him having dark skin means the first sight of trouble and he will be abandoned or worse, killed. People with dark skin were treated like dirt in those days, Crook’s was nothing more than a tool, an animal, a disgrace! Curley’s wife desperately wants somebody to share conversation with and she feels very lonely and isolated, howev er, this is no excuse to be so prejudice against Crooks in my opinion. Personally, I am not a big fan of the character of Curley’s wife. I feel some of her actions are very unnecessary and she should keep herself to herself, as appose to trying to flirt with all the males and going behind her husband’s back.

Paul Rand’s Works in Relation to the New York School Essay

One of the most influential figures in American graphic design who had the exploration on the formal expressions of the European avant-garde art movements and had the development on only one of its kind and predominantly American graphic style which has the characteristics of being simple, witty and problem-solving rational approaches is Paul Rand. His major influences are on design consultation and of course in developing identity systems and logos for most important corporations such as IBM, Westinghouse, United Parcel Service, American Broadcasting Co. and NeXt Computer. Due to his revolutionary novelty in design, typography and graphic design Paul Rand’s works were easily recognized during the early twenties. His prominence in advocacy of employing a wide diversity of techniques such as typography, painting, collage, photography, and montage create a mixture of elements in production of a unique and modern visual image in his works in posters, magazine cover designs or corporate logo or identity design (Logo Designers 2007). As with the informal group of American poets, painters, dancers and musicians who were active during 1950s to 1960s in New York City which is called the New York School, it was synonymous with the abstract expressionist painting. They drew inspiration from Surrealism which features elements of surprise and unexpected juxtapositions also with the contemporary avant-garde movements considering by some to be a hallmark of modernism. Paul Rand was able to synchronize different techniques in different designs coming up innovation and excellence. With his typography, having the elements of balance, uniformity and equilibrium of spacing, he had successfully merged modern typography and nineteenth-century engravings presenting both visual and technical content. For a creation to be aesthetically appealing, Paul Rand never forgets the most common element which is simplicity. He was not afraid to break away from the conventional standards of typography and layout during the 1940s and used Swiss style in incorporating designs into his creations and experimented with other designs such as Cubism, Constructivism, the Bahaus, De Stijl and other modes of modern art with integration of different modes of art and styles into American visual culture. Like the New York School, Paul Rand’s attempt to be rebellious on the techniques and contemporary designs for his creations paved way to more accepting and recognizing designs. He became the standards in creating corporate logos having modernity, simplicity and ease of recognition. By pushing the boundaries to get the acceptance of being the norm or the status quo, principally in the cultural dominion works that are innovative or experimental will have a great response and effect to art, culture and politics. It does not basically focus on art but also with the other factors and considerations around the environment. Being philosophical, politically and socially aware made the New York School and Paul Rand as great contributors not just in the world of art and visuals but also with the total concern they had manifested in their works and what they had left for us. It is best to understand different techniques and take risks to make the most out of them. But what is most important is the fact that these techniques come from conventional and modern ideologies concerning different issues that are facing the community and the society itself. Paul Rand and the New York School link modernism and contemporary ideas.

The Impact of a Pandemic (SARS) on Tourism Essay

The Impact of a Pandemic (SARS) on Tourism - Essay Example Introduction Mexico has suffered a huge blow from the outbreak of swine flu in 2009. There has been a drop in the number of tourists from countries including Canada, U.S. and others. The prime reason behind this serious damage to the country’s economy is the outbreak of H1N1 virus a year ago. This virus is commonly known as swine flu. The Mexican economy has declined by 40% in 2009. The economy of Mexico was at its highest peak in the year of 2008.1 The recovery process, however, is on and is being done in a strategic manner. There is a new report on swine flu, which says that the virus H1N1 has surged down in southeastern part of the country these days.2 The southeastern part of the country is the homeland for some of the most popular and beautiful resorts in Mexico. This also includes Riviera Maya and Cancun.3 The effect of swine flu is not limited to Mexico only. Various other nations have started to feel the effect of swine flu. This paper will place a close look at the im pact of swine flu on the tourism industry of Mexico. It will also consider the impact of Swine flu beyond Mexico. For that, it will consider Kenya. Finally the paper will discuss some solution to this problem. Analysis of Swine flu’s impact on Mexican tourism industry The Mexican tourism industry is one of the worst sufferers from the outbreak of swine flu. The effect of swine flu in Mexico was not only limited to micro level, rather it affected the country at macro level. The effect of swine flu in Mexico was not limited to limited to the closure of a few hotels; rather the entire tourism sector was affected badly through the spread of H1N1. Dismal condition of the tourism sector of Mexico affected the entire economy of the country as well.4 The fall of revenue in the tourism sector of Mexico was 43% in 2009 on account of swine flu. It is said that the tourism industry in Mexico is the third largest industrial sector in the country. As far as foreign exchanged program is con cerned, its performance was quite good in 2008 although there were downturn in the global economic market. The increase in revenue from the foreign tourism was 3.5% in 2008. On the other hand, there was a rapid downfall in the revenue by 43% in 2009. This happened due to loss in business after the significant spread of swine flu in the country. This situation had an awful effect in the resorts like Cancun and Riviera Maya. The occupancy of hotel in Cancun was 75%, which dropped down by 20% during May and by early June. This fatal situation made 22 hotels of Cancun to stop their business operation5. The patterns made by air-travels have also changed during that particular year showing tourism slump. There was a decline in air traffic by 50%. This was reported by Grupo Aeropuertuario del Sureste (ASUR).6 The air trafficking was not only affected from the fear of swine flu, but there are some other facts as well. First, as a measure of prevention, the government, airport authorities, l ocal, national as well as international health organizations implemented various types of security checks on the airports. The security system became so complicated in Mexican airports that foreign travelers started to hesitate to visit Mexico. The system incorporated different sorts of complex virus check in order to ensure that no viral infected outsider enters the nation.7 Second, government also imposed

Hip-hop Cubano Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hip-hop Cubano - Assignment Example In the vicinity of all these factors, people in some way lose sight of the reality that Cubans create, work, and live there. People also assume the fact that Cubans do have a world view and culture that in actual sense exists; not a retort against the United States, not a retort against anybody, just Cuban. Jacobs-Fantauzzi has created the documentary with respect and love for the Cubans he features. These are youthful hip hop musicians who express their standpoints in consideration to the broader societal context. These artists have a nearly significant identity that is devoid of falsehood or peculiarity. The documentary simply follows these artists in their everyday lives of discussion, performance and production of hip hop in Cuba. The documentary then proceeds as these Cuban artists go to the US to record an album and perform for the first time. Cuban Hip hop is a movement. It is an awakening for youths and a discussion place for the realities of their livelihood. The scene is informal; performances occur on the stage with several microphones, or someone’s backyard, and the style used is old-fashioned (Fernà ¡ndez, p.4). For that reason, Hip Hop Cubano is visualized as a social documentary that highlights occurrences that people put into focus presently. For instance, these issues include identity, poverty, development, world politics, globalization and certainly the USA. Behind all this, on the other hand, is a documentary that concerns a faction of youthful individuals well-informed and certain of themselves. These are musicians with complete faith in whatever they do, and their potential results in a change in the society. Just as the United States’ Hip Hop started as a form of imaginative articulacy that brought awareness to harsh social situations, Cuban Hip Hop reveals the indestructible and inventive spirit created from a populace suppressed by the United States ban on Cuba. Hip Hop Cubano acts as a reminder of the

Housing Fabric Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Housing Fabric - Essay Example However, the sense of place suggested by CABE has also encouraged designs with strong references to local vernacular styles. Numerous issues therefore impact on design and construction today. It is imperative at this juncture that we understand what some certain things are all about Sustainable construction can or is defined as "the process of creating and responsibly managing a healthy built environment based on two factors which are resource efficient and ecological principles". The aim of Sustainable designed buildings is to reduce the effect of their impact on our environment through energy and resource efficiency. The following principles are included: Healthful Interior Environment. All possible measures are to be taken to ensure that materials and building systems do not emit toxic substances and gasses into the interior atmosphere. Additional measures are to be taken to clean and revitalize interior air with filtration and plantings. Three principles of an environmental architecture include: Energy Efficiency. All possible measures are to be taken to ensure that the building's use of energy is minimal. Cooling, heating and lighting systems are to use methods and products that conserve or eliminate energy use. Environmental Form. ... All possible measures are to be taken to relate the form and plan of the design to the site, the region and the climate. Measures are to be taken to "heal" and augment the ecology of the site. Accommodations are to be made for recycling and energy efficiency. Measures are to be taken to relate the form of building to a harmonious relationship between the inhabitants and nature. (Thomas A. Fisher, AIA, November, 1992). Energy EfficiencyEconomic (saving money), ecological (reducing resource exploitation and emissions) and social (reducing fuel poverty) Are the benefits derived from the energy-efficient sitting and design of buildings. An explicit energy strategy should be possessed by every new development ideal. Throughout the design process, energy assessment conservation measures can be done early through computer energy simulations.Many alternative concepts for building form, envelope and landscaping, focusing on minimizing peak energy loads, demand and consumption etc are collaborated by the expanded design team. In energy conservation, and their construction costs, computer energy simulation is used to assess their effectiveness. Simulations are made use of to refine designs and properly ensure that energy-conservation and capital cost goals are met; and to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements. Architecture and construction of new housing in the UK can be vitally dissimilar to t raditional housing, as demonstrated by the three case studies that have been shown above, including Abode Newhall in Harlow, Ashley Vale Self-build in Bristol, Great Bow Yard in Langport Somerset. These case studies have sustainable, low-energy and ecological features. They have also encouraged design with strong references to local

The effects of TV Advertising on older consumer behaviour over 50 Essay

The effects of TV Advertising on older consumer behaviour over 50 years in the United Kingdom - Essay Example The findings of the research suggest that the segmentation of the group under question leaves somewhat to be desired given that this group are given little relevance and on the whole underrepresented within the media. In addition, it was found that it is not so much the underrepresentation that is an issue with this group, rather it is the portrayal; it is felt that older consumers are portrayed in a disparaging and derogatory manner of being ill and feeble or alternatively unrealistically attractive. This lack of synergy between the advertisers and the third agers is somewhat dangerous given their growing spending power within society and it is one which cannot be ignored if companies wish to be lucrative. The advertisers and the marketers have been exploiting the vulnerable minds of the children as they recognize the increasing influence that children have in family purchase decision making. The study also finds that organisations engage in CSR activities basically with a profit-dr iven motive while trying to project an image of being socially conscious and responsible organisation. All efforts towards this is aimed at enhancing the brand image, the brand identity and the corporate image. The marketing mix elements in advertising for older consumers have not been appropriately addressed. The study concludes that television advertising has not been able to make any significant impact on the older consumers. The limitations to the study have been highlighted and areas for further research have been recommended. Table of Contents Chapter One: Introductory Chapter 1.0 Background 1 1.1 Rationale for research 3 1.2 Aims and Objectives 4 1.3 Research questions 4 1.4 Dissertation Structure 5 1.6 Chapter Summary 6 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.0 Chapter Overview 7 2.1 The older consumers 7 2.1.1 The concept of ‘older consumers’ 7 2.1.2 Lifestyle of the older consumers 8 2.1.3 Segmentation for the older consumers 10 2.2 The advertising medium 11 2.2.1 Pr inciples of Advertising 11 2.2.2 Advertising as a means of persuasion 13 2.2.3 Television as an advertising medium 14 2.3 CSR and advertising 16 2.4 Consumer behaviour 18 2.5 Consumer buying process 19 2.6 Summary of the chapter 21 Chapter Three: Research Methodology 3.0 Chapter Overview 22 3.1 Academic Research 22 3.2 Purpose of the research and phenomenon 23 3.3 Epistemology 23 3.4 Research Approach 24 3.6 Data Collection 25 3.7 Justification: Secondary Research 25 3.8 Sources of secondary data 28 3.9 Ethical concerns 29 3.10 Chapter Summary 29 Chapter Four: FINDINGS 4.0 Chapter Overview 30 4.1 Television advertising and the older consumers 30 4.2 The impact of television advertising on the children 37 4.3 CSR in television advertising 39 4.3 Chapter Summary 43 Chapter Five: Discussion and Analysis 5.0 Discussion 44 5.1

Vegetarian diets versus eating meat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Vegetarian diets versus eating meat - Essay Example Other than the health perspective of eating vegetables, a close look at the chicken production in factory farms gives us another reason not to eat meat. According to Scott Bronstein(1991) article on poultry inspection of the nations poultry plants, every week, millions of chicken leaking yellow puss, stained feces, contaminated by diseases causing bacteria, with lung, heart, and skin infections are shipped for sale to consumers. Scott continues that, the birds are beheaded and gutted by powerful machines. Contaminations often occur at this point as the high-speed machines rip open the intestines commonly spilling the feces on the meat and body cavities. Such contamination is what we eat the chicken we often purchase. It is high time individuals decide whether it is cheap chicken or their health. I am supporting my opinion on a vegetarian diet. It a non-complicated position or decision. My opinion regarding vegetarianism is that I support for vegetarianism, but also a position on wise r animal agriculture. It is also a stance for the acceptance of a more omnivore diet. The safety of our animals products especially factory meat is questionable. The contamination and inconsistencies in following health protocols and ensuring the food products are of safe is a concern. On the contrary, it is clear that a vegetarian diet may pose less threat to our health compared to factory animal products.Despite the fact that eating vegetable requires no consumption of dairy products, fish, seafood, meat.

Askls5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Askls5 - Essay Example It is believed that self-leadership is required before engaging in team leadership (Manz and Sims 1991). What are some of the best practices that a team facilitator can use in order act as a role model to his or her team? When one has competent team members, it is apparent that they at one time have contributions to make in the effort to facilitate problem solving. In this regard, what are some of the models deemed appropriate to create an atmosphere in which a team leader can use in order to facilitate problem solving? In every group undertaking a certain project in an organization, there are various challenges it can face. What are some of the potential areas that a team leader can focus on in order to overcome such challenges? In an attempt to go beyond self-managing work team, a leader is supposed to use some empowerment dimensions. What are recommended dimensions that a team leader can use in order to empower his or her team? In any given organization, it is expected that the team leader use the appropriate communication styles in order to ensure top performance by his or her team members. What are the recommended communication skills and techniques that a team leader must have? However, the communication skill applies to all members of a team. A part from the team leader’s skills and techniques, in what ways can communication skills and techniques help the other team members’ carryout their duties

Tanglewood Case- Will fax all documentation Case Study

Tanglewood - Will fax all documentation - Case Study Example The case study will focus on thirteen various decisions for strategic staffing and nine out of the thirteen decisions will be on staffing levels while the remaining four will be on quality of staffing. Tangle wood business strategy/goals Tangle wood is a form of retail type of business that operates in clothing, electronics, appliances, and home decor items. The prices of the items in the business are relatively low and this is because of the customer target. The business targets both upper and middle income customers and it applies outdoor strategy so as to appeal to many clients. Some of the goals of the business are to be the best store for the clients that are capable of offering quality, durability as well as value for client’s money and provisions of maximum value not only to the clients but also the stakeholders and the various employees in the organization. The achievement of the above goals and objectives rely on the application of responsible financial management cor e values as well as precise and honest communications. The applications of the core values will go in accordance with the customer service and performance values. Strategic staffing decisions Acquire or develop talent Tangle wood should concentrate on acquiring and developing talents externally. The acquisitions of the workers will be cheap for Tangle wood case since these personnel would not be need of further training since most of them shall have been trained (Elmuti, 1993). Hire yourself or outsource Outsourcing would be very expensive for the business since the various outside organizations that would assist in outsourcing would also require some forms of payment. Tangle wood should therefore, hire the employees for its self in order to cut on the hiring expenses. External or internal hiring Hiring should be done externally since the external staffs already have the required training and therefore, Tangle wood will not be required to train the employees further. This helps in r educing hiring cost as well as training costs for the case of internal hiring. Core or flexible workforce Tangle wood should adopt flexible workforce as this would help it to maximize on productivity of the workers. Core workforce would limit the productivity of the workers as most will not produce fully. Hire or retain Tangle wood should retain workforce since retaining the workers would reduce the unnecessary spending on hiring new employees. Workers also tend to gain experience while on the line of duty and therefore, the existing workers are better to understand the business compared to new employees. National or global Tangle wood should consider going global since this would increase their customers’ base as well as their rates for sales and profits. Operating globally would increase their profits margins and they would be able to enjoy economies of large scale. Attract or relocate Tangle wood should strive to attract customers since relocation means they would have to look for new clients. The time spent looking for new clients’ means a loss in profits for that given period. Overstaff or under staff Overstaffing and under staffing both have consequences. However, the consequences of under staffing seem to outweigh the

Zizeks Concept Of Two Revolutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Zizeks Concept Of Two Revolutions - Essay Example Zizek’s work has been criticised for inconsistency and Parker argues that â€Å"there is no Zizekian system of philosophy because Zizek, with all his inconsistencies, is trying to make us think much harder about what we are willing to believe and accept from a single writer† (Parker, 2004, p.120). Indeed, to this end Zizek argues himself that we should constantly challenge our ideologies and philosophies. This is particularly evident with Zizek’s extrapolations pertaining to the concept of the two revolutions as highlighted by his discussion in â€Å"Revolution at the Gates, A Selection of Writings from February to October 1917† (Edited by Zizek, 2002). To this end, it is submitted at the outset that at the heart of Zizek’s argument for the necessity of two revolutions is the idea that the first revolution challenges the pre-existing form and the second revolution ensures that the form itself is revolutionised to attain the true purpose of the intended objectives of the â€Å"revolution† in what Zizek terms the â€Å"utopia†. Directly correlated to Zizek’s perception of the two revolutions is the use of Lenin as a symbol to highlight the flaws of traditional social theory highlighting historical circumstance and context as the significant causal triggers for revolution.

Perceptual Maps Essay Example for Free

Perceptual Maps Essay Perceptual Mapping, as defined by Miguel Mauricio Isoni and Cid Goncalves Filho (The Strategic Use of Perceptual Maps in Corporate Reputation Analysis: an Empirical Survey), is a â€Å"strategic management tool that offers a unique ability to show the complex relationship between marketplace competitors and the criteria used by buyers when making purchase decisions and recommendations. † Usually, perceptual maps is plotted through a two dimensional plane, thus it is capable mainly of comparing four factors affecting a certain market product. To come up with a perceptual map, product analyst would perform its designed three part methodology. A. The Three Phases of Perceptual Maps as Used in the Simulation I. The Exploratory Phase In this first stage, we would get to know the origin of the need for the making of the perceptual plan (Isoni Filho). The simulation had started with the laying out of the situation of Thor motorcycles decrease in sales with their product CruiserThor, a 1500cc power cruiser priced at $25,800. Thor believed that the decrease in sales they analyzed in May 1, 201 was brought by the growing older of its target costumers (bracket 35 – 50 yrs old) that made them no longer interested with the lifestyle CruiserThor symbolizes. The age bracket of 21 – 35 years could not also be a replacement since they prefer more buying low-cost motorcycles for practicality reasons concerning with their young age’s small disposable income. As a recommendable solution, we need a new marketing plan. But in order to come up with a plan, we need to know the position of the CruiserThor in the market through a perceptual map. Since we had opted with making a perceptual map, we then need to choose four fundamental parameters CruiserThor gives the most concern. And we decided that they were the Lifestyle Image, Service Offerings, Price and Quality Engineering. We would also have a comparison of CruiserThor with its other competitor product and then conduct a market research to obtain CruiserThor’s representational ratings. II. The Descriptive Phase At this point, we would then need to make a survey with structured questionnaire and with representative sample that will be analyzed by Perceptual Mapping software (Isoni Filho). This could be in the form of four questions asking for a ranking from 1 – 10 that corresponds to the existing client’s perception to the selected four parameters. Does the CruiserThor made a great impact with your lifestyle? Does it possess the uniqueness you could not see with its competitor brands? 2. Does the engineering design compensate with its projected lifestyle image? 3. Does the CruiserThor priced right? 4. Does its included technical support and additional services suffice its total package? As these questions are filled up by the CruiserThor’s customers, dealers and distributors, we could then extract from it the public’s representational perception. The values that we had assigned are 9. 2 for the lifestyle image. 1 for the service offerings, 2. 95 for the service offerings and 7. 1 for the quality engineering. These figures had also been compared with the figures generated from two of CruiserThor’s competitors, Anzai and Espritique. These figures tell the current position of the product which would then be subject to review and/or revisions. III. The Presentation Phase For this last phase, we would present the maps to the managers (Isoni Filho), who would then give generalized interpretation with the marketing of the product with respect to its four factors evaluated. As the values had been analyzed, two possible solutions were suggested, to enhance the current positioning strategy or to totally change it. We may also opt to launch a new motorcycle that targets younger costumers. If ever you chose the last, you should then decide how it would be packaged with its features as opposed to the constraint of cheaper pricing. As a final decision, we would then stick with launching a new product, called RRoth that would accommodate a younger age bracket. This option would undergo several stages so as to determine its proper marketing mix to be used. These were deliberations on how would it be priced, how would it be handed down to its end-users, and how would it be promoted. The company’s team of analyst suggested with a $13M budgeted RRoth motorcycles that would be priced $13T $15T. They would use the help of their identified dealers and distributors to act as its middleman. They would also set-up exclusive showrooms. Promotions that would be done were to offer insurance and protection plans, to offer free test rides, to hire celebrities for endorsements, and to provide giveaway merchandise. Additional services were dealers training, customization options and financial services. Total cost of differentiation decisions was then accounted to be $11. 149T. B. Summary of the Different Marketing Components Used I. Relationship between differentiation and positioning of products and services Differentiation, as its word implies, is the offering of various products that tends to target distinct costumers from each other. This would help with covering all the possible customers’ individual needs basing on bracketing schemes just like age. In relation to this, positioning strategies for these various products need to be considered so as to not make them compete with each other (Positioning Defined). As an example, CruiserThor was designed to target possible costumers coming from the age of 35–50 yrs. old. To address the need to cover the market with younger age who may wish to avail a lifestyle imaged motorcycle but at a lower cost, Thor motorcycles decided to launch RRoth and it was positioned to attract the age bracket of 21–35 yrs. old who were less likely to had disposable incomes. II. The Impact of Product Life Cycle Production analysis through time had come up with a thinking that products have a life cycle (Product life cycle management, Wikipedia). Products start with the market introduction stage by creating a demand through different ways of promotion and information dissemination about its importance of use. The product may either benefit or suffer the existence of competition depending on the reaction of its target costumers. Products would then enter into the growth stage wherein it should develop a sense of profitability to its producers and sellers. Competition would usually increase as others would see its success in gaining a market share. As the products gain years being in the market, it would enter the maturity stage wherein the cost of production was minimized since publicity is less likely to be required. Final stage would be whether the product be stable or in a state of decline depending on the continuity of interest of its target costumers. References M. Isoni C. Filho. The Strategic Use of Perceptual Maps in Corporate Reputation Analysis: An Empirical Survey. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from www. isbee. org/index. php? option=com_docmantask=doc_downloadgid=33 Perceptual Mapping. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www. populus. com/files/Perceptual%20Mapping_f_1. pdf Perceptual Mapping. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www. iqlogo. com/library/perceptual-mapping. htm Product life cycle management. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Product_life_cycle_management Positioning Defined. Retrieved June 14, 2008 from http://www. 1000ventures. com/business_guide/crosscuttings/positioning_main. html

Quantitative Easing After the Financial Crisis

Quantitative Easing After the Financial Crisis Jose Nunez The global financial crisis started in August 2007 and lasted to 2009, which was the collapse of the subprime mortgage market (lenders with higher interest rates demand, and borrowers that can repay their loans) that led to a huge amount of losses to financial institutions in that time. The crisis led to one of the worst markets in the past 50 years. The impact it had on the economy was severe, it lead to a downward growth for U.S. companies, and an increase of uncertainty for the U.S. economy. The causes of the 2007- 2009 financial crisis were: financial innovation in mortgage markets, agency problems in the mortgage markets, and the role of asymmetric information in the credit rating process. There weren’t as many innovations back then, so before the year 2000 only credit worthy borrowers could get mortgages unlike others that didn’t have good credit. After advances in technology and new statistical techniques, that led to better evaluations on credit risk for a new risky loan to be made. FICO was developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, which just predicted the outcome of how likely it was for a borrower to default on their loans and not pay the loan back. By lowering the cost of transactions, newer technology was able to bundle smaller loans that were similar to mortgages into debt securities. With these factors the banks were able to give out subprime mortgages to borrowers with less than good credit scores. Also, there were agency problems in the market, the brokers who made the loans usually did not make an effort to see whether the people taking the loans could actually pay the loans back, in other words they just gave out the loans to almost complete strangers that they knew very little about and they did not have the same interest as the investors had; once the broker earned his or her commission from the loan he or she did not care about the whether the borrowers paid or did not pay the loan off. Credit rating agencies were also a factor because of their asymmetric information; they were telling clients how to structure financial instruments at the time they rated the products so different information was being passed from firms to the borrowers. The effects it had on the U.S. economy were; housing prices went down, many subprime borrowers were finding that their mortgages were going underwater meaning that the house value was falling below the amount of the mortgage. Many homeowners just walked away from their homes giving the keys back to the lenders because the prices were going down. The default on mortgages rose tremendously, which led to many foreclosures. Value of mortgages backed securities and CDOs went down as well, and left the value of those assets to banks and financial institutions. Many of the well-known firms from had to be sold off to other larger companies for less than what they once worth and others had to file for bankruptcy. With all the things that happen in 2007-2009 in the economy, the crisis did not lead to a depression because of the actions of the Federal Reserve and government bailouts of the financial institutions but many call it a â€Å"great recession† instead. The economic recovery has been slow because people are now scared to invest their money in the markets and do not what to take on other risks, jobs are going overseas, inflation is rising, and economies of other countries are going down as well. Michael Farr said in an article from the Huffington â€Å"Corporate managers are just doing what works. Following the financial crisis, investors are not in the mood to take big risks. They would rather have the certainty that comes with higher dividend payments and increased stock buybacks†. When the economy is about to slip into a recession or depression the government uses a tactic called quantitative easing. Quantitative easing is when the central bank makes purchases from the market to bring down the interest rates so more people can have money in their pockets to spend and invest in the market. Federal Reserve gives the financial institutions money so they can lend out to the consumers and increase liquidity. Some of the down sides of quantitative easing are that it can cause inflation to increase due to being a certain amount of goods that are being sold when the money supply of the consumers has increased, and another is that instead of the banks lending out the money that was meant to be loaned out to people or companies was being kept by the banks instead. This strategy of the government in our last financial crisis was not really affective because the banks kept the money for reserve instead of lending it out the people and companies to increase liquidity and s pending. Many articles have been saying that the government has ended QE but according to an article by Terry Burnham  on pbs.org argues, By all accounts, the  Federal Reserve ended its bond buying program, known as quantitative easing, at its policy meeting at the end of last month. Over six years, the central bank bought $4.5 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury bonds. But since the beginning of this year, the Fed has been gradually drawing down its purchases by $10 billion a month to now, zero. It’s not that simple, though, says economist  Terry Burnham. The Fed is continuing what he calls â€Å"Stealth QE,† or the purchase ofmorebonds with the interest the Fed earns on the bonds it has already purchased. In order to stop that, he writes, the Fed would need to shrink its balance sheet by the amount of interest that it earns. Deleverage is when banks start to lose capital so they fall back on loaning money to others. They try to reduce the debt they have by selling their assets. Losses on their loans they gave out begin to drop in value which drops the net worth of the banks and financial institutions. Tejvan Pettinger said â€Å"To reduce debts people sell off assets to gain liquidity. Selling assets causes fall in the price of shares and house prices. Falling house prices cause lower consumer spending, negative equity and more losses for banks.† With less capital the banks and financial institutions have, the more risky they look towards others causing lender-savers to take out their funds. The decrease in funds will mean fewer loans to produce investments. Deleverage hurts the economy for those reasons. Globalization is when different countries trade with each other things such as products, ideas, aspects of their cultures, and other subject matters. Globalization has been increasing and has been getting easier due to the fact of newer and more advanced technology that has been invented till today to help us communicate with each other and transport product from one place to another. With globalization the cost of goods that we are buying that are coming from different parts of the world are low, compared to if we were to make them here because, it cost less for others to make it in their own country. Also the variety of goods within a country will increase because maybe we can’t produce certain goods here like other countries are able too. With globalization we have free trade, promoting jobs, keeping cost of goods low in the economy, and it’s making business more competitive thus stimulating the economy. Globalization also has a negative impact on the economy, that i s jobs are being moved over seas and outsourcing jobs to other places in the worked. The rich will continue to get richer and people looking for jobs will have to take on new jobs for less money because companies are moving out of the country. Both inflation and deflation can have a negative impact in the economy if inflation and deflation rises are severe. Inflation means the prices of goods and services are going up, lowering the purchasing power of the people and lowering the value of the dollar. A certain amount of inflation can also mean that we have a healthy economy because prices of goods and services will continue to go up. Deflation is the opposite of inflation, so instead of the rising prices of goods and services the prices are falling. When deflation is happening people tend to save more money and spend less because the value of the dollar is increasing. By not spending more the demand for goods and services drops and unemployment increases because not many people want to buy things. Deflation can be caused by a decrease in spending by the government, and people. There are also pages that say QE can also lead to deflation. The Wall Street Journal said â€Å"Nearly a decade after Japan’s central bank fi rst experimented with the policy, the country remains mired in deflation, a general decline in wages and prices that has crippled its economy.† Moderate levels of both inflation and deflation are normal have little effect on the economy. Works Cited Burnham, Terry. â€Å"So you thought quantitative easing was over? Think again† PBS News Hour. 24 November 2014. Farr, Michael. â€Å"What Is Causing the Drag?† The Huffington Post, 21 November 2014. Mishkin, S. Frederic. â€Å"The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Tenth Edition.† Colombia College. Pearson, 2013. Print. Pettinger, Tejvan. â€Å"Paradox of Deleveraging.† Economics Help, 6 May 2009. WashingtonsBlog. â€Å"Why QE May Lead to DEFLATION In the Long Run.† Washington’s Blog. 18 November 2014.

Drivers of Customer Loyalty and Firm Profitability Research

Drivers of Customer Loyalty and Firm Profitability Research Financial institutions perform a vital role in facilitating the aggregation and allocation of capital with the help of conveying individual savings in to loans to businesses, government and individuals. The role of banking division in the concentration and distribution of capital in Ghana can not be disputed. The recent credit crunch has left a deep impact over the performance of various banks all over the world. Thus, in order to survive in the long run, the institutions need to adopt competitive strategies. One and the most important of such strategies in the banking sector constitute customer loyalty to business which makes the banking businesses competent. In this paper, we will analyze the determinants of customer loyalty and their impact on the share market and firm profitability with the help of studying the customer relationship management (CRM) and contact management of Barclays Bank in Ghana. In the late seventies and early eighties, the state owned banks in Ghana dominated the formal banking system of the country as they had monopoly with respect to their spread and operations (Hinson and Hammond, 2006). However, the banking environment has now been evolved. According to Hinson and Hammond (2006; p.45), universal banking law has permitted all categories of banking to be performed under a single body for corporate banking which has greatly restructured the scopes of competency in various banking products in Ghana. Thus, the banking sector in Ghana has been brought in to the competitive arena which is based on the customers and products due to the reforms and deregulations. This infers that the management of the banks in Ghana should employ the strategies that provide customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer retention and thereby, increase firm profitability and market shares. 1.1 Service Quality Concept The European school of thought, vastly expressed by the work of Gronroos (1984), explains that the customers recognize service quality from two aspects which are: (1) the technical aspect of service and (2) the functional aspect of the service. Technical quality is determined by knowing if the customers expectations from the service are fulfilled or not. The functional quality is recognized through the customers perception about the service production and its delivery. According to Richard and Allaway (1993), both of these distinctions are correct and needed to define customers service quality analysis and loyalty behaviour. However, this concept does not consider the physical environment of the service. Thus, the American school of thought led by the work of Parasuraman et al., (1985, 1988) has been adopted in various studies which states that service quality is basically the difference between perception and expectation of the delivery of service. According to this model, service q uality has five dimensions on which customers judgement about perceived service quality is based. These dimensions are: Reliability: Performance assurance, accuracy and dependability of the service. Responsiveness: Will to help and provide prompt service to the customers. Assurance: Knowledge, courtesy and ability of the employees that ensures trust and confidence. Empathy: Care and special attention given to the customers. Tangibles: Outlook of the personnel, equipments and other physical facilities. These five dimensions will be measured through a scale called SERVQUAL comprising of 22 items. Service quality is operationalized according to the gap between perception and expectation (P-E). Thus, the SERVQUAL determines the gaps in the service delivery of a firm. SERVPERF is another service quality measure that has been developed by Cronin and Taylor (1992) considering that SERVQUAL was inadequate. According to them, performance and not perception minus expectation determines service quality by proving that expectations have almost no impact on the customers evaluation about service quality. Both of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF conceptualizations have been incorporated in our research model for this study. Although, our research model includes P E, we measure service quality on the basis of perception only since expectation is insignificant (Cronin and Taylor 1992; Brady et al., 2002). However, the basics of Parasuraman et als., (1988) dimensions of service quality have been retaine d in our model. Moreover, the 22 items of these dimensions in our study are slightly modified according to relevancy. 7 point likert scale will be used to measure P. 1.2 Customer Loyalty Concept In our study, we have incorporated both attitudinal and behavioural concepts of customer loyalty. The following cues will be used to measure customer loyalty in the banking sector of Ghana. Word of Mouth: Recommendations made by the customers to their friends and family for using the services of the bank. Repeat Purchase: Repetition or consistency in making purchases by the customers for the banks products and services. Satisfaction: The level of pleasure or happiness of the customers with their banks services and products. 2. SERVICE QUALITY MODEL The Disconfirmation Paradigm (Parasuraman et al., 1985) allows service quality model to measure disparity between consumers perceptions and their expectations for the quality of service. Figure 1 given below represents the service quality model for the banking sector. This model illustrates that there are five gaps in delivering the quality service to the customers. These gaps are described below. Gap 1: This gap can be referred as Understanding as it depicts the difference between expectations of the customer and the management perceptions of the customers expectations. Gap2: This gap can be referred as Service Standards since it depicts the disparity between management perceptions of customer expectations and specifications of service quality. Gap 3: This gap can be referred as Service Performance as it illustrates the disparity between the service quality specifications and the actual service delivered to the customer. Gap 4: This gap can be referred as Communications since it shows the disparity between service delivery and external communication with the customer about the service. Gap 5: This gap can be referred as Service Quality as it depicts the disparity between customer expectation for the quality of the service and the customers perception about the performance of the firm. Gaps 1 till 4 impact the service delivery leading to Gap 5. Thus, these four gaps have a very strong influence over the gap 5. This study will focus on the potential discrepancies found in all the gaps. The managerial implications associated with these gaps must be assessed in order to formulate proper business strategies. These resultant strategies will then be properly implemented for closing the identified gaps found in the banking sector in Ghana and thereby, to improve service quality and profitability of concerned Bank. Word of Mouth Communication Personal Needs Past Experience Expected Service Perceived Service Gap 5 Service Delivery External Communications with Customers Gap 4 Translation of Perceptions in to Service Quality Specifications Management Perceptions of Costumer Expectations Gap 2 Gap 3 Gap 1 3. PROBLEM STATEMENT The gaps 1 to 4 impact the service delivery and are concerned with the management and service providers of the bank. Thus, the question arises, what variables or factors are responsible for creating these gaps or what is the lacking of the management that refrain them from delivering the quality service to the customers? As for Gap 5, the question arises which business strategies should be adopted to reduce the gaps and thereby, improve service quality and performance of the bank. 4. HYPOTHETICAL MODEL This paper is aimed towards finding loyalty drivers according to the viewpoint of the customers of the Ghanaian retail banking. This chapter of the paper will present a hypothetical model that will be used to determine the relationship among loyalty, loyalty drivers, banks profitability and market share. Figure 2 provided below represents the framework of our hypothetical model. The model presented in figure 2 below explains the service quality as perceived by the customer. This model has been premised on seminal model (SERVQUAL), Cronin and Taylor (1992; SERVPERF), Parasuraman et al., (1988) and Brady and Cronin (2001). The quality of service conceptualized by 2 pathways that are: (1) P-E representing the gap in between perception, P and expectation, E and (2) P that represents only perception as the conceptualization of expectation (E) is not important (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). Thus, perception is what is actually measured. Hence, the questionnaire in the survey will consist of a single set to elicit answers concerning customers perception (Brady and Cronin, 2001) instead of two sets of questionnaires for measuring perception and expectation distinctively and for determining the difference between the two as was done by Parasuraman et al., (1988). The framework provided in this paper demonstrates the fact that fake loyalty may be found abundantly and inco mplete satisfaction will result in customer switching. The model below illustrates a gap which represents the disparity between the customers perception and expectation. Since the expectation of a customer does not influence the actual service delivered to him/her by the bank, thus, it holds an insignificant value. This infers that the actual service delivered will depend on the perceived service quality which in turn is also influenced by various service quality dimensions namely: tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Moreover, it is known that these dimensions influence both the customers service quality perceptions and the management designed service quality. Thus, the hypotheses and the hypothetical model are the same for all the gaps mentioned above. This research paper will investigate the disparity between the perceived service quality and the actual quality of service delivered to the customer by measuring the above mentioned service quality dimensions. Service quality dimensions Competitive Price Expectations (Expected Service) Perception  (Perceived Service Quality) Satisfaction Loyalty Actual service Experienced Tangible Reliability Responsiv-eness Assurance Empathy Banks Profitability Bank (image reputation) Market share Dissatisfied customers Switching customers 5. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 5.1 Purpose of the Research The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the hypothetical model and the related hypotheses. The analysis of the hypothetical model will lead to the formulation of appropriate business strategies that will overcome the potential disparity between perceived service quality and the actual quality of service delivered to the customer upon implementation. 5.2 Research Objectives 5.2.1 Primary Objective The objective of this paper is to investigate the drivers of customer loyalty and firm profitability with the help of collecting empirical evidence through interviewing the customers of various banks in Ghana and also, through assessing a case study of Barclays Bank Ghana. Due to the distinct cultural values of the Ghanaian Society, our study will focus on the extant literature. 5.2.2 Secondary Objectives Businesses conventionally implement aggressive marketing strategies in order to draw the attention of the new customers and thus, increase market share at the cost of competitors. According to the latest trends in competition, those businesses benefit the most that focus on retaining their customers while providing them the goods and services (Roberts, 2005). Customer retention with the help of enforcing quality in products, services, prices and accessing facilities of the bank among others play a critical role in customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that satisfied customers always return to their service providers and also, make their recommendations to friends and families which in turn increase both market share and profitability of the firm. In the banking sector of Ghana, it is generally hypothesized that high performance of the bank is associated with high customer retention. Thus, Bankers appraise customer loyalty as the key factor towards maintaining market share and increasing profitability of the bank. Due to the high customer chum, it is important to know that what drives customer loyalty. Ghauri and Grà ¶nhaug (2005; p. 14) state that assumptions and speculations should not be accepted or rejected unless these assumptions are critically studied to give logical and reliable reasoning for their acceptation or rejection. This study seeks to attain this aim that requires investigation of the drivers of customer loyalty serving as the core of design strategies that result in the increase of customer retention and bank performance by taking in to account the case study of Barclays Bank in Ghana. 6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES 6.1 Research questions In order to study the optimization of the enterprise contact management through a CRM enabled contact centre platform by taking in to consideration the case study of Barclays Bank in Ghana, the following question are being posed in this paper. What are the factors driving customer loyalty in Ghanas banking sector, in particular Barclays Bank Ghana? What are the factors that set back customer loyalty and retention in the banking sector in Ghana, particularly Barclays Bank Ghana? Does customer loyalty is achieved through customer satisfaction? Do reluctant customers approach other banks in order to get better and improved customer relations and services? 6.2 Hypotheses Our study will test the following hypotheses in this paper. H1- Service quality influences loyalty and satisfaction of the customer. H2- Tangibility, responsiveness, reliability, assurance and empathy are the five dimensions of service quality that vary to the extent to which they instigate customer loyalty and satisfaction. H3- Customer loyalty and satisfaction depend upon competitive pricing. H4- Perceived reputation and image of the bank stimulate customer loyalty. H5- Banks or enterprises profitability can be increased by customer loyalty and market share. H6- Reluctant customers approach other banks in order to get improved service quality from other banks. 7. BACKGROUND- BANKING IN GHANA Ghana has a well structured financial system that is built around the capital market, the Bank and the non Bank Financial Institutions. Banks are further divided in to the following classes on the basis of a licensed system: Universal Banking under Class I banking license. Universal and off-shore Banking under Class II banking license. Universal, off-shore Banking and ARB (Association of Rural and Community Banks) APEX Banking under the general banking license. (Bank of Ghana, Annual report, 2007). At present, the minimum amount of GHC 60 million is required to be possessed by the banks that are operating in Ghana as their stated capital (Bank of Ghana, Annual report, 2007). Ghana has 26 major banks operating under the Universal banking license and 126 rural and community banks that have been licensed for ARB Apex banking system. And also, 41 non Banking Financial Institutions which comprise of Discount Houses, Finance Companies, Mortgage Finance Companies, Savings Companies, Loans Companies and Leasing Companies. All of these NBFIs are supervised by the Bank of Ghana that is the central bank of Ghana. The activity based division of Commercial, Merchant and Development banking operating previously in Ghana have been replaced by this categorization. This was done in the wake of the initiative for the financial reforms that enabled universal banking in Ghana and thus, dissolved the operating limits hypothesized on the initial activity of incorporation. The goal was to transform t he conventional way of banking operation in order to welcome competitive trading in to the banking sector. Dr. Acquah, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana stated in his speech at the Fifth Banking Award Ceremony that universal banking was introduced in order to promote new banks, liberalize the options for the banking services, extend the branch network and increase competition for deposit at the level of retail (Acquah, 2009). Since the banks constitute 70 per cent of the financial sector, thus, they are the most common source for contributing to the economy (Bawumia, 2008). The head offices of all the banks in Ghana are situated in the national capital of the country while their several branches are located in major cities and town of Ghana that are owned by the government, Ghanaians, foreigners or the combination. Currently all the banks in Ghana possess Universal Banking License. Only 12 banks in Ghana are owned by its citizens. The table below shows the banks operating in Ghana with their branch networks, area of activity and proprietorship. Name of Bank Number of Branches Ownership Current Banking Licence Barclays Bank of Ghana Ltd 120 Non- Ghanaian Universal Merchant Bank (Ghana) Ltd 16 Ghanaian Universal Ecobank Ghana Limited 32 Non- Ghanaian Universal Ghana Commercial Bank Ltd 143 Ghanaian Universal National Investment Bank Ltd 24 Ghanaian Universal Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd 19 Non- Ghanaian Universal SG-SSB Bank Limited 36 Non- Ghanaian Universal The Trust Bank Limited 17 Ghanaian Universal Agricultural Development Bank Ltd 50 Ghanaian Universal Amalgamated Bank Limited 10 Non- Ghanaian Universal Prudential Bank Limited 10 Ghanaian Universal Fidelity Bank Limited 6 Ghanaian Universal Zenith Bank Limited 9 Non- Ghanaian Universal Stanbic Bank (Ghana) Limited 10 Non- Ghanaian Universal Unibank Ghana Limited 11 Ghanaian Universal Intercontinental Bank Limited 12 Non- Ghanaian Universal HFC Bank Ghana Limited 11 Ghanaian Universal First Atlantic Merchant Bank Ltd 4 Ghanaian Universal International Commercial Bank Ltd 12 Ghanaian Universal Guaranty Trust Bank Limited 5 Non- Ghanaian Universal CAL Bank Limited 10 Ghanaian Universal United Bank for Africa (Gh) Ltd 16 Non- Ghanaian Universal Bank of Baroda Ghana Ltd 1 Non- Ghanaian Universal BSIC 1 Non- Ghanaian Universal BPI Bank Limited 9 Non- Ghanaian Universal Table 1: Banks in Ghana (Source: Price Waterhouse Banking Industry Survey, 2008). 7.1 The era of post Banking Reform in Ghana Developments in the era of post Banking Reforms in Ghana can be concisely expressed as the transformation of the distressed and dysfunctional banking system with illiquidity and insolvency, credit rationing and interest rate controls in to a market based regime along with improving the bank supervision in order to ascertain that efficiency and profitability is increased (Acquah, 2006). The Economic Recovery Programmed (ERP) introduced the Financial Sector Adjustment Program, generally referred as FINSAP so that the banking sector can play a vital role in promoting the economic development. This program was executed in two in two phases. In the first phase, FINSAP 1, provisions were made for liberalizing the banking industry and restructuring the distressed banks in Ghana (Brownbridge et al., 1998). The restructuring part was very crucial since these banks were either extremely important for the economy or deeply associated with other economic activities such that their demolition may result in disastrous ramifications. The second phase, FINSAP 2 brought new dimensions in the financial industry reform program through privatizing state owned banks, technological advancements, human capital development and careful supervision and regulation by the central bank of Ghana. In addition to this, the second phase of FINSAP characterized cautious banking through revising the Banking Law of 1970 and through introducing the Banking Laws of 1989 and 2004 which enforced the requirement of minimum capital keeping in view the increased number of banks and branches. Due to FINSAP 2, the banking and the financial industry in Ghana experienced strong regulation and supervision along with the advancement in latest payments and settlement system. Above all was the Payment Systems Development Strategy by the central bank of Ghana that focused at the delivery of financial services that enhanced the financial intermediation with the help of the progress of electronic payment products that include ATM (Automated Teller Machine) services, e-money, transfer of funds at the point of sale, SMS (Short Message Service), internet and telephone banking. Recently, e-zwich was brought in to the market in order to build a common platform that assisted in connecting the different banking institutions through a biometric smart card (Acquah, 2009). All the banks responded positively to the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) in delivery of financial services which in turn improved the financial performance. This outlook over shadowed the competition and distinguished market share and profitability among the banks in Ghana. The new foreign and private banks launched latest technologies whereas the government banks have to cope up with the redundant man power and non-performing assets. The new banks encounter the challenges of market share, spread and size from the conventional banks. In order to overcome this challenge, the new banks employed the strategic option of swift implementation of the prescribed new products and the development of financial services administered by the Bank of Ghana so that the un-banked, banked and under banked customer classes of the population could be captured. 7.2 The Case Study of Barclays Bank, Ghana As shown in the table 2 provided above that Barclays Banks holds a leading position in the Ghanaian financial services market place in addition to an aggressive nationwide branch network. Thus, Barclays being the premier banking institution of Ghana is leveraging its distinct characteristics in order to compete effectively in the highly competitive and fast progressing banking and financial services industry of Ghana. In order to further differentiate itself from the rest in the competition, Barclays Bank is headed towards promoting its strategy of holding its market leadership position through developing its customer management functionality with the help of implementing a robust solution for customer relation management (CRM) with strongly emphasizing over its customer service operations. Barclays commenced this initiative for CRM in order to facilitate the customer facing the banks operations with the technology platform enhancing the banks operations and enabling the bank to compete effectively in addition to becoming a truly customer focused organization. Thus, Barclays is looking forward to working with a reputable organization in order to develop and upgrade its existing customer contact centre along with integrating it with CRM Dynamic Solution by Microsoft. Completely equipped, contact centre of Barclays Bank will eventually enable the customers to interact and deal with the bank via multiple channels such as voice, e-mail, fax, IVR, web, etc.) that fulfils various functionalities of sales, marketing and service at the time of their convenience either with a customer representative or through self service. It is highly vital for Barclays to enhance its processes facing customers in order to develop the business relationship in between its customers and employees for attaining its business goals. The implementation of such an advance and complex customer management project is to be based upon detailed and comprehensive planning, apt consulting and allocation of technical resources to ascertain that the desired goals are achieved with in a certain time period, being as cost effective as possible. Electronic services department of Barclays strongly believes that the goals of this initiative required being in line with the overall business strategies of Barclays Bank. It has been observed from similar engagements that spanning numerous industries is not adequate to ensure desired result. Barclays must recognize the important role that it has to play in the initial stages of the project. Complete commitment and dedication from Barclays is required through out the total time frame of the project in order to ascertain and realize the significance of enhancing its customer management functionality which will ultimately result in the growth in revenue and profitability. 7.2.1 Requirements for the Barclays Bank Ghana Barclays Bank Ghana is looking forward to improving its overall customer management operations through commencing a CRM strategy that is most likely to enhance the banks customer focus strategy. The first stage of this CRM initiative will emphasize over improving the customer service function of the bank through making new advancements in its current platform for the centre. This is achieved by employing latest tools that will improve the interaction of the customers with the bank either through the customer service representation or by means of self service. The first stage of CRM initiatives is most likely to improve the sales and marketing processes of the operation of the bank and set the stage for linking these processes with the customer service operations and allowing them to access the tools that will support in improving their performance, enhance their functions and recognize understand the customer as the Banks primary asset. The bank has recognized the following basic functions necessary for improving its existing contact centre platform. Outbound Calls and Multimedia Channels Automatic Distribution of Calls Caller Line Identification Complaint Management Interactive Voice Response Integration of CRM Computer Telephony Integration Call Recording Reports or Dashboard System Backup Barclays Bank has also recognized the following modules of Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform as the desirable milestones for the project. Marketing module Service Module Sales Module Workflow Module Analytical Module 7.2.2 Recommended Solution The recommended solution is divided in to the following three different components. CRM-Workshop for Business Process Mapping Implementation of Microsoft Dynamic CRM Up gradation of the platform of Contact Centre Technology 7.2.3 Business Process Mapping The aim of this exercise is to recognize the current business processes, future business processes and the gap between the two scenarios. It is formulated to overcome barriers between the business values and its technology. The outcome is strict accountability and a higher probability of customer satisfaction through its deployment. The exercise will determine the metric that need to be tracked down, managers and customers that will be held accountable for these measurements of the performance, required new processes, impact of processes and sub processes on data importing, solution configuration and integration with other technologies and systems used at the back end. The results of this exercise are given below: Detailed Process Map that consists of report on current state as validated by the stockholders. Detailed Process Map consisting of report on future state as validated by the stockholders. Gap Analytical Report Business Requirements Report After the above documents have been produced, the business users will eventually examine and validate the provided information. After approval, these documents will be used to support project execution. 7.2.4 Deployment of CRM System The desired outcome of the successful deployment of a CRM system is determined through the end users usage and willingness to use it daily in order to improve their personal productivity. In this regard, the adapted methodology gives a frame work for dealing with customer relationship management as a business strategy and also as a project for developing technical systems. The concept behind this process is that technology alone with out strategy does not produce business results. Thus, a proper strategy for CRM is required to be adopted side by side with the deployment of the technical system. The success of CRM lies in the implementation of the technology with the clear picture of the improvements in measurable business performance. 7.2.5 Strategy The strategic model used by the Barclays Bank Ghana constitutes of four components that must be understood in order to achieve real business advantage from any CRM based project. Figure 2 (Source: e.Services Africa Ltd. 2010). Performance Management The purpose of any CRM project in an organization is to improve or optimize its performance. However, it is complicated to precisely define: the areas and object to be improved, the extent of this improvement and the enhancement of this improvement measure through the CRM system. This objective is fulfilled by embedding key point indicators, business metrics in the form of understandable charts and graphs in to the user interface of the CRM system. This enables the user to use the system as a routine activity. User can easily find the changes made by them to the system in clear metrics on their dashboard. Users and the management must seriously operate the business in accordance to the embedded metrics on the dashboards. Management Commitment Commitment of the management serves as the basis for success of any CRM project. Senior managers must completely comprehend and be involved in adopting CRM as a strategy and they must also, actively take part in the implementation of CRM project. Existing processes need to be changed for improving performance of any business or system, thus, any CRM project could be referred to an effort for changing management and modifying behavior. Managers are supposed to support such changes. Irrespective of the technological functions, the managers must back the process changes along with communicating the fact that new procedures need to be adopted in order to achieve the desired goals of the business.

The Archetypical Low-Cost Air Carrier: Southwest Airlines :: Aviation Southwest Airlines Flying Essays

Abstract The seventh largest major domestic airline in the United States (US), Southwest Airlines, is commonly known or referred to as a low-cost carrier. Southwest Airlines is the only major airline that provides short-haul, point-to-point service in the United States. In fact it was the first airline of its type ever started; it has become the archetypical low-cost airline. The idea has proven itself so well, that other start-up airlines have based their company strategies upon the basics of Southwest. Today, there are two other low-cost air carriers (the other two airlines are considered national airlines and not major airlines) that are actively and aggressively competing with Southwest Airlines for business and profit turning. The three American low-cost air carriers are currently posting profits even in light of the US economy’s current state of affairs, with Southwest Airlines first, JetBlue second, and Air Tran third, in profits. How is this possible when the major six airlines are reporting losses of millions and millions of dollars each quarter? The answer to this question begins about 30 years ago. The Archetypical Low-Cost Air Carrier: Southwest Airlines The product one airline can offer is the same exact product the next airline can offer, a single available seat mile (ASM) for sale. The difference between the airlines lies in the marketing, routing, pricing, executive decision-making, and the operating strategies that each airline chooses to espouse regarding that one product. It is through these strategies that an airline must find productivity in total revenue passenger miles (RPM) flown to be profitable. When the ASM is filled with a fare-paying passenger, sales or income is recognized, and it converts to an RPM. The relationship between the ASM and RPM are directly related and is expressed in percentages known as Load Factors (LF). This LF is a management tool used to determine the efficiency and health of the airline. It is necessary to keep these two variables in balance of each other. Southwest Airlines load factors are represented in Figure 1 and 2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   RPM LF = ASM Many airlines choose to use the hub network, which induces costly effects in all areas of the airline. It is the point-to-point; short haul airline that is capable of keeping costs low and turn profits, Southwest Airlines has proven just that. Southwest Airlines survived the initial years of deregulation, years of cyclical business cycles that may have led to recessionary and or inflationary periods, and its 25-year

Physics of Tennis Racquets :: physics sport sports tennis

Missing figures Tennis racquets with old type of strings did not allow power and control over the racquet at the same time. To get a powerful stroke player had to hit the ball with the area of racquet closer to the tip of the racquet (toe). To obtain control and to reduce vibration of the racquet, player had to hit the ball with the area of racquet called â€Å"sweet spot†, located around the geometric center of the head. NASA’s 1973 Skylab 3 mission showed that tapered strings can move the â€Å"sweet spot† from the center of the racquet toward the position of greater power. The NASA research on spider webs, which was meant to find the solution to reduce the vibration on space stations, unexpectedly benefited tennis. NASA’s Skylab, the first U.S. space station, in 1973 carried out the experiment with the space born spiders Anita and Arabella, to learn from spiders how to construct low vibration space stations. Soviet space station Mir had serious problems with vibration. Every use of exercise equipment caused the entire station to shake. Spiders are well known for making their nets capable to absorb the impact of their pray. According to the book â€Å"The Web of the Spider† by Laura Barr Lougee [3], spider webs are made in such a way to keep all tensions in balance. The NASA research showed that the change in diameter of strings changes the stability of a network. This property of strings was used to improve the performances of tennis racquets. It is hard to define â€Å"power† of racquet. According to [4] power could be defined as 1. racquet bounce (high coefficient of restitution) 2. high swing weight (high angular momentum) 3. low work (racquet which gives the greatest ball speed with a given player effort) The easiest way to understand power is the coefficient of restitution (COR). The maximum power occurs when the COR is the greatest. The coefficient of restitution is the ratio of the differences in velocities before and after the collision. COR is defined as difference in the velocities of the two colliding objects after the collision, divided by the difference in their velocities before the collision. COR = coefficient of restitution = linear velocity of the racquet mass center before impact = linear velocity of the ball before impact (will be negative according to our convention that away from the player is positive)

History of East Saint Louis Essay

East Saint Louis, Illinois is a very small city it has a total of 89 streets as of today. Around in the 1860’s the city used to be called Illinois town. It was the fourth largest city in the state of Illinois. People knew one place they could get a job was in this city. The name East Saint Louis came about because of the terrible reputation it had when it was known as Illinois town so they decided to rename it hoping to overcome all the challenges they were facing. Jobs started to vanish, riots broke out and blacks moving there was the cause of all this. Most of the blacks that lived there came from down South where living conditions couldn’t be much worst. If they had a chance to move their children they did. They didn’t want their children to experience the life of picking cotton as they had. The whites there were upset and weren’t going to let the blacks take their jobs. As time grew and more blacks start to come, the more jobs started to leave so as the jobs started to leave the Population started to decline meaning taxes were higher and cuts had to be made. One investor had in mind if he bought some vacant lots that he could make a little money on the side, because the federal government was going to provide funds for â€Å"turnkey housing† to be scattered throughout the city, so the empty property will be his quick get rich scheme. When the housing Authority began building Low-income housing, real-estates agents and developers made a lot of money building and selling houses in West Belleville. The whites started to flee once they started to build in their neighborhoods. As time as started to pass things started to get worst, Violence were people were hurt, Homes being broken into, people being robbed, and killed. The population in the 1960 was around 81,728, as of 2011 the population is 27,000, with an estimated 14,000 resident living in public housing that leaves the tax burden on the 13,000. Forty percent of the residents draw public aid. The blacks who are able are fleeing away from the city as well. This makes the population continue to drop. In 1972, James Williams was the town black first Mayor he defeated Charles Merritts even though Merritts had the support of the white Democrats. Thereafter Merritts was sentence to federal prison for taking kickbacks as president of School District 189 Board of Education and also for putting a contract out to kill Clyde C. Jordan, a great leader for the town who was a fellow school board member and publisher of the Crusader black weekly newspaper. In the present year we can see that nothing has changed. All the corruption of this town has been going on since the beginning of time. Nothing really has change, we might see a new promising building here and now but the wrong people still holds the key to the scene of this all. We as citizens of East St. Louis, IL hopefully one day get the courage to stand up for what’s right and not worry about the consequence we might endure. Change is good and the city of East Saint Louis needs a tremendous change and we as the people can and shall make that happen.

Gardening to Reduce Stress

Stress can really weigh down on our life and limit our activeness. There are many ways that one can use to manage the high level of stress. One of the most effective ways is to burn up that stress. One will do something, whether conscious of it or not as a way of draining the tension in every day life. These activities may involve physical and mental exertion or engaging in a pleasurable activity.However it should be noted that the activity that one use to burn away tension are usually unique and very idiosyncratic to an individual person. It is therefore important for every one to try and find out which activity can be considered as a stress releaser. In this paper we are going to illustrate gardening as one of those activities which can be successfully used to manage stress.GardeningIn our daily life, many of us garden because we have to grow and produce our own fruits, vegetables, and other types of foods.   Other will do so for economic activities. In our home compound, we may do gardening to create an attractive landscape where we can sit with our friends and relax.However gardening, regardless of the purpose with which it is done can be therapeutic. It is used as a way of fighting and relieving tension in our life. For some of use grading can relax our mind, body, and spirit. However we should understand that it is not gardening that is relaxing our mind, but it is the way we approach it. Once gardening is taken as a chore, it cannot effectively relax our bodies and mind but it turns out to be stressing. To relieve stress with gardening, it should be viewed as an enjoyable activity.While gardening, focusing on the main activity that one is undertaking or the activity at hand is the key to relieve stress and relax the body.  Ã‚   The continuous gardening activities like digging, chopping, and to an extent hitting motions are also key to relieve stress and tension in life.There are also strenuous activities in gardening which act as an outlet for aggres sion and consequently wades of the aggression burning in our body which can be a cause of stress and anxiety.However it is not only strenuous activities which can relieve stress in gardening. Just taking a simple walk around the garden can be sufficient for others to take away their stress.When you take a walk around the garden, ensure that you take in all the available colors, textures, and fragrances available. This will give you a different experience from that of your house or your usual workplace. By the time you complete your walk around the garden you should be feeling better.If you want to relieve stress through gardening, take into consideration the following points:Make a â€Å"to do† list which should be short so that you can stick to every activity planned for. It is advisable that not to put all activities in on list or try to do everything in one afternoon, evening or a weekend.Since you are doing gardening for the purpose of relaxing, it is advisable to follow the normal exercise cycle or pattern of stretching, warm up, control, and others.Ensure that you apply the same vigor to garden activities like digging beds, turning composite, or cultivating as in other exercising activities like weight lifting, playing football, running or swimming.After a hard work in the garden, stop and take a rest. Be conscious and try to control your breathing.   Take a deep breathe, stretch your body and relax during the resting period.While resting, stop and take a moment to observe what is around, hear, smell, touch and taste all what is around you. To add variety, you can listen to music while gardening.You can also use markers in your garden, and every time you see such a marker, stop, relax and take a deep breatheIn our society, stress is weighing down the life of many people. It is better to allow the natural rhythms of gardening in order to slow you down and calm you. When you pay attention to gardening you will get more involved and fulfilled. It i s also important to remember that how you garden is more important than just gardening.  When you find time, you can volunteer. There are many areas in gardening where you can volunteer including horticultural therapy programs. If you cannot find gardening more fulfilling in your home, you can volunteer in nursing homes, day care center facilities or in hospitals and engage in gardening.ConclusionStress affects the life of many people. However many people suffer in silence without knowing how to cope with that stress.   It is important to realize that there are many activities in our surrounding that can help us to relive our stress. Gardening is one of the most important activities that can assist you to relieve stress.You should take gardening not only as an economic activity but it can also help you to relax. However your approach to gardening is important to help you relieve stress. Next time you feel stressed, think about gardening. It may help you to relax and reduce you s tress. But remember, the approach is more important than the activity itself

Prohibition of College Sports Essay

â€Å"On October 16, 1905, shocked by the level of violence in college football, President Roosevelt summoned the Harvard, Yale and Princeton presidents and the football coaches to the White House. † College sports have turned out to be a problem since over the last hundred years and today, although sports have been major entertainment events for students and money-spinner, there are also a lot of problems associated with such events. Several governing bodies regulate the college athletic events including the NCAA, NAIA and the NCJAA. Many of the college sports have become popular on the local, regional and the national scale and they turn out to occupy important places in broadcasting and newspaper coverage. The origin of American college sports dates make to more the 165 years ago. Harvard University was one of the first to get involved in major college sporting activities. During that period college sporting activities was just a pastime, and did not have the associated money, media coverage and the huge sponsoring. Today, American college sports events are facing several problems with online and offline gambling and betting, sponsoring from liquor companies and the swearing and violence that occur at such sporting events. The college sports events actually do not promote education, but makes the students take up wrong paths. Due to these reasons, many people suggest that college sports events should in fact be banned (Mendelson, 2008, Epstein, 2002, Associated Press, 2008, Kancher, 2000, The Associated Press, 2007). Body Legislatures are currently very much concerned about the increasing number of online and offline betting and gambling going on in the realm of college sports. The scale of the racket is so much so that people are shifting from the legal gambling hubs of Nevada to the online betting web sites, which offer much more profit. These illegal web sites would in fact corrupt college sports and cause the students to choose illegal pathways with the gambling companies. McCain came up with a bill in 2000 to ban college sports betting, but his proposal was turned down. However, one of McCain aide’s said â€Å"He’ll continue to look at good opportunities,† meaning that McCain would try another strategy to reduce gambling. Many of the illegal betting companies are picking up deals with the coaches and the sports officials of the colleges. Another huge concern is the use of lottery company advertisements in college sporting events. More than $ 385, 000 has been spent by a lottery company every year on sporting events. Experts feel that permitting lottery company advertisements may in fact cause students to pick up gambling as a habit (Epstein, 2002, & The Associated Press, 2007). Alcohol companies are sponsoring the American college sports events on a large scale. They are turning out to be huge moneymakers as alcohol and beer sells well at college sporting events. Besides, it also encourages fantasy sports events that had often disastrous outcomes at college. Earlier an effort launched by the NCAA committee to ban alcohol ads during sporting events turned out to be disastrous. Today, nothing can be done about the alcohol advertisements that come up during college sporting events. The NCAA has permitted advertisements of liquors that contain less than 6 % of alcohol in them for sporting events. Many of the college sports coaches and officials have urged the NCAA to gradually ban the alcohol advertisements over the next few years. Many of the alcohol advertisements permitted during college sporting events were irresponsible. George Hacker head of CSPI says â€Å"College officials say they want to deter underage and binge drinking, and stop the riots that disrupt campus communities and blot schools’ reputations,†, which can only be possible if the number of advertisements during sports events were reduced. Fantasy games on the other hand would create another league, often damaging the name and reputation of college sport stars and sports teams (CSPI, 2003, & Rivals, 2008, During college sports events, the scenes are turning out to be very ugly due to the occurrences of swearing, passing racist or sexist remarks, physical violence, etc. Fans often taunt opposite team fans and insult opposing team players. In the past, university campus officials have tried to ban the use of remarks and adjectives by the fans, but this has gone unheard. Today obscenity is very common during college sports events. Games are not played in the right spirit. In the past banning college teams that have notorious groups of supporters have also not worked. Hence, an immediate ban on college sporting events has been called for. Boston University Dean feels that sporting events should be held in the right spirit and says â€Å"But standing and shouting obscenities does not have a place. I don’t equate school spirit with the yelling of obscenities. † (Cramer, 2006 & Associated Press, 2007). Conclusion There have also been several other problems facing American college sports. The manner in which the players, officials and the coaches are being treated seem to be a problem. Students being put into sport teams complain of several inconsistencies. The GW Hatchet reports â€Å"The NCAA is investigating an incident involving Bobby Knight, the head coach of Indiana University who allegedly choked a player in practice and showed his feces to players during a halftime speech. † Incidents like these can be very traumatizing and can often lead to unpleasant experiences that should not at all turn up during a college sport event. The very idea of having college sports events is lost. Hence, a total ban on college sports events is called for to ensure that students can ensure full concentration on academics (Kancher, 2000).