What is meant by financial services

Financial services in today’s society has become more than what a high street bank can offer you from behind a counter. It has become a diverse functional area within any economically adequate society. Throughout this essay I have tried to grasp the main concepts concerning Financial Services and condense them into an essay of relatively minor proportions in comparison to the subject matter. I hope I can give you, the reader an insight into the world of financial services in all its diversity. So what is meant by â€Å"financial services†. To be honest there is no straightforward definition such is the spread of financial services across the business spectrum. We can however dam different organisation under the heading of financial services to give you an idea of what financial service intails. Financial service is understood to include â€Å"banking, insurance, building societies, stock brooking and investment services†. These are the 5 main areas described by Brian Anderton in his 1995 book â€Å"current issues in financial services†. Brian also found it difficult to pinpoint a definitive meaning and found it easier to list organisation associated. Going in to detail when concerning the institution aids in creating a further understanding of financial services yourself. Of the main financial institutions banks are the most common. Banks can be either â€Å"commercial† or â€Å"merchant†. Dealing with retail and investment respectively. Commercial banks are easily found on the high street and rely on deposits from ordinary people. There is very little interest paid to their savings accounts however savers can borrow sums of money from the banks from which the banks make profit from interest on the loan. Merchant banking is slightly more complicated when dealing with finances and in my opinion is more exciting. Merchant banks arrange finance deals and charge for this service. This investing is slightly risky and less straightforward. However the profit rewards outweigh the timescale and effort needed to invest. Investment institutions such as pensions and insurance companies again take the liquid earnings of their clients and invest them in a wide range of profit making investments. Payment to these companies often takes the form of monthly payments taken by debit from wages. These companies give clients a sense of security, and in the claim free years to come, the chance of a large windfall payment. Large investment institution deals with modern day trading, the trading of assets and debt. It is not fast companies that trade but individual people. In this hectic rat race people and institutions stand to loose and gain huge amounts of money. Due to the uncertain nature of this trade, people and institutions are extremely keen to lend as this is seen as a stable funds reclaim if it becomes necessary to do so. The textbook definition for GDP- across domestic product is the total value of all the goods and services produced by the residents in this country. The fact that the financial sector and service sectors are growing is in no doubt, neither is the quite mind blowing increase in gross domestic product from years 1952 – 1992. An overall increase of 21% of EDP from ?381m in 1952 to ?121704m in 1992 this growth is nothing less than remarkable. This forty-year spell has seen such a huge financial success in terms of the sheer man of profit gain that the reasons for FS contributing so greatly to the GDP must be assessed. In the past Britain could be seen as a true industrialist profits made and traded through visible earnings such as machinery and farm produce. However the rise in strength of nation such as the US and major Asian powers, with their seemingly endless resources has seen the death of Britain the industrial workhorse. On this level Britain could have remained at a financial and trading standstill. Not so however Britain has found its new market – the financial market. And with an educational population Britain set about resurrecting the countries profit making ability through invisible earning of finance matters. The idea of visible and invisible earnings is extremely important to Britains economy. So let me explain that apart from obvious differences between visible and invisible.

Participative Leadership Essay

In taking the online quiz required for this assignment I found myself to be a participative leader. This type of leader fits me perfectly and I was not surprised to see the answer. I try to engage each team member in identifying necessary goals and developing procedures or strategies for reaching those goals . Nursing management is a challenging and difficult task. The style of the manager can be important for employees’ as well as other members of the healthcare team’s acceptance of change and in motivating them to achieve a high quality of care. From this view, participative leadership can be seen as a leadership approach that relies greatly on the leader functioning as a facilitator and mentor rather than simply issue orders or make assignments. Participative leadership theories recommend that the model guidance approach is one that takes the involvement of each member of the team concerned into consideration. I encourage participation and contribution from members of the group. This helps them feel more significant and committed to the decision-making process. In participative leadership, however, the leader retains the right to allow the participation of others and eventually has the final say for the best interest of the group and entice teamwork. Teamwork is established through effective communication and a shared vision that reinforces an environment of collaboration with a constant free-flow of ideas. The leader must communicate a clear vision of where the organization is headed and how the team is going to attain this goal. I find myself trying to take complete control and responsibility for the team. I have a hard time letting go and giving in to new ideas. I need to develop better listening and compromising skills. I am not a shy or quiet spoken person/leader. I do think I am fair, honest and take pride in maintain integrity. Taking a different approach and keeping an open mind would be a good place for me to start. I most definitely will be watching for the leadership skills needed for advanced practice nurses in my clinical phase of courses. I am open to suggestions now as a leader in management in my current role. I feel it is always most important to do what is safe for the patients, the team and the organization. I am always watching the leaders of my organization and picking up skills I see as note worthy. Unfortunately, each organizations has leaders with attributes that should not be a part of leadership qualities. The most important quality that a leader can possess is honesty. The process of becoming a leader starts with honesty and builds into a trusting relationship between leader and followers. If this quality is lacking no amount of team building will be successful. Honesty is the building block of any healthy relationship. â€Å"Honesty is the most powerful weapon in business† (Fralic, 2011, p. 447). â€Å"Leaders must have a sense of one’s own character and be able to accept no less than what is beneficial for the whole group†(Fralic, 2011, p. 447) In order to function with total honesty and integrity each leader must have the mind set of what is beneficial for the whole group not just the select few or the leader (Fowler, 2010).

States of Consciousness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

States of Consciousness - Research Paper Example While altered states of consciousness are generally associated with drug use, they also involve meditation and hypnosis. This essay presents a thorough research on these aspects of consciousness. Meditation Meditation is understood as the mode of inducing a specific state of consciousness to achieve a mental benefit. While meditation has a connotation as being a somewhat mystical or new age like experience, in reality it is an ancient practice that has been shown to have positive mental health benefits. In the previous few decades meditation has gradually gained acceptance in the Western world with increasing numbers of individuals and medical practitioners practicing some form of meditation. In terms of medical research, a plethora of studies have examined the physical and mental effects of meditation on human consciousness. In these regards studies have found tangible evidence demonstrating that meditation impacts changes in metabolism, blood pressure, brain activation, and other b odily processes, as well as being implemented in a number of means for stress, pain, and anxiety reduction (Newberg & Iversen, 2003). While meditation has been demonstrated to have beneficial mental effects, what actually constitutes meditation or a meditative state is defined differently among researchers. Wood, Wood & Boyd (2009, pg. 167) understand meditation as, â€Å"a group of techniques that involve focusing attention on an object, a word, one’s breathing, or one’s body movements in an effort to block out all distractions, to enhance well-being, and enact an altered state of consciousness.† This approach to meditation is that which is generally most recognized among Western medical practitioners and psychological professionals. This understanding is oftentimes augmented by an increased emphasis on the attention of the meditator, with Goleman (1988) stating, â€Å"the need for the meditator to retrain his attention, whether through concentration or mindfu lness, is the single invariant ingredient in... every meditation system.† Other researchers have identified the Eastern connotations of the term and recognize its contextual significance within a number of religious or spiritual practices. In these regards, meditation functions to achieve a sort of spiritual enlightenment or transcendence. In terms of Western implementations of meditation there are a variety of practices and corresponding medical research. One of the most prominent meditation practices in the United States is mindfulness based meditation. While influenced by ancient meditative traditions, mindfulness based meditation was popularized in the United States through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. This form of meditation is greatly influenced by Eastern traditions, most specifically Buddhism, in that it emphasizes non-judgmental self-awareness. This approach has been articulated as a, â€Å"form of naturalistic observa tion, or participant-observation, in which the objects of observation are the perceptible mental phenomena that normally arise during waking consciousness" (Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt & Walach). Much research has been conducted on this form of meditation with many studies indicating that mindfulness based meditation has beneficial effects on stress and anxiety. In addition, it has also been

Types of Marketing Strategies and Elements of a Successful Marketing Term Paper

Types of Marketing Strategies and Elements of a Successful Marketing Strategy - Term Paper Example One should remember that marketing is not like mathematics, in which there are set formulae to derive results. However, goals are met on the basis of past experiences, and some trial and error. Marketing strategies are based on the principles of psychology and sociology and believes in one core value that customers come first; therefore, one needs to satisfy their needs. TYPES OF MARKETING STRATEGIES Marketing strategies are divided on the basis of the status of the organization in the market, its stage in the life cycle and also on the basis of different levels in the company. Strategies based on Market Dominance Market Leader Strategies Market leader focuses on expanding total market, defending market share or expanding market share. Total market can be expanded either by attracting new users, creating more usage or new usage. Market share can be defended through â€Å"position defense, flanking defense, pre-emptive defense, counter-offensive defence, mobile defence, market broade ning, and market diversification and contraction defense† (Smith, n.d). Market Challenger Strategies A challenger can attack the leader by making â€Å"a frontal, flank, encirclement, and bypass or guerrilla attack† (Smith, n.d). Other strategies available to a market challenges include â€Å"offering price discounts, offering goods at low cost, introducing prestige goods, doing product proliferation, bringing innovation in the product, improving services, bringing innovation in the distribution, reducing manufacturing cost or doing intensive advertising† (Ranchhod, Tinson, & Gauzente, Marketing Strategies, 2004, p. 182). Market Follower Strategies Market follower can either become a counterfeiter, cloner, Imitator, or adapter. Market Niche Strategies Market niche follows â€Å"market differentiation strategy† (McDonald, 1995, p. 50). Porter’s Generic Strategies Porter generalised marketing strategies in three broad types that companies can choose f rom in order to get a competitive advantage. These are â€Å"market segmentation, market differentiation and cost leadership† (Bradley, 2005, p. 152).  

Museum Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Museum Paper - Assignment Example Somewhat later, Impressionism introduced another equally valid means of seeing reality. As the concept of an emotional reality took central importance, Post-Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) began capturing emotion in the very act of painting. In attempting to ‘accurately’ reflect life in all of its objective detail, French artists realized a number of ways of seeing the ‘real.’ The major ideas that fueled French art are expressed in the works of Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and Claude Monet (1840-1926), both of whom have works housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In his art and in his philosophy, Courbet’s chief technical concern seems to be an abandonment of the ‘rules’ of art, at least to some degree, in favor of a more natural flow in both line and form. He said, â€Å"painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist in the representation of real and existing things† (cited in Finocchio, 2004). In his painting â€Å"Young Women from the Village† (1852), Courbet presents a lovely pastoral image in which three young ladies from the village offer a poor farm girl something from a basket. This graceful act of charity on the part of the town girls is nearly lost in the overwhelming spaciousness of the surrounding landscape. This vast landscape is predominantly green broken only by the presence of a few cattle and a small dog all clustered relatively near the girls. There is nothing to break up the sense of isolation and mutual need these girls have for one another. In this presentation, Courbet bro ke all traditional approaches to ‘pastoral’ art as well as the respected position of artists of the period. â€Å"His Young Women from the Village †¦ violates conventional rules of scale and perspective and challenges traditional class distinctions† (Finnochio, 2004). Although Courbet is presenting young ladies, he makes no attempt to beautify their images. He paints them in the traditional clothing of

Analysis of qualitative research article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis of qualitative research article - Essay Example Inappropriate assessment of patients by nurses may result in high incidences of suicide. Both qualitative and quantitative assessment methods are available for use and the method used may be depend on the setting. Purpose The purpose of the research was to understand how nurses conceptualize suicide among patients in addition to the strategies they use in the process of assessment. Due to the emerging trends in suicide assessment inappropriate assessment might fail to pick potential suicide patients. Research design and research tradition The traditional phenomenography which analyses the different ways in which people experience, conceptualize, identify, and familiarize themselves with various aspects of phenomena in the world around them was used in this study. This method is frequently used in health care research and was utilized in an inductive, qualitative and descriptive approach to help understand the conceptualizations of suicide by psychiatric nurses and the strategies that psychiatric nurses utilize when conducting a suicide evaluation. Sampling A convenience/snowball sampling method was utilized in the study to recruit six psychiatric-mental health nurse participants for the ten months study period. The participants were obtained from two advanced practice nurses agencies in different psychiatric settings and different Northeastern states with the help of nurse managers. One of the settings chosen was a psychiatric hospital's emergency assessment unit while the other was an inpatient psychiatric unit of a general hospital. Five of the six participating nurses were females with four of them having more than 15 years experience while the fifth had nine months experience as a psychiatric mental health nurse and more than five years experience as a mental health worker. The sixth participant was a male nurse with more than 15 years experience. All the participants were white with one having a master’s degree in nursing, three with bachelorâ€℠¢s degree and two with associate degrees in nursing. Data collection The research methods used for data collection were approved by the University of Rhode Island’s Institutional Review Board. Before data collection began consent was sought from both the participating nurses and the patients. The inclusion criteria for the patients included more than 18 years of age, ability to understand and speak English in addition to giving informed consent. The patients were also informed that their participation or non participation in the research would not affect the care they received from the institution. The data in this study was mainly obtained through interviews with the psychiatric nurses after suicide assessment of adult patients. The assessment sessions varied from between 15 minutes to one and a half hours among different patients. The interviews with the psychiatric nurses were recorded in a private room and were guided by a few questions. The nurses were however allowed to express their perceptions, in a clear and systematic manner, of how they conceptualize suicide and the strategies they use in the suicide assessment process. In a bid to obtain as much information and as possible the participating nurses were encouraged to think out aloud, deliberate, and even to pause before answering the questions if they need to. All the participating

Financial Markets after Enron and WorldCom Collapse Assignment - 3

Financial Markets after Enron and WorldCom Collapse - Assignment Example This necessitated legal, social and financial reforms. One such legislation, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has meant that public companies spend additional millions for compliance, (Roy and Walter, 56). The NYSE also proposed a new governance proposal, which focused on eliminating conflicts of interest. The financial markets with time recovered with fears of the costs of regulation and financial intermediation being passed on to consumers. Government efforts to clean up the mess began with the state of the Union address on 29th January 2002 by then-President George Bush on the impact of corporate failures on markets and society. Enforcement agencies were formed by the SEC, Justice Department and Congress in an effort to punish offenders. Several were indicted and jailed. Billions of out of court settlements were reached compensating investors albeit minimally. The financial crisis of 2008 emanated from a mix of bad political, financial, corporate and economic decisions. Though it may take time for effects of decisions to manifest, the private sector greed for short-term profit is responsible for escalating the financial crisis. The ensuing events were set in motion by three related factors. First off, there were large inflows of foreign funds into the United States following the Asian financial crisis of the late 90s and the debt crisis in Russia. Availability of credit led to a boom in the construction industry, most of which was debt financed. Further, a noble liberal political idea that encouraged and pressured banks to help poor people transform into homeowners began during the Clinton administration. This led to the creation of numerous sub-prime loans to borrowers with poor creditability, with no down payments, and no verification of assets and liabilities setting them up  for defaults, (Michael, 253). This was fuelled in part by the greed of lenders, bankers and related financial institutions.