Commercial Bank

A  commercial bank  (or  business bank) is a type of  financial institution  and  intermediary. It is a bank  that lends money and provides  transactional, savings, and money market accounts and that accepts  time deposit. Commercial banks represent the core of the credit for any national economy. In turn, the credit is the engine that put in motion the financial flows that determine growth and economic development of a nation. As a result, any efficiency in the activities of commercial banks has special implications on the entire economy.That is why we consider very useful to present an analysis of possibilities for evaluating the performance in the commercial banks. The management of every commercial bank must establish a system for assessing investment performance which suits its circumstances and needs and this evaluation must be done at consecutive intervals to ensure the achievement of the Bank's investment objectives of hand; and to know the general direction of the behaviour of investment activity in the past and therefore predictable as it in the future on the other hand.Because of the crucial role that commercial banks hold in the financial sector, this paper focuses specifically on the managing core risks is banking sector as a vital segment of the whole economy, without which no modern economy can exercise the role and own functions. ————————————————- ————————————————- Origin of the word The name  bank  derives from the  Italian  word  banco  Ã¢â‚¬Å"desk/bench†, used during the  Renaissanceera by  Florentine  bankers, who used to make their transactions above a desk covered by a green tablecloth. 2]  However, traces of banking activity can be found even in ancient times. — Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- The role of commercial banks Commercial banks engage in the following activities: * processing of payments by way of telegraphic transfer, EFTPOS, internet banking, or other means * issuing bank drafts and bank cheques * accepting money on term deposit * lending money by overdraft, installment loan, or other means * roviding documentary and standby  letter of credit, guarantees, performance bonds, securities underwriting commitments and other forms of off balance sheet exposures * safekeeping of documents and other items in safe deposit boxes * sales, distribution or brokerage, with or without advice, of: insurance, unit trusts and similar financial products as a â€Å"financial supermarket† * cash management and treasury * merchant banking  and  private equity  financing traditionally, large commercial banks also underwrite bonds, and  make markets   in currency, interest rates, and credit-related securities, but today large commercial banks usually have an  investment bank  arm that is involved in the  mentioned activities[clarify]. ————————————————- [editTypes of loans granted by commercial banks [edit]Secured loan A  secured loan  is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e. g. a car or property) as  collateral  for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan.The debt is thus secured against the collateral — in the event that the borrower defaults, the creditor takes possession of the asset used as collateral and may sell it to regain some or all of the amount originally lent to the borrower, for example, foreclosure of a home. From the creditor's perspective this is a category of debt in which a lender has been granted a portion of the bundle of rights to specified property. If the sale of the collateral does not raise enough money to pay off the debt, the creditor can often obtain a deficiency judgment against the borrower for the remaining amount.The opposite of secured debt/loan is unsecured debt, which is not connected to any specific piece of property and instead the creditor may only satisfy the debt against the borrower rather than the borrower's collateral and the borrower. A  mortgage loan  is a very common type of debt instrument, used to purchase real estate. Under this arrangement, the money is used to purchase the property. Commercial banks, however, are given security – a  lien  on the title to the house – until the mortgage is paid off in full. If the borrower  defaults  on the loan, the bank would have the legal right to epossess the house and sell it, to recover sums owing to it. In the past, commercial banks have not been greatly interested in real estate loans and have placed on ly a relatively small percentage of assets in mortgages. As their name implies, such financial institutions secured their earning primarily from commercial and consumer loans and left the major task of home financing to others. However, due to changes in banking laws and policies, commercial banks are increasingly active in home financing. Changes in banking laws now allow commercial banks to make home mortgage loans on a more liberal basis than ever before.In acquiring mortgages on real estate, these institutions follow two main practices. First, some of the banks maintain active and well-organized departments whose primary function is to compete actively for real estate loans. In areas lacking specialized real estate financial institutions, these banks become the source for residential and farm mortgage loans. Second, the banks acquire mortgages by simply purchasing them from mortgage bankers or dealers. In addition, dealer service companies, which were originally used to obtain c ar loans for permanent lenders such as commercial banks, wanted to broaden their activity beyond their local area.In recent years, however, such companies have concentrated on acquiring mobile home loans in volume for both commercial banks and savings and loan associations. Service companies obtain these loans from retail dealers, usually on a nonrecourse basis. Almost all bank/service company agreements contain a credit insurance policy that protects the lender if the consumer defaults. [edit]Unsecured loan Unsecured loans  are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrower's assets (i. e. , no  collateral  is involved). There are small businesss unsecured loans such as credit cards and credit lines to large corporate credit lines.These may be available from financial institutions under many different guises or marketing packages: * bank  overdrafts An overdraft occurs when money is withdrawn from a bank account and the available balance goes below zero. In this s ituation the account is said to be â€Å"overdrawn†. If there is a prior agreement with the account provider for an overdraft, and the amount overdrawn is within the authorized overdraft limit, then interest is normally charged at the agreed rate. If the POSITIVE balance exceeds the agreed terms, then additional fees may be charged and higher interest rates may apply. * corporate bonds credit card  debt * credit facilities or lines of credit * personal loans What makes a bank limited liability company A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. It is a bond that a corporation issues to raise money in order to expand its business. [1] The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date. (The term â€Å"commercial paper† is sometimes used for instruments with a shorter maturity. ) Sometimes, the term â€Å"corporate bonds† is used to include all bonds except those issu ed by governments in their own currencies.Strictly speaking, however, it only applies to those issued by corporations. The bonds of local authorities and supranational organizations do not fit in either category. [clarification needed] Corporate bonds are often listed on major exchanges (bonds there are called â€Å"listed† bonds) and ECNs like Bonds. com and MarketAxess, and the coupon (i. e. interest payment) is usually taxable. Sometimes this coupon can be zero with a high redemption value. However, despite being listed on exchanges, the vast majority of trading volume in corporate bonds in most developed markets takes place in decentralized, dealer-based, over-the-counter markets.Some corporate bonds have an embedded call option that allows the issuer to redeem the debt before its maturity date. Other bonds, known as convertible bonds, allow investors to convert the bond into equity. Corporate Credit spreads may alternatively be earned in exchange for default risk through the mechanism of Credit Default Swaps which give an unfunded synthetic exposure to similar risks on the same ‘Reference Entities'. However, owing to quite volatile CDS ‘basis' the spreads on CDS and the credit spreads on corporate bonds can be significantly different. Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the United States * Glass-Steagall Act * Mortgage constant Functions of Commercial Banks Commercial bank being the financial institution performs diverse types of functions. It satisfies the financial needs of the sectors such as agriculture, industry, trade, communication, etc. That means they play very significant role in a process of economic social needs. The functions performed by banks are changing according to change in time and recently they are becoming customer centric and widening their functions. Generally the functions of commercial banks are divided into two categories viz. rimary functions and the secondary functions. The following chart simplifi es the functions of banks. Primary Functions of Commercial Banks Commercial Banks performs various primary functions some of them are given below 1 Accepting Deposits  :  Commercial bank accepts various types of deposits from public especially from its clients. It includes saving account deposits, recurring account deposits, fixed deposits, etc. These deposits are payable after a certain time period  2 Making Advances  :  The commercial banks provide loans and advances of various forms. It includes an over draft facility, cash credit, bill discounting, etc.They also give demand and demand and term loans to all types of clients against proper security. 3 Credit creation  :It is most significant function of the commercial banks. While sanctioning a loan to a customer, a bank does not provide cash to the borrower Instead it opens a deposit account from where the borrower can withdraw. In other words while sanctioning a loan a bank automatically creates deposits. This is kno wn as a credit creation from commercial bank. Secondary Functions of Commercial Banks Along with the primary functions each commercial bank has to perform several secondary functions too.It includes many agency functions or general utility functions. The secondary functions of commercial banks can be divided into agency functions and utility functions. a) Agency Functions  : Various agency functions of commercial banks are ————————————————- 1 To collect and clear cheque, dividends and interest warrant. ————————————————- 2 To make payment of rent, insurance premium, etc. ————————————————- 3 To deal in foreign exchange transactions. ——â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- 4 To purchase and sell securities. ———————————————— 5 To act as trusty, attorney, correspondent and executor. ————————————————- 6 To accept tax proceeds and tax returns. b) General Utility Functions  : The general utility functions of the commercial banks include ————————————————- 1 To provide safety locker facility to customers. ————————————————- 2 To provide money transfer facility. ——————à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- 3 To issue traveller's cheque. ————————————————- To act as referees. ————————————————- 5 To accept various bills for payment e. g phone bills, gas bills, water bills, etc. ————————————————- 6 To provide merchant banking facility. ————————————————- 7 To provide various cards such as credit cards, debit cards, Smart cards, etc. Andrievskiy Wealth Management  establishes bank accounts for onshore and offshore companies and private individuals with one of the oldest banks in Switzerland, for asset management as well as for purely commercial transfers.Andrievskiy Wealth Management doesn’t charge any commissions for bank account openings. * Time period of an account opening: 7-10 days (available by mail) * Price: free of charge * Getting keys of electronic access to the account (e-banking) * Time period of getting keys: 7 days * Registering management mandate according to your strategy: 1 day * The minimum recommended amount to open a Swiss bank account is 500 000 CHF * Receiving reports: quarterly or on request Opening a Swiss bank account in the Internet age is a very easy thing to do.The main reason for opening a Swiss bank account is for the extreme security and privacy Swiss Banks uphold thanks to Swiss laws that have been in effect for over 75 years. Contrary to popular belief, opening a Swiss bank account does not always mean that you are a tax evader, criminal, or money launderer. Swiss bank accounts can protect one’s money from prying relatives, nasty divorce settlements, lawsuits, and more. Some people just want a Swiss bank account because of the allure and mystery often attached to Swiss bank accounts, but whatever your reasons it is relatively easy to find a bank and open an account.Till the end of the last century, opening a Swiss bank account may have included visiting the bank of your choice in person, paying hundreds of dollars a year in fees, and putting down a few thousand dollars as an initial deposit. As the Internet has allowed online banking to explode, you can now open a bank account at thousands of banks around the world wherever you are. Offshore bank accounts are available to anyone with money that needs a place to be kept, Swiss banks have a lot of competition these days. Sticking to trusted and insured banks is always the way to go.While most banks today have secure online banking and security features in place, a Swiss bank account comes built in with some of the strictest privac y laws in the world. Never wire money or deposit money to any site or bank without first verifying that the bank or site is secure and licensed to do banking. Making sure deposits are insured is also a good idea and be mindful that not all banks may be insured or may have deposit insurance limits. Read reviews and ask questions about the Swiss bank you choose before providing any personal information.Once you’ve found a good Swiss bank and open an account you’ll enjoy financial privacy at a level found only in Switzerland. In 1934, the Swiss passed a law that made it a criminal offense for bankers to reveal the identity of account holders. There are two reasons why this protection was reinforced: Nazi spies: The 1931 crisis led to intensified foreign exchange control in Germany. Hitler promulgated a law whereby any German with foreign capital was to be punished by death, and the Gestapo began espionage on Swiss banks. When three Germans were put to death, the Swiss gov ernment was convinced of the necessity to reinforce bank secrecy.Pressure from the French: The 1932 Basler Handelsbank affair revealed that over 2,000 members of the French elite had accounts in Switzerland. French Leftists took advantage of this to denounce the austerity program of the government. It called for legal authority over French accounts in Switzerland, but to no avail. Unlike American law where law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, and private citizens can gain access to all kinds of financial information, under Swiss law neither the bank’s officers or the its employees are allowed to reveal any information, relative to any account to anyone, including the Swiss government.No private citizen or their legal representative can ever receive any type of information about anyone’s Swiss bank account under any set of conditions. That includes all types of legal proceedings that the Swiss classify as non-criminal behavior. The Swiss consider tax evasion a political offense. Divorce, inheritance disputes and bankruptcy cases are considered private matters, and as such the secrecy of the account is protected from any legal action to verify the presence of, or attempts to seize any assets. There are some notable exceptions.The Swiss are bound by a treaty with the US to reveal accounts connected with organized crime, drug trafficking and insider trading. But the final say on revealing the identity of the account holder is up to the Swiss authorities. 7 myths about Swiss bank accounts Swiss bank accounts are only for millionaires. This is not true. The majority of our clients are not major manufacturers or movie stars, but everyday people (business people, computer engineers, civil servants, etc. ). Swiss banks are no longer only for stars. You can open a Swiss bank account with a deposit of only 5,000 Swiss francs.We even offer accounts with no minimum balance. Money invested in Switzerland yields no interest. Nothing could be more untr ue. You can invest your money worldwide from your account in Switzerland. Swiss bankers are among the best finance managers in the world, so it comes as no surprise that they manage over 35% of offshore holdings. It’s impossible to open an account in Switzerland by correspondence This is not true. Most of the accounts that we offer can be opened by correspondence as long as you comply with our opening procedures and provide us with the necessary documents.What is more, your banking relations can be conducted by correspondence, using the telephone, Internet banking, bank transfer and credit cards. That said, we encourage our customers to meet with their banker at least once in order to get acquainted and see where their money is held. Swiss bank accounts are very expensive to maintain This is not true. Most of the accounts we open don’t charge a cent in annual fees. Even if you would like additional services such as retained correspondence or numbered banking relations, the annual fees are very reasonable.It is difficult to close a Swiss bank account On the contrary. You can close your account in Switzerland whenever you wish and without any restriction. You will pay no financial penalty. If need be, you will just have to realize your investments. Contrary to many onshore banking practices, your money is not held hostage by Swiss banks. Swiss bank accounts attract only criminals and dictators Not true! The vast majority of Swiss bank account holders are honest people who want to keep their savings in a country renowned for its stability.Swiss banks are extremely cautious regarding politicians who wish to open an account and they systematically refuse to accept any money that is of dubious origin or poorly founded. Numbered accounts are anonymous There are no anonymous accounts in Switzerland. A numbered account is an account that is identified solely by a number, rather than a name, in order to preserve the strictest confidentiality possible durin g teller transactions or bank transfers. Only the bank manager and a few select people know the identity of numbered account holders. There exist two different types Swiss bank accounts.The first is accessible to (almost) anyone. Such an account will offer credit and debit cards, checking or whatever else you may want in a bank account. Opening such an account can be done in person–some Swiss banks have branches here in the US–or by mail. Then there are the Swiss bank accounts you’ve heard about from the movies. These are the numbered accounts, the ones with minimum balances anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million. It’s known as private banking and it’s reserved for folks who have a lot of assets to manage and who demand a lot of service.The services you receive at a private bank focus on private counseling in aspects of wealth management including investments, tax concerns, and estate planning. The numbered accounts aren’t anonymous, but only a few people know the name of the account holder and Swiss law forbids them from revealing it to most anyone. They can’t acknowledge that you have an account, give out the name of a numbered account holder or reveal any information about the transactions of any account holder. Generally, numbered accounts must be opened in person, though lawyers and/or brokers can perform this service for you by mail.Your signature and identity have to be authenticated by a notary public or consul, depending on circumstances. If you’ve got the money and want to open such account, here are links to the private banking departments of some well known Swiss banks: Ask Dr. Econ July 2001 What Is the Economic Function of a Bank? Commercial banks play an important role in the financial system and the economy. As a key component of the financial system, banks allocate funds from savers to borrowers in an efficient manner. They provide specialized financial services, which reduce the cost of ob taining information about both savings and borrowing opportunities.These financial services help to make the overall economy more efficient. Imagine a World Without Banks One way to answer your question is to imagine, for a moment, a world without banking institutions, and then to ask yourself a few questions. This is not just an academic exercise; many former eastern-block nations began facing this question when they began to create financial markets and develop market-oriented banks and other financial institutions. If there were no banks†¦ * Where would you go to borrow money? * What would you do with your savings? * Would you be able to borrow (save) as much as you need, when you need t, in a form that would be convenient for you? * What risks might you face as a saver (borrower)? How Banks Work Banks operate by borrowing funds-usually by accepting deposits or by borrowing in the money markets. Banks borrow from individuals, businesses, financial institutions, and governmen ts with surplus funds (savings). They then use those deposits and borrowed funds (liabilities of the bank) to make loans or to purchase securities (assets of the bank). Banks make these loans to businesses, other financial institutions, individuals, and governments (that need the funds for investments or other purposes).Interest rates provide the price signals for borrowers, lenders, and banks. Through the process of taking deposits, making loans, and responding to interest rate signals, the banking system helps channel funds from savers to borrowers in an efficient manner. Savers range from an individual with a $1,000 certificate of deposit to a corporation with millions of dollars in temporary savings. Banks also service a wide array of borrowers, from an individual who takes a loan of $100 on a credit card to a major corporation financing a billion-dollar corporate merger.The table below provides a June 2001 snapshot of the balance sheet for the entire U. S. commercial banking in dustry. It shows that the bulk of banks' sources of funds comes from deposits – checking, savings, money market deposit accounts, and time certificates. The most common uses of these funds are to make real estate and commercial and industrial loans. Individual banks' asset and liability composition may vary widely from the industry figures, because some institutions provide specialized or limited banking services. Banks Are Only One Type of Financial Intermediary Finally, the U.S. financial services industry and financial markets are highly developed. In recent decades, many new products and services have been created, as well as new financial instruments and institutions. Today, in addition to banks, there are several other important types of financial intermediaries. These include savings institutions, credit unions, insurance companies, mutual funds, pension funds, finance companies, and real estate investment trusts (REITS). Banks' assets have grown in recent decades in a bsolute terms; however, banks have tended to lose market share to even aster growing intermediaries such as pension funds and mutual funds. Still, banks continue to account for a significant share-over 23 percent-of the assets of all financial intermediaries at the end of year 2000, as the chart below shows. The main functions of commercial banks are accepting deposits from the public and advancing them loans. However, besides these functions there are many other functions which these banks perform. All these functions can be divided under the following heads: 1. Accepting deposits 2. Giving loans 3. Overdraft 4. Discounting of Bills of Exchange . Investment of Funds 6. Agency Functions 7. Miscellaneous Functions 1. Accepting Deposits: The most important function of commercial banks is to accept deposits from the public. Various sections of society, according to their needs and economic condition, deposit their savings with the banks. For example, fixed and low income group people d eposit their savings in small amounts from the points of view of security, income and saving promotion. On the other hand, traders and businessmen deposit their savings in the banks for the convenience of payment.Therefore, keeping the needs and interests of various sections of society, banks formulate various deposit schemes. Generally, there ire three types of deposits which are as follows: (i)  Current Deposits: The depositors of such deposits can withdraw and deposit money whenever they desire. Since banks have to keep the deposited amount of such accounts in cash always, they carry either no interest or very low rate of interest. These deposits are called as Demand Deposits because these can be demanded or withdrawn by the depositors at any time they want.Such deposit accounts are highly useful for traders and big business firms because they have to make payments and accept payments many times in a day. (ii)  Fixed Deposits: These are the deposits which are deposited for a definite period of time. This period is generally not less than one year and, therefore, these are called as long term deposits. These deposits cannot be withdrawn before the expiry of the stipulated time and, therefore, these are also called as time deposits. These deposits generally carry a higher rate of interest because banks can use these deposits for a definite time without having the fear of being withdrawn. iii)  Saving Deposits: In such deposits, money upto a certain limit can be deposited and withdrawn once or twice in a week. On such deposits, the rate of interest is very less. As is evident from the name of such deposits their main objective is to mobilise small savings in the form of deposits. These deposits are generally done by salaried people and the people who have fixed and less income. 2. Giving Loans: The second important function of commercial banks is to advance loans to its customers. Banks charge interest from the borrowers and this is the main source of th eir income.Banks advance loans not only on the basis of the deposits of the public rather they also advance loans on the basis of depositing the money in the accounts of borrowers. In other words, they create loans out of deposits and deposits out of loans. This is called as credit creation by commercial banks. Modern banks give mostly secured loans for productive purposes. In other words, at the time of advancing loans, they demand proper security or collateral. Generally, the value of security or collateral is equal to the amount of loan.This is done mainly with a view to recover the loan money by selling the security in the event of non-refund of the loan. At limes, banks give loan on the basis of personal security also. Therefore, such loans are called as unsecured loan. Banks generally give following types of loans and advances: (i)  Cash Credit: In this type of credit scheme, banks advance loans to its customers on the basis of bonds, inventories and other approved securitie s. Under this scheme, banks enter into an agreement with its customers to which money can e withdrawn many times during a year. Under this set up banks open accounts of their customers and deposit the loan money. With this type of loan, credit is created. (iii)  Demand loans: These are such loans that can be recalled on demand by the banks. The entire loan amount is paid in lump sum by crediting it to the loan account of the borrower, and thus entire loan becomes chargeable to interest with immediate effect. (iv)  Short-term loan: These loans may be given as personal loans, loans to finance working capital or as priority sector advances.These are made against some security and entire loan amount is transferred to the loan account of the borrower. 3. Over-Draft: Banks advance loans to its customer’s upto a certain amount through over-drafts, if there are no deposits in the current account. For this banks demand a security from the customers and charge very high rate of int erest. 4. Discounting of Bills of Exchange: This is the most prevalent and important method of advancing loans to the traders for short-term purposes. Under this system, banks advance loans to the traders and business firms by discounting their bills.In this way, businessmen get loans on the basis of their bills of exchange before the time of their maturity. 5. Investment of Funds: The banks invest their surplus funds in three types of securities—Government securities, other approved securities and other securities. Government securities include both, central and state governments, such as treasury bills, national savings certificate etc. Other securities include securities of state associated bodies like electricity boards, housing boards, debentures of Land Development Banks units of UTI, shares of Regional Rural banks etc. 6.Agency Functions: Banks function in the form of agents and representatives of their customers. Customers give their consent for performing such functi ons. The important functions of these types are as follows: (i) Banks collect cheques, drafts, bills of exchange and dividends of the shares for their customers. (ii) Banks make payment for their clients and at times accept the bills of exchange: of their customers for which payment is made at the fixed time. (iii) Banks pay insurance premium of their customers. Besides this, they also deposit loan installments, income-tax, interest etc. s per directions. (iv) Banks purchase and sell securities, shares and debentures on behalf of their customers. (v) Banks arrange to send money from one place to another for the convenience of their customers. 7. Miscellaneous Functions: Besides the functions mentioned above, banks perform many other functions of general utility which are as follows: (i) Banks make arrangement of lockers for the safe custody of valuable assets of their customers such as gold, silver, legal documents etc. (ii) Banks give reference for their customers. iii) Banks colle ct necessary and useful statistics relating to trade and industry. (iv) For facilitating foreign trade, banks undertake to sell and purchase foreign exchange. (v) Banks advise their clients relating to investment decisions as specialist (vi) Bank does the under-writing of shares and debentures also. (vii) Banks issue letters of credit. (viii) During natural calamities, banks are highly useful in mobilizing funds and donations. (ix) Banks provide loans for consumer durables like Car, Air-conditioner, and Fridge etc.

Literature Review on Brand Awareness

Definition of ‘Brand Awareness' The likelihood that consumers  recognize the existence and availability of a company's product or service. Creating brand awareness is one of the  key steps in promoting a product Brand Awareness  is the extent to which a  brand  is recognized by potential  customers, and is correctly associated with a particular  product. Expressed usually as a percentage of  target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of  advertising  in the early months or years of a  product's introduction.Brand awareness is the extent to which the consumer associates the brand with the product he desires to buy. It is the brand recall and the brand recognition of the company to the consumers. Brand recall is the ability of the consumer to recollect the brand with reference to the product where as brand recognition is the potential of the consumer to retrieve the past knowledge of the brand when enquired about the brand or shown an image of the br and  logo.Brand awareness is an essential part of  brand development  which helps the brand to stand out from the others in this monopolistically competitive market Importance â€Å"Awareness, attitudes, and usage (AAU) metrics relate closely to what has been called the Hierarchy of Effects, an assumption that customers progress through sequential stages from lack of awareness, through initial purchase of a product, to brand loyalty. † In total, these AAU metrics allow companies to track trends in customer knowledge and attitudes. [2] Brand awareness plays a major role in a consumer’s buying decision process.The knowledge of an acquaintance or friend having used the product in the past or a high recognition of the product through constant advertisements and associations coaxes the person to make his decision in the favour of the brand. The eventual goal of most businesses is to make profits and increase sales. Businesses intend to increase their consumer pool and encourage repeat purchases. Apple is a brilliant example of how there is a very high recognition of the brand logo and high anticipation of a new product being released by the company.An iPod is the first thing that pops into our minds when we think of purchasing an mp3 player. iPod is used as a replaceable noun to describe an mp3 player. Finally, high brand awareness about a product suggests that the brand is easily recognizable and accepted by the market in a way that the brand is differentiated from similar products and other competitors. Brand building also helps in improving brand loyalty Brand awareness is  an important way of  promoting commodity-related products. This is because for these products, there are very few factors that differentiate one product from its competitors.Therefore, the product that maintains the highest brand awareness compared to its competitors will usually get the most sales. In the study â€Å"Effects of Brand Awareness on Choice for a Common Repeat Purchase-Product† prepared by Wayne D. Hoyer and Steven P. Brown, published by the University of Chicago Press in the journal â€Å"Journal of Consumer Research Vol. 17,No. 2(sep. ,1990) gives an abstract that Results of a controlled experiment on the role of brand awareness in the consumer choice process showed that brand awareness was a dominant choice heuristic among awareness-group subjects.Subjects with no brand awareness tended to sample more brands and selected the high-quality brand on the final choice significantly more often than those with brand awareness. Thus, when quality differences exist among competing brands, consumers may â€Å"pay a price† for employing simple choice heuristics such as brand awareness in the interest of economizing time and effort. However, building brand awareness is a viable strategy for advertising aimed at increasing brand-choice probabilities.In their research ,Brand awareness is defined as a rudimentary level of brand k nowledge involving,at the least, recognition of a brand name. Awareness represents lowest end of continuum of brand knowledge that ranges from simple recognition of the brand name to highly developed cognitive structure based on detailed information. Recognition is taken here to be the process of perceiving a brand as previously encountered(Mandler 1980). Thus the distinction between awareness and recognition is a subtle one,former denting a state of knowledge possessed by the consumer and the latter a cognitive process resulting from awareness.According to Keller (2003) stated that Brand awareness can be referred to as the ability of a consumer to distinguish a brand under various conditions. Keller (2003) also noted that brand awareness is built and increased by familiarity with the brand as a result of repeated vulnerability which eventually leads to consumers experience with the brand. Consumer’s experience of a particular brand could either be by hearing, seeing, or thin king about it and this will help the brand to stick in their memory.Brand awareness can be referred to as the degree of consumers’ familiarity with a brand. Aaker (1991) According to Aaker (1991 p. 62), there are three levels of brand awareness: * Brand recognition: It is the ability of consumers to identify a certain brand amongst other i. e. â€Å"aided recall†. Aided recall is a situation whereby a person is asked to identify a recognized brand name from a list of brands from the same product class. * Brand recall: This is a situation whereby a consumer is expected to name a brand in a product class.It is also referred to as â€Å"unaided recall† as they are not given any clue from the product class. * Top of mind: This is referred to as the first brand that a consumer can recall amongst a given class of product. Many researchers have seen brand awareness as an element that plays a vital role in consumer’s choice of brand. Aaker (1991) prescribed some of the following factors as ways to achieve brand awareness: * Involve a slogan or jingle: a slogan is a visible feature of a brand. There can be a strong link between a slogan and a brand.The slogan and jingle are powerful and can be a great change for a brand. * Be different and memorable: as a result of the similarity between product and their means of communication, product differentiation is important. * Symbol exposure: a known symbol will make it easier to recall and memorize a visible illustration of the brand. A logo that is connected to an existing brand or a developed brand will play a vital role in developing and keeping brand awareness. * Publicity: one of the most important ways to get publicity and create awareness is through advertisement. Event sponsorship: sponsorship of event can also help to create and maintain awareness. * Consider brand extension: one way to increase brand recall is to show the logo or name on the product and make the name popular. Example of t his is coca-cola which is more publicized than the key product. * Using cue: packaging is one of the most significant cues to a brand due to the fact that it is what the purchaser sees when purchasing a product. If the product or brand is not known, the only means of contact to the brand or product is the package. Hankinson and Cowking 1993), indicates in order to achieve the brand acceptance, the relationship between the customer and brand – perception of customer to brand is needed. The customer’s psychological and physical needs and the brand’s symbolic values and functional attributes will be reflect by the strong relationship between customers the brand Brand awareness is essential in buying decision-making as it is important that consumers recall the brand in the context of a given specific product category, awareness increasing the probability that the brand will be a member of the consideration set.Awareness also affects decisions about brands in the con sideration set, even in the absence of any brand associations in consumers’ minds. In low involvement decision settings, a minimum level of brand awareness may be sufficient for the choice to be final. Awareness can also influence consumer decision making by affecting brand associations that form the brand image (Keller1998)

Competitive Advantage in Fast Fashion

*CHAPTER* 3 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE *IN THE* FAST FASHION Fast fashion is a term used to describe clothing collections which are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and the autumn of every year. These trends are designed and manufactured quickly and cheaply to allow the mainstream consumer to take advantage of current clothing styles at a lower price. This chapter highlights the sources of competitive advantage that may exist inside the field of fast fashion, as shown in Figure 3. , studying in detail the major players who are part of: H&M, Gap, Zara and Benetton. {draw:frame} FIGURE 3. 1 : THE SOURCES OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE *3. 1 *SUPPLY CHAIN A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier) to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered t o the end customer. In sophisticated supply chain systems, used products may re-enter the supply chain at any point where residual value is recyclable. Supply chains are increasingly being seen as integrated entities, and closer relationships between the organizations throughout the chain can bring competitive advantage, reduce costs, and help to maintain a loyal customer base. There are two main differences to value chains: Supply chains are more detailed since they incorporate not only activities. Supply chains connect intra-organizational value chains by products, services, and information flows. Supply chains underlie value-chains because, without them, no producer has the ability to give customers what they want, when and where they want, at the price they want. Producers compete with each other only through their supply chains, and no degree of improvement at the producer's end can make up for the deficiencies in a supply chain which reduce the producer's ability to compete. {draw:frame} FIGURE 3. 2: EXAMPLE OF SUPPLY CHAIN A typical supply chain begins with ecological and biological regulation of natural resources, followed by the human extraction of raw material, and includes several production links (e. . , component construction, assembly, and merging) before moving on to several layers of storage facilities of ever-decreasing size and ever more remote geographical locations, and finally reaching the consumer. All organizations have supply chains of varying degrees, depending upon the size of the organization and the type of product manufactured. These networks obtain supplies and components, change these materials into finished products and then distribute them to the customer. Managing the chain of events in this process is what is known as supply chain management. The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) defines Supply Chain Management as follows â€Å"Supply Chain Management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers. In essence, supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and across companies. Supply Chain Management is an integrating function with primary responsibility for linking major business functions and business processes within and across companies into a cohesive and high-performing business model. It includes all of the logistics management activities noted above, as well as manufacturing operations, and it drives coordination of processes and activities with and across marketing, sales, product design, finance and information technology. Effective management must take into account coordinating all the different pieces of this chain as quickly as possible without losing any of the quality or customer satisfaction, while still keeping costs down. The first step is obtaining a customer order, followed by production, storage and distribution of products and supplies to the customer site. Customer satisfaction is paramount. Included in this supply chain process a re customer orders, order processing, inventory, scheduling, transportation, storage, and customer service. A necessity in coordinating all these activities is the information service network. In addition, key to the success of a supply chain is the speed in which these activities can be accomplished and the realization that customer needs and customer satisfaction are the very reasons for the network. Reduced inventories, lower operating costs, product availability and customer satisfaction are all benefits which grow out of effective supply chain management. Furthermore, market demands, customer service, transport considerations, and pricing constraints all must be understood in order to structure the supply chain effectively. These are all factors, which change constantly and sometimes unexpectedly, and an organization must realize this fact and be prepared to structure the supply chain accordingly. 3. 1. 1 DECISIONS ON THREE LEVELS Supply chain management decisions are often said to belong to one of three levels; the strategic, the tactical, or the operational level. Figure 3. shows the three level of decisions as a pyramid shaped hierarchy. The decisions on a higher level in the pyramid will set the conditions under which lower level decisions are made {draw:frame} FIGURE 3. 3 HIERARCHY OF SUPPLY CHAIN DECISIONS On the strategic level long term decisions are made. According to Ganeshan and Harrison, these are related to location, production, inventory, and transportation. Location decisions are concerned with the size, number, and geo graphic location of the supply chain entities, such as plants, inventories, or distribution centers. The production decisions are meant to determine which products to produce, where to produce them, which suppliers to use, from which plants to supply distribution centers, and so on. Inventory decisions are concerned with the way of managing inventories throughout the supply chain. Transport decisions are made on the modes of transport to use. Decisions made on the strategic level are of course interrelated. For example decisions on mode of transport are influenced by decisions on geographical placement of plants and warehouses, and inventory policies are influenced by choice of suppliers and production locations. Modeling and simulation is frequently used for analyzing these interrelations, and the impact of making strategic level changes in the supply chain. On the tactical level medium term decisions are made, such as weekly demand forecasts, distribution and transportation planning, production planning, and materials requirement planning. The operational level of supply chain management is concerned with the very short term decisions made from day to day. Figure 3. 4 shows for each level types of decisions made. *3. 4 FIGURE:* DECISION-MAKING LEVELS IN SUPPLY CHAINS . 1. 2 DRIVERS OF SUPPLY CHAIN Drivers determine supply chain performance and are the managerial levers on which to guide the operational process. For each driver manager must make tradeoffs beetween efficiency (cost) and responsiveness. {draw:frame} FIGURE 3. 5: DRIVERS OF SUPPLY CHAIN Facilities Are the actual physical locations in the supply chain network where product are stored, assembled or fabricated. The two major types of facilities are: Production sites( factories) Storage sites (warehouse). Components of facilities decisions are: Location: centralize to gain economies of scale (major efficiency) or decentralize to be more responsive. Other issues include quality and costo f workers, costo f facility, infrastructure, taxes, quality of life,etc. Capacity: excess capacity allows a company to be more responsive to changes in the level of demand (major flexibility), but at the expensive of efficiency. Manufacturing methodology: decisions between a product or functional focus, between flexible or dedicated capacity. Warehousing methodology: choose between: SKU storage: stores all of one type of product together, Job lot storage: stores different products together to satisfy a particular customer or job, cross-docking: product is not actually warehoused in the facility, instead the facility is used to house a process where trucks from suppliers arrive and unload large quantities of different products. These large lots are then broken down into smaller lots. Smaller lots of different products are recombined according to the needs of the day and quickly loaded onto outbound trucks that deliver the product to their final destination. Inventory Inventory encompasses all the raw materials, work in process, and finished goods within a supply chain. Changing inventory policies can dramatically alter the supply chain’s efficiency & responsiveness. There are three basic decisions to make regarding the creation and holding of inventory: C_ycle Inventory_: this is the amount of inventory needed to satisfy demanf for the product in the period between purchases of the product. Safety Inventory: inventory that is held as a buffer against uncertainly. If demand forecasting could be done with perfect accuracy, then the only inventory that would be needed would be cycle inventory. Seasonal Inventory: this is inventory that is built up in anticipation of predictable increases in demand that occur at certain times of the year. Inventory has different impacts: Can increase amount of demand that can be met by increasing product availability Can reduce costs by exploiting economies of scale in production, transportation, and purchasing. Can be used to support a firm’s competitive strategy. More inventory increases responsiveness, less inventory increases efficiency (reduces cost). Can significantly affect material flow/cycle/throughput time because if you move your inventory faster, you don’t need as much inventory (inventory velocity). Transportation Transportations entails moving inventory from point to point in the supply chain. Components of transportation decisions are: Mode of transportation: is the manner in which a product is moved (air, truck,rail, ship, pipeline,eletronic). Each mode differs with respect to speed, size of shipments, cost, and flexibility. Routes and networks selection: are respectively paths along which a product can be shipped and a collection of locations and routes. In house or out source the transportation function. Many companies use third-party logistics provider (3PL) to perform some or all of their transportation activities. Usually companies outsource the distribution. Faster transportation allows a supply chain to be more responsive but generally less efficient. Less than full truckloads allows a supply chain to be more responsive but generally less efficient. Transportation can be used to support a firm’s competitive strategy. Customers may demand and be willing to pay for a high level of responsiveness. Information Information serves as the connection between various stages of a supply chain, allowing them to coordinate & maximize total supply chain profitability. It is also crucial to the daily operations of each stage in a supply chain for a production scheduling system. Components of information decisions are: Push versus pull: push systems (like MRP) need information on anticipated demand to create production and purchasing schedules. Pull systems (like JIT) need accurate qnd quick information on actual demand to move inventory and schedule production in the chain. Enabling technologies: many technologies exist to share and analyze information in the supply chain: EDI: electronic data interchange. ERP: enterprise re source planning. SCM software: Supply Chain Management Software Internet Forecasting & planning to anticipate and meet future demands. Available information is used to make tactical forecasts to guide the setting of monthly and quarterly production schedules & time table Coordination and information sharing Information allows supply chain to become more efficient and more responsive at the same time (reduces the need for a trade-off) {draw:frame} {draw:frame} TABELLA 3. 6 CONSIDERATIONS FOR SUPPLY CHAIN DRIVERS 3. 1. 3 SCOR The Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR Model) is one of the very few dedicated methods for supply chain modelling and has also a high relevance for many industries. The model has been developed by The Supply-Chain Council (SCC), an independent not-for-profit firm with more than 1,000 corporate members. It was first introduced in 1996 and is now available in version 8. 0. In contrast to generic process modelling methods, SCOR is actually a reference model, because it defines activities that can be found in any supply chain. In that sense, it can be regarded as a successor to the value chain model by Porter. The SCOR model covers the followings levels of abstraction: Top level ( level 1) Configuration level (level 2) Process element level (level 3) Implementation level {draw:frame} *FIGURE 3. 7*:* *SCORE PROCESS FRAMEWORK Top level SCOR defines five core management processes called process types that are relevant for all firms in a supply chain (scope of the model). Three of these process types form a sequence of source, make, and deliver. The process types are: Source (S) Processes that procure goods and services to meet planned or actual demand. Make (M) Processes that transform a product or service to a finished state to meet planned or actual demand. Deliver (D) Processes that provide finished goods and services to meet planned or actualdemand, typically including order management, transportation management,and distribution management. Return (R) Processes associated with returning or receiving returned products for any reason. These processes extend into post-delivery customer support. The top level, however, can not be instantiated, thus this level defines only the scope of the SCOR model. The modelling of actual or planned supply chains starts on the next level. Configuration level beyond the five main processes, there is a further classification of processes into three categories: Planning: processes that plan resources to meet demand in appropriate time intervals. re repeated periodically and have a great influence on the response time of the supply chain. Execution: processes as executive involved in the activities of scheduling, sequencing, processing, testing, and handling of products, affecting the cycle time of the order fulfillment. Enable: processes involving information and managerial aspects that affect the other two processes From five main processes the SCOR model identifies 26 processes of second l evel, each belonging to one of three process type defined above. For instance, categories for ‘source’ are: S1 ‘source stocked product’: The procurement, delivery, receipt and transfer of raw material items, subassemblies, product and/or services. S2 ‘source make-to-order product’: The procurement and delivery of a product that is built to a specific design or configured based on the requirements of a particular customer order. S3 ‘source engineer-to-order product’: The negotiation, procurement and delivery of engineer-to-order assemblies or specialized product or services that are designed and built based on the requirements or specifications of a particolar customer order or contract. By selecting the relevant process categories, a firm can represent its operational strategy. For instance, the relevant source categories need to be selected and mapped to respective products and/or services (thus a firm can implement multiple source categories reflecting diverse sourcing strategies). Process element level The process element level decomposes the process categories by adding process element definitions, process element information inputs/outputs, process performance metrics, and best practices. SCOR does not define functions and organizational entities for these elements, thus it strictly focuses processes. Implementation level Implementation level aims to implement management practices, defining the elements necessary to gain a competitive advantage and adapt to changes. METRICS SCOR defines metrics that measure effectiveness and efficiency of a supply chain. For this purpose, metrics form a hierarchy along the SCOR levels: Level 1 metrics relate to the overall planning of a supply chain (thus these metrics are differentiated to source, make etc. ). Level 2 and 3 metrics decompose the level 1 and 2 metrics respectively. Each level 1 metric contribute to realising a performance attribute. A performance attributes is a characteristics of the supply chain that permits it to be analysed and evaluated against other supply chains with competing strategies. For instance, a supply chain is reliable to a certain degree or not. The level 1 metrics and associated performance attributes are defined as follows: FIGURE 3. 8: THE LEVEL 1 METRICS 1. Production Strategic decisions regarding production focus on what customers want and the market demands. This first stage in developing supply chain agility takes into consideration what and how many products to produce, and what, if any, parts or components should be produced at which plants or outsourced to capable suppliers. These strategic decisions regarding production must also focus on capacity, quality and volume of goods, keeping in mind that customer demand and satisfaction must be met. Operational decisions, on the other hand, focus on scheduling workloads, maintenance of equipment and meeting immediate client/market demands. Quality control and workload balancing are issues which need to be considered when making these decisions. . Supply Next, an organization must determine what their facility or facilities are able to produce, both economically and efficiently, while keeping the quality high. But most companies cannot provide excellent performance with the manufacture of all components. Outsourcing is an excellent alternative to be considered for those products and compone nts that cannot be produced effectively by an organization’s facilities. Companies must carefully select suppliers for raw materials. When choosing a supplier, focus should be on developing velocity, quality and flexibility while at the same time reducing costs or maintaining low cost levels. In short, strategic decisions should be made to determine the core capabilities of a facility and outsourcing partnerships should grow from these decisions. {text:list-item} 3. 2. 1PUSH VS PULL {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} 3. 3. 2. 1 CRP {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} 3. 6 KEY INTERNATIONAL COMPETITORS Fast-fashion specialty retailers with exceptional speed-to-market have outperformed department stores and less nimble specialty stores not only in their profit argins, but also in their pace of revenue growth, according to a study by The Sage Group LLC’s Apparel and Retail Group. The mayor comparable players that compete in fast fashion at international level are: Inditex -Zara Benetton H&M Gap Each of them has a vertical scope. Zara owned much of its production and most of its stores, the Gap and H&M, which were the two largest specialist apparel retailers in the world, ahead of inditex, owned most of their stores but o utsourced all production. Benetton, in contrast, has invested relatively heavily in production, but licensees ran its stores. The four competitors were also positioned differently in product space from Inditex’s chains. Inditex’s flagship brand, Zara, is relatively perceived as more fashionable than all the other three ann prices less than Benetton and Gap but higher than H&M. In these fuor competitors, Benetton and Gap place a relatively less fashionable and higher price, while Zara and H&M is more fashionable and price lower. {draw:custom-shape} {draw:custom-shape} {draw:custom-shape} {draw:custom-shape} {draw:line} {draw:line} {draw:line} {draw:frame} {draw:frame} Meanwhile, the major Italian player ‘Benetton’ marched on high street with, offering colorful designer clothing for the whole family. Their strategy resulted affirmative with noticeably contemporary window showcase in all stores with independent units. The company was successful in Britain, however, having a long standing in the market, they witnessed failure to keep up pace with the accelerated high fashion pressure by the other European competitors, which are now the known as Mango, H&M and Zara. The rise of these competitors on high street has been witness successful because of a higher demand for fast fashion. Styles showed in magazines and other advertorials are what people wish to wear. Top designers have created collection extensions, which cater people who can afford to spend their hard earned cash on triple figure. This resulted success to the affordable collection of European fashion brands A Swedish player, H&M offered readymade clothing stores – stocked with fashionable collection at reasonable costs. Its successful strategy was its own slogan ‘fashion & quality at the best price’ innovative design, reasonably priced and competent logistics. Based in Stockholm, a team of 100 fashion designers assures that nothing has been imitated from the runway platforms. They are mostly inspired from street-trends, movies, magazines and exhibitions. Impressively, the designs reach retail shelves within 2-3 weeks. H&M’s high profile designer tie-ups with Karl Lagerfield and Stella McCartney have resulted entire collections available to the mass people at lower prices. This strategy is supported by huge advertising campaigns, which easily compete with the major brand. In a world of advertisements and promotions, there is one store that has made strategy to not to spend penny on advertising, â€Å"Zara†, a wing of Europe's biggest, rapidly evolving and most triumphant fashion clothing retailers, Grupo Inditex. Other well popular stores in similar chain are Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Pull and Bear. Inditex operates business via more than two thousand stores in 56 countries. The first Zara shop was launched in 1975 at La Coruna, Galicia and at present it operates more than four hundred owned stores globally. In the previous five years they have witnessed sales up by 25 percent year on year. Zara runs its own design and production unit in La Coruna, Spain, which leads cancellation of the large out-sourcing operations, like H does in over nine hundred firms. It is modern, offering up-to-date lifestyle yet standard clothing lines for men, women and children. Zara offers reasonably priced, radical clothing, however, not of the top quality, which will last only for some seasons. As same as Zara, H can also put designs on retail shelves within three weeks. Its product assortment is cheap and small yet frequent, offering consumers huge selection that results repeated visits to their stores to find â€Å"What’s New†. Hitherto, Zara has launched over ten thousand new designs and most of these will just be attainable for few weeks. Another Spanish player, Mango is a reputed multinational brand devoted to designing, producing and selling fast fashion and accessories only for women. Its clothing line includes Suit, Casual Sport, and Mng Jeans. It might not be as huge as H or Grupo Inditex, but has played excellent particularly in the UK. No shopping malls resemble absolute with exclusive of these three brands. The pace of these companies in responding to changing consumer demands is an ideal proof to the retailing, producing and logistics skills needed in latest fashion industry. These new strategies are set up to develop aptitude to take advantage of the challenges of a competitive world market. Besides the diversification in product assortments there is one thing common in all these brands that is â€Å"intelligent logistics†. Well-organized communication between sales staff directly to the headquarters and producers lead them to match steps with high speed turnover. The fact is that buyers are becoming preference savvy and smarter in order to what they shop. Even though they always have their preferred designer, they are also acquainted that a throwaway piece of fast fashion from a retail chain store will complete their outfit choices. At so reasonably priced all of these retail perceptions play on Friday nights when people feels they have nothing to wear. Retailers are sent in a scuffle to make-out the major catwalk trends from the drawing sheets to the sales shelves as fast as possible.

FedEx Express Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

FedEx Express - Essay Example FedEx started its business long back in 1997 as a logistics services company which specialization was import/ export division with the name FDX. But it started its full operation in 1998 after the acquisition of Caliber System Inc. After that it started ground services with express shipping. Caliber handled the small package ground service and RPS; Viking Freight handled the less than truck loads throughout the western United States, Roberts Express handled the shipping services, airfreight services between Caribbean and United States handled by Caribbean Transportation Services. For technology solutions it got help from Caliber Logistics and Caliber Technology. Later in 2000 FedEx bought Tower Group International which was a logistics services company working internationally and WorldTariff which was a tax and customs duty organization. And then merged those two organizations, and form FedEx Trade Network. (FedEx Express, 2013) The main line of business of the FedEx Express: Later i n 2004 FedEx Corp takes over Kinko’s Inc. and set up FedEx Kinko’s. After this merging FedEx not only became a logistics provider for organizations but it enhance its operation to the individual public. After that all the FedEx Kinko retail stores starts offering shipping exclusively but later in 2008 FedEx exclude Kinko’s name from its name and made it FedEx Office. During 2004, FedEx bought Parcel Direct and renamed it as FedEx SmartPost. FedEx Express is an airline service which only dealt with cargo. In terms of freight tons it is the largest airline of the world and in terms of size of the fleet the fourth largest airline of the world. Names of the countries in which the FedEx operates: FedEx Express served to 375 destinations every day to almost all the countries. As the largest express transportation company of the world it headquarters in Memphis International Airport except that in United States of America its national hub is in Indianapolis Internation al Airport. Other regional hubs in United States of America are Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Fort Worth Alliance Airport and Miami International Airport. Outside of United States of America other regional headquarters are like Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Toronto Person International Airport and Cologne Bonn Airport. Another airport which was about to open for FedEx Express was Piedmont Triad International Airport. 4P's marketing mix concept by the FedEx: Competition: Competitors for FedEx are ARAMEX, BAX Global, Choice Logistics, DHL Express, Purolator Courier, TNT N.V., United Parcel Service etc. Other freight competitors for FedEx Express in international market are like DHL, UPS (United Postal Service) from United States. And from foreign countries like Deutsche Post, TNT N.V. Except them others are like freight forwards, and other passengers and cargo airlines. Many competitors of FedEx are government controlled or subsidized organizations. Because of that those organizations have better resources; costs of services are low, low profit margin and favors regarding government policies and rules-regulations. Target market: FedEx made a seven year contract in

Incentive Plans Paper (Human Resources Management College Course) Research

Incentive Plans (Human Resources Management College Course) - Research Paper Example Incentives like bonuses, commissions and pay hikes are some of the examples of motivators in monetary terms. Recognition is an example of non monetary benefit (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright, 2007). The automotive industry is a highly competitive industry and selling cars to customers is a difficult task. Customers target those products which provide them with quality at a minimum cost, so the company tries to provide the customers with products of best quality and best cost. In the same manner each company wants to be profitable and attain a sustainable growth. The best strategy adopted by the companies is to use the motivational strategy, like incentive plans providing the workers with rewards in order to attain the company goals and objectives (Noe, 2006). In exchange for longer working hours and top performances even without the job security the employees demand the company to provide them with comfortable working conditions, more control over their work, several training and development activities and so on. In the same manner Toyota also offers its employees steady amount of work and tries to make the efficient use of the best workers and the company also offers the employees bonuses to attain the referral work. Along with this the company also offers monetary benefits to the workers for attaining the targets and making the company reach its goals (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright, 2007). The bonuses help the workers for representing Toyota with higher quality, integrity and also the workmanship. Providing incentives based on the achievement of the target is attached to the objectives of the organization. The company provides the employees with incentives in attaining a fixed level of sales and does so through a system whereby by attaining that level the employees are further incentivized for the higher sales objectives (or sales targets), in other words working towards greater profitability. The

The Therapist's Perspective of Using Modern Communication Technology Essay

The Therapist's Perspective of Using Modern Communication Technology to Deliver Psychosexual Therapy - Essay Example Moreover, the paper will focus on the therapist’s perception of working with sexual issues using modern communication technology. The paper will also address the therapist’s perception of the challenges, strengths of process, and the effectiveness of psychosexual therapy delivered using modern communication technology. Examples of modern communication technology to be discussed in the paper include mobile phones and computers with the use of Skype, Internet, video conferences and video calls, social networking and instant text messaging. The therapist’s perspective of using modern communication technology to deliver psychosexual therapy Introduction The rapid advancement of technology over the last decades has heralded a significant change in the development of technological applications in psychotherapy. The use of modern technology in psychological counselling has become extremely common and popular in the world of today. This has seen widespread usage of moder n technological devices in the world of psychotherapy. The various psychological devices used in the world of psychotherapy and psychological counselling include computer-administered therapy, self-help Internet sites, virtual reality therapy, adjunctive palmtop computer therapy, and the use of biofeedback through physiological monitoring (Gladding, 2004). Therapists prefer to use technology owing to the various advantages and benefits that it offers. Technology contributes significantly to giving clients feedback regarding what causes or contributes to their problems and their response to the therapy administered by the practitioner. Therapists have employed the use of technology such as computers, video calls, instant text messaging, among others in counselling couples who have psychosexual problems. What is Psychosexual Therapy? According to Evans (2008), psychosexual therapy is part of marriage counselling where the therapist works with two people in a relationship. As part of m arriage counselling, psychosexual therapy aims at assisting couples to understand their conflicts and resolve them with an aim of improving their relationship. At the end of the counselling sessions, the couples should have gained the ability for better communication, problem solving capacities, and know how they can negotiate their differences. During the counselling sessions, the couples get help from the therapist about sexual issues and other essential issues in the relationship. Some of the issues addressed during marriage counselling encompass anger, sex problems, illness as well as problems in communication. To manage the resulting stress and conflicts, couple counselling through psychosexual therapy becomes very essential. Psychosexual therapy entails some form of treatment by qualified practitioners addressing emotional problems or sexual dysfunctions in a relationship. Psychosexual counselling helps solve the problems, which may be causing distress to a couple in a marriag e or partners in a relationship. As a behavioural programme, psychosexual counselling explores and discusses the sexual problems openly and dwells on the emotional blocks that the couple has. Some of the issues addressed through psychosexual therapy in men include premature ejaculation, erectile failure, as well as retarded ejaculation. The key dysfunctions encountered by women encompass orgasmic dysfunction, dyspareunia, and vaginismus (Mcleod, 2009). The therapists have their own perceptions while working with couples in a

High Aspect Ratio Pholithography for MEMS Application Article

High Aspect Ratio Pholithography for MEMS Application - Article Example This is the most prominent technique and is widely used and can be used with tall microstructures in the range of 100 micrometers to 1 mm. This method though resulting into long micro structures does not affect the lateral dimension accuracy making it effective method in achieving this objective. However, the method cannot be universally applied due to lack of a synchronized source and the fabrication cost of LIGA that is prohibitive. The use of X-rays from a synchronized source with the capability of giving high intensity, hard x-rays with low divergent properties, makes this method to achieve great results despite these limitations. This led to the development of low cost and commonly available process that would meet the above objectives, and that is close to LIGA. An example was the reactive ion Etching (RIE) of polyamide, which has been presented as a method that could fabricate high aspect ratios structures at the lower costs compared to the above process. This was able to achi eve a thickness so of more than 100 micrometers, and an aspect ratio of about 10. This process was however found to be more tedious as it required modification of the RIE machine, and hence not effective. Other methods that have been used to investigate in this process include the photosensitive polyamide together with UV exposure and have been used in fabricating plating molds. This process achieved a thickness of up to 50 micrometers and an aspect ratio close to 8. Other methods that have been investigated include the high aspect commercial photolithography with photoresist and a near UV light source, in fabricating high aspect ratio molds of metal structures. These are some of the motivations behind the research above by Miyajima and Mehregany. Research background The research involved investigating the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio structures using a commercially available positive photoresist and the UV exposure increasing molds, which would be used together with electroless nickel plating. The research involved an effort to maintain a 2- 3micrometers line width and increasing the photoresists thickness altogether. This was the main point that most of the LIGA high-aspect-ratio process as described above ignored. Using an electrostatic actuator that had been micro machined with 1.5 micrometers wide active gaps and up to 5 micrometers polysilicon, and increasing the gap side wall height instead of increasing the gap height was found to result to reduced force/torque, and this eliminated the urge to use high aspect ratio structures. This was the remarkable difference in this process as compared to other processes investigating this problem. The use of evaporated solvents during the coating process ensured that films thicker than 8 micrometers were obtained. After carrying out the complete process and the patterns in photoresist, electroless nickel plating was performed to fabricate metal structures, and this required the chemical compatibility of the pho toresits with the plating chemicals to be an important considerations. This photo lithography process was found to be compatible with the electroless nickel plating process described above. Methodology One of the variables that were to be considered and regulated is the spin speed in coating. A slower speed below 1000rpm could have resulted to rough surface in the photoresists and the

The Declaration of Bankruptcy as a Legal Way Research Proposal

The Declaration of Bankruptcy as a Legal Way - Research Proposal Example Most bankruptcies would not only involve one creditor but many. Debts are usually classified as secured and unsecured (Bankruptcy Alberta, n.d.). Secured debts originate from valuable assets that come with a security agreement allowing a creditor to take back the assets if a debtor fails to pay or abide by the terms of the agreement with the creditor. Car leases, home mortgages, rent-to-own, and other installment purchase contracts are examples of secured debts. The assets such as the car or house in these contracts are given up as collateral if the debtor is unable to pay. The second type of debts is unsecured debt. This type of debt includes credit cards, overdrafts and the general day-to-day bills that people pay on a regular basis. These debts are often referred to as trade debts. For secured debts, when a debtor is declared bankrupt, the creditor cannot make him pay and his chance to take back the assets from the debtor is very limited. For unsecured debts, the creditors cannot force a debtor who is declared bankrupt to pay regular bills. Unsecured contracts are terminated by a bankruptcy. If a debtor receives a discharge from bankruptcy, the creditor’s right to collect no longer exists. Several laws including the Bankruptcy Code enacted in 1978 govern all bankruptcy cases. The primary goal of these laws is to give debtors a financial fresh start from burdensome debt. It allows the debtor to start anew, uninhibited by the pressures and discouragements of preexisting debts. The goal to cancel debts is accomplished by a bankruptcy discharge. It is a publication that basically releases the debtor from being liable for specific debts and forbids the creditor to take any action against the debtor to collect those debts. The bankruptcy discharge is in a question-and-answer format. It seeks to provide information regarding the timing of the discharge—which of the debts are discharged and which are not, any objections to the discharge and how the dis charge can be revoked. It also includes the actions a debtor can take in the case that the creditor still collects a discharged debt after the bankruptcy is concluded. There are other parties involved in the bankruptcy. Filing bankruptcy cannot be easily done by any person who wishes to be relieved of debts. He must first be qualified to be declared bankrupt. The party responsible for this is the bankruptcy judge, who functions as a judicial officer. He decides whether or not a debtor is eligible for bankruptcy and whether or not he should be should be discharged of his debts. More often than not, the bankruptcy process is conducted away from the courthouse because it is administrative. In some cases, another party, the trustee is appointed to oversee the case. The trustee is appointed through the United States Trustee Program of the Department of Justice. He administers the bankruptcy and represents the interests of the bankruptcy estate (Shoemaker & Dart, P.S., 2010). By far, ther e had been many types of bankruptcies but generally, there are three main types. The types of bankruptcies are named after the chapters in which they appear in the Bankruptcy Code. In most resources, these three types of bankruptcies are considered the main types: Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13. Chapter 7 type of bankruptcy is entitled Liquidation. It is sometimes. This involves the sale for cash of nonexempt property (includes such assets as bank accounts, stocks, and bonds) and the

Myself as a Psychological Researcher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Myself as a Psychological Researcher - Essay Example It involves four important goals to achieve in order to answer what it seeks. The paragraph below will identify and explain the choices I will make as a career after graduation a psychological researcher particularly in three fields of psychology. My area of interest is particularly in the field of Cognitive, developmental and social psychology. Cognitive Psychology is defined as the study of the mental processing of information received by the senses relayed to the brain for analysis and interpretation thereby generating reactions and response. Developmental study on the other hand is related with the way the mental facets along with the senses develops and functions. Together with Cognitive psychology, the developmental Psychology explains how and why people react and respond to certain external stimulus, and dictates how we make use of logic and comprehension once the external stimulus occurs again. Social Psychology on the other hand studies about human behavior, all together they are interrelated these studies explains how man interacts and relates with the world. This interests me because I believe this the most logical and definitive way we understand even the most complex of all behavior.

Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc. v. Bancroft Global Development Case Study

Atlantic Diving Supply, Inc. v. Bancroft Global Development - Case Study Example A lawsuit was filed by ADS in Virginia Beach Circuit Court in February of 2011. ADS alleged that Bancroft had ordered and accepted the boots along with other products such as battle-dress uniforms, pistol belts and field jackets but only had paid for half of it. Bancroft is accused of breach of contract and conversion. ADS argued that Bancroft held on to the goods that it had actually rejected and hence demanded $1 million. A statement by ADS’s attorney said that Bancroft owed ADS money and hence they are suing it (WTOP, 2012). Bancroft on the other hand countersued ADS for $1.1 million. It accused ADS of breach of contract and fraud. Bancroft argued that the boots supplied were of poor quality and fake military boots. The boots were not intended for military use as they were designed to be costume boots. The quality of the boots is said to be so poor that it would not even serve the purpose of daily regular use, let alone military use (WTOP, 2012). The main reason for the disagreement is that the boots were of poor quality and wore out on just a few uses. Bancroft says that it relied on ADS to provide boots that were of military specification. Even though this was not mentioned in the purchase order, the specifications of the product needed were mentioned in the purchase order by DynCorp which was forwarded to ADS. Hence Bancroft argues that as ADS was aware of the military specifications of the product and still provided with low quality products. Therefore it has indulged in fraud and breach of contract. Bancroft had arranged for the delivery to be picked up by a third party and have it delivered to Uganda. There were no inspection checks done and it is only after the problems surfaced, that an official inspection was conducted and the boots officially rejected (McCabe, 2012). ADS has argued against the above allegation by saying that the products were selected based on the price quote by Bancroft. There are no military boots available in their price range. It also argued that all military specification was carefully removed from the purchase order by Bancroft in order to save money. They argued that Bancroft wanted to the cheapest products at the earliest and they were delivered what they asked for. ADS also blame Bancroft of taking too much time in rejecting the goods. It argues that if the products were detective, then should have been immediately rejected (McCabe, 2012). Judgement has not been reached yet and evidences have been submitted by both parties to prove their claims. Risk Management by both Organizations There are various risk management steps that could have been taken by both organizations to avoid. First and foremost, each organization should have added an expressed condition in the contract that would ensure that their interests are served. An express condition would explicitly set forth the terms and conditions of the deal (Salzedy & Brunner, 1999). Bancroft should have added a condit ion in the agreement to meet the specific quality requirements which would mean that the ADS would have been under the obligation to meet the quality requirements, in this case military specifications. ADS on its part could have added a condition to have the payment made within a specified time length or added a condition would have required Bancroft to reject the products within a time period

Key aspects of Wal-Mart Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Key aspects of Wal-Mart - Assignment Example By integrating all the players within the supply chain, conflicts can be avoided as all players are integrated into a leaner operating model which generates relatively similar results for all. (Ireland) Information exchange, effective communication and partnering at various stages of the supply chain can also ensure decision rights are realigned to provide space to every player in the overall supply chain of the organization. Some of the conflicts which can arise as a result of having different objectives include conflicts on the margins, delivery schedules, production quantities, freight charges etc. Since Wal-Mart also has an advanced level of IT system in place therefore it can share with its larger suppliers its data which can reduce such conflicts as vendors can easily track the production requirements and schedule the deliveries accordingly. A strong information technology system can help large firms to easily share the data with vendors to avoid any conflicts. One of the key b enefits achieved by Wal-Mart through its effective and efficient supply chain is that of the lower prices. Wal-Mart has been successful because of its ability to lower the prices for its end customers and this has only been achieved through a strong focus on cost cutting and achieving efficiencies in its operations. Since, supply chain is the key to the success of managing inventories at desired level therefore it becomes important for Wal-Mart to actually reduce costs and improve its supply chain to pass on the benefits of savings to its customers in the form of low prices.

Types of Cooperatives Essay Example for Free

Types of Cooperatives Essay The following are the main types of cooperative enterprises: i.Producer Cooperative Societies These are formed to eliminate the middlemen and capitalist groups from the  industrial production. Its main purpose is to produce goods for the requirements of its members. Surplus productions are also supplied to out riders in the open market at profit. All the necessary activities .as production, management and marketing are performed by the members themselves. Its members get dividend on the basis of the capital invested by them. Objects (a)To purchase the raw materials and other factors at most economical prices. (b)To produce the goods at the most economical level. (c)To supervise the production most efficiently and effectively. (d)To dispose of the surplus production to non members at maximum prices. (e)To eliminate the middlemen and capitalists. (f)To remove the workers grievances in respect of working conditions, wages etc. (g)To arrange for the democratic control of the industrial unit. ii.Consumer Cooperative Societies The society is the voluntary association of ordinary people formed with the object of obtaining daily requirements of the members. It directly purchases the goods at large scale from the producer or wholesalers at whole sale price. It thus eliminates capitalists, retailers and other middlemen from the channel of distribution and members are in a position to make their purchase at cheater rate. Anyone can become member by purchasing one share of the society. Sometimes goods are also supplied to non-members but they do not share in the profit of the society. Profit earned by the store are distributed among the members according to the value of the purchases conducted by the manager who is elected by the members. Generally its two types are popular in the world. (a)Retail cooperative store. (b)Wholesale cooperative store. Objects 1.To eliminate the retailers, capitalists and wholesalers. 2.To promote the welfare of the members. 3.To supply the daily necessities of life to its members at market price. 4.To increase the purchasing power an standard of living of the members of the society. iii.Marketing Cooperative Society It is the voluntary association of producers formed for the object of arranging the disposal of their output. It pools together the output of the individual members and arranges to supply the product at highest possible price. The profit of the sale of the ~ products is distributed among the contributing producers according to their individual contribution to the pool. This kind of society is particularly useful for the small producers and agriculturists. It can be formed in two organization according to the local condition of the country i.e. (a)Single purpose society (b)Multi purposes society Objectives 1.To eliminate the middlemen who are liable of the high cost of marketing. 2.To pool together the output of the individual members. 3.To grade and process of the pooling products of the members. 4.To dispose of the product at the maximum price. 5.To adjust supply to demand. 6.To provide storage facilities to its members. 7.To procure the information relating to market for the members product. 8.To provide the financial facilities to its members. iv. Insurance Cooperative Society This type of cooperative society is formed for the objects of providing group insurance facilities to its members. It makes the contract with sound insurance company on collective terms and conditions and thus pay lower premium rate to insurance company as compared with ordinary policy holders. These are other two forms of cooperative Insurance i.e. 1.Mutual office 2.Self concern. In the Mutual office, the policy holders are the owners and the profit of the insurance company is utilized in the following ways: (a)To strengthen the financial position of the company. (b)To decrease true amount of premium. (c)To distribute bonus to its members. Self concern Cooperative society is organized to provide insurance facilities like the private insurance company and issued policy to its members for reasonable amount. Object 1.To provide insurance facilities to its members. 2.To charge the low rate of premium. 3.To promote the welfare of the members. 4.To encourage the habit of thrift and investment. v.Housing Cooperative society It is an association of middle and low income groups of people. Generally it is formed in urban areas. The main purpose of this form of society is to protect its members against exploitation by landlords. It not only grants financial assistance to its members but also achieve the economics of purchase of building material in bulk. In order to become a member of the society one must buy at least one share of the society. The liability of the member is limited to his capital contributed. It is also called Building Society and may be divided into three types i.e. (1)Housing Building Society (2)Land Society (3)Finance Society Objectives 1.To receive deposits from its members. 2.To make loans to its members for the construction of house at low rate of interest. 3.To render technical services for its members. 4.To purchase building materials at economical rate. 5.To perform the welfare activities as water supply, roads, sewerage, electricity etc. vi. Cooperative Farming Society This form of Society is formed with the object of obtaining the benefits of large scale farming and maximizing agricultural products. It is basically agricultural. cooperative which is confined to agricultural countries. Its members generally relate to the formers including those owing land. The cooperative forming are of the following types: 1.Cooperative collective farming Society. 2.Cooperative joint farming society. 3.Cooperative better farming society. 4.Cooperative tenant farming society. Objective (a)To consolidate holding. (b)To introduce new technique of cultivation. (c)To improve the irrigating system. (d)To increase the area under agricultural operations. (e)To make necessary steps for the improvements of the standard of living of the farmers. (f)To increase the production per acre. (g)To provide seeds manures and implements to its members. (h)To dispose of agricultural output. vii. Credit Cooperative Society Credit cooperative society is the voluntary association of .the financially weak persons organized with the object of providing short term financial requirements to them. This society performs important role in the rural areas where the dishonest money lenders have been exploiting simple villagers by charging high rate of interest. The Funds of the society consist of (a) Membership fees, (b) Dispose of shares (c) Deposits from members and non-members (d) Loan from govt. and semi govt. The liability of members is unlimited. This assists the society in raising funds and ensures that every member will take keen interest in the activities of the society. The society prefers the poorer members in granting loan and charges low rate of interest from them. Generally the society advances the amount for productive purposes but some loans are also given to members for unproductive purposes. Credit cooperative society may be divided into two types: (1)Agricultural Credit Society (2)Non-agricultural credit Society Objects (a)To get rid of the pressure of money lenders. (b)To provide the financial facilities for short term to its members. (c)To keep the minimum rate of interest on loan. (d)To develop the habit of thrift and saving among the members. (f)To encourage the habit of mutual aid.

What Is Angelman Syndrome Biology Essay

What Is Angelman Syndrome Biology Essay Parents: What is Angelman Syndrome? Me: Angelman syndrome is a nervous disorder of the brain also called as Puppet syndrome. The syndrome was first reported by a British pediatrician Dr. Harry Angelman in 1965. It leads to mental disorder accompanied with speech problems. This is a very rare condition that sometimes even doctors are not completely aware of it. The syndrome is often misdiagnosed with cerebral palsy, autism or other mental disorders of children. The occurrence is approximately 1 in 25,000. Parents: What is the Prognosis of the syndrome? Me: The individuals with this condition have quite a healthy and normal life span. Some of the common features that can be noted are sleeping disorders, attention deficiency, speech problems and hyperactivity. Even these can slowly diminish with age. Their sexual development is normal. Puberty and menstrual cycle are also normal and occur at the right approximate age. There are high risks of having severe developmental delays which can be minimized or avoided to an extent by early diagnosis and therapy. They can lead an independent adult life except people who also have epilepsy along with this syndrome. Parents: We found her being slightly abnormal, she wasnt able to grasp what we are telling and is really struggling to pronounce words. What are the other possible symptoms? Me: The main symptoms of the disease are mental retardation, speech problems and hyperactive behavior. It is usually present right from birth but the symptoms of it are mostly not noticed until the age of 3. But certain developmental delays can be noted between 6 to 12 months of the child. Usually their MRI and CT scan reports show structurally normal brain features. They may have no speech or very low speaking capacity. They have higher tendency in actions rather than verbal communication. They show some unique behavior like hand flapping, attention deficiency, frequent laughter, sleeping disturbances, delayed toilet training, feeding problems and easily excitable personality. Seizures are noted only after the age of three so the possibility of identifying the syndrome before this age is not always possible. Their Electroencephalography (EEG) reports turn out to be abnormal; EEG is a test used to check the neural activity of the brain. They have much attraction to water and are highly sensitive to heat. It is not completely known why laughter is so frequent in this syndrome. Continuous smiling, abnormal facial gestures followed by burst of laughter in public are noted in almost 70 75% of the cases. They may not have good balancing capacity to walk. Trembling legs are noted along with ataxia. Ataxia is a condition where there is no co-ordination of muscular movements. They have trembling feet resulting is disability to walk. Normal sitting and walking may take 3-4 yrs of age. In highly severe cases walking is not possible until they are older, or it may be robotic. 100% of the cases are mentally retarded with attention deficit and which is non-progressive. They may be severe in most of the cases. Mostly they would need a sheltered life in their adulthood. Parents: Oh! Do they show any abnormal physical features? Because our daughter seems to look quite normal. Me: Yes! They do. Some of the common ones are a flat head at the back, wide opened mouth with spaced teeth, light hair and eye color, deep set eyes, excessive chewing behaviors, lightly pigmented skin texture, uplifted arm position, enlarged toes, soft and tender palms, tongue thrusting, and frequent drooling. A small head may be found in certain cases. All the symptoms which I have said both physical and clinical need not necessarily be found in all kids with this syndrome. They may occur in different combinations and in different levels. Parents: How did the condition arise? Me: Angelman syndrome occurs due to the deletion of a part of the chromosome 15 known as 15q11-13 that comes from the mother which results in abnormal or no expression of the maternal chromosome in the child. And hence all the functions of the chromosome 15 are being affected. Around 60-65% patients are affected by this cause. In 2-5% of the cases there may be two copies of chromosome 15 from the father and no chromosome from the mother. This condition is termed as uniparental disomy. Sometimes the chromosome obtained from the mother functions exactly the same as the chromosome obtained from the father. Rarely AS may result due to breaks in the chromosome like translocation where two chromosomes break and exchange their broken pieces. The other type is inversion where a chromosome breaks and gets attached in the opposite direction. In both these cases the exact combination of amino acids is changed which would affect the production of ubiquitin ligase protein. And finally in 20% cases there may be a fault in the UBE3A gene which is present on chromosome 15. UBE3A is ubiquitin ligase, which is considered as one of the major factors for the normal development and functioning of the brain. The relevancy of this gene to the disease is not yet completely known. 15-20% of the cases are unidentified mutation. They are still under study and a clear cause is not defined. Parents: What is the importance of these chromosomes? Me: Every chromosome is made of DNA which consists of specific amino acids. Different combinations of amino acids help in producing different proteins which are responsible for specific functions in the body. So when there is an alteration in the chromosome it affects the production of the particular protein. So automatically the protein function is lost and the relevant disorder arises. The protein that is involved in brain growth and function is called as ubiquitin ligase protein which is produced from the chromosome 15 of the mother. The condition is always from the chromosome 15 of the mother. The same chromosome from the father is also equally important but alterations in the fathers gene would lead to a different condition called the Prader Willi Syndrome. Parents: What are the ways of diagnosis? Me: Diagnosing AS is difficult during infancy. The criteria for diagnosis was developed only in 1995 and further revised in 2000 by the Angelman syndrome society (USA). In certain cases parents or doctors may find developmental delays between 6-12 months of the child. Even all brain scan reports turn to be quite normal. Only after the age of two or three notable changes can be found like concentration problems, speech impairment, balance disorder, frequent smiling or flapping of hands. After the age of three EEG reports can be found abnormal which is be followed by DNA analysis. Sometimes even genetic reports turn out to be normal which can lead to a lot of confusion and misdiagnosis. Family history of the syndrome and development history of the child is completely studied and genetic expression of the ubiquitin protein is confirmed. The confirmatory test for the Angelman Syndrome involves testing of blood in four steps: The size, shape and number of chromosomes in a cell sample are noted for changes. This is known as karyotyping. Genetic analysis to find missing chromosomes. This is done by a specialized process called FISH (fluorescent in-situ hybridization). A test called DNA methylation test is done where the result will confirm whether the DNA of both the parents is expressed. If both the DNA copies are expressed it means that they are active. In cases of AS only paternal or the fathers DNA is expressed. Finally UBE3A protein is sequenced. This is done because sometimes DNA methylation test turns to be normal. This is due to the condition that maternal DNA is normally expressed but mutated. Parents: Is Gene therapy possible. What are the other possible treatment methods? Me: There is no possible treatment for the disease at the genetic level. Since 99% of the cases are spontaneous mutation the possibility of prevention is also at the least level. Angelman syndrome is a collection of various medical conditions; hence separate therapies can be carried out for every symptom to provide a better lifestyle for the patient. The therapies are selected according to the noted symptoms and their level of effect on the individual. From the age of 3 speech and communication therapy is recommended for improving their speaking and communicating skills. Occupational therapy is carried out for everyday living skills. Physiotherapy can help in better walking and other motor activities. Sometimes hypermotoric behaviors cant be controlled by behavioral therapy so perfectly safe environment must be provided. If the condition is accompanied by epilepsy, separate medications are followed as prescribed by the physician for treatment of seizures. Medications are also available for sleeping problems, hyperactivity etc. Non prescribed sedatives are not to be given because they may lead to negative side effects. Because that they have feeding problems their nutritional status should be frequently monitored. Surgeries are available for conditions like strabismus and other orthopedic problems. Surgical rod stabilization is done for severe curvatures. During old age the individuals become less mobile and are not much active. They must be given scheduled work under supervision to avoid obesity and scoliosis. Scoliosis is a condition of severe curvature side to side in the spinal cord. Parents: What is the mode of inheritance? Will our future children be affected? The risk of inheritance is based upon the type of mutation that occurs in the parents. With no family history for the disease and if the occurrence is completely spontaneous during cell division then the chances of getting the disorder in consequent children is