Why does Prager say that “suddenly a lot of things made sense” when she discovered that Barbie was designed by a man? Is she referring here only to Barbie’s looks?

Emily had doubts whether the Barbie Doll could have been designed by a woman. Barbie’s body – by proportion, a 23-inch waistline and 39-inch bust line – is unrealistic, and no woman could have this body. She notes millions of women facing eating disorders after trying to achieve bodies sexy as Barbie’s.Hence, she found sense that a man could have designed Barbie. Men are often blamed by feminists for their double standards against women. As part of the gender inequality in society, women are defined by their sexuality and beauty, while men are not.Thus, Barbie was designed as someone epitomized to have the perfect, sexual body. 2. Are we supposed to believe the claims that Prager makes in paragraph 4? What is the point she is trying to make? Paragraph four states: I don't mean to step on anyone's toes here. I loved my Barbie. Secretly, I still believe that neon pink and turquoise blue are the only colors in which to decorate a duplex condo. And like many o thers of my generation, I've never married, simply because I cannot find a man who looks as good in clam diggers as Ken.Ms. Prager emphasizes that, just like most of girls, she loved her Barbie dolls. The miniature houses coming with those dolls were in pink and turquoise. She remembered her fantasies as a child playing with Barbies, and meeting the man of her dreams, someone as perfect as Ken. The point Ms. Prager is trying make is that just like all other women she was enamored with Barbie dolls as a kid. She clarifies she’s not trying to confront with Barbie fans as she was a fan herself. 3. What is Prager’s DEFINITION of a feminist in this essay?Where do you find this definition? According to Ms. Prager, Barbie came about simultaneously with her consciousness of the feminist movement. She defines feminist in her essays as women seeking equality with men. Women, many feminists have complained, are treated by men as sexual objects, or objects themselves. They are jus t the object of men’s desires. With the Barbie doll, who has the perfect figure, women end up wasting a lifetime trying to achieve a perfect figure, to no avail. 4. What is Prager’s Thesis. Ms.Prager’s thesis is to eliminate our double standards in gender. She asserts that women should not be devalued, oppressed, and or treated as mere objects. She cites, among other things, Ken’s genitals being concealed while Barbie’s exposed to the fullest. She adds women are required to achieve a perfect figure, while men are not. She insists women should be treated like men in the real world, i. e. defined by their education, their work, or how they help society. The same standards for men and women should be set.

Resettlement Patterns in Spanish Colonialm System in the Philippines Essay

Spain and Portugal were the two superpowers who pushed through their ultimate goals to discover the rest of the world. These nations, with their greed for material wealth, set colonies in the Americas, Africa and East Asia to establish their powers to greater heights. Because of a high demand for exotic spices in Europe, Spain was forced to circumnavigate the world in search for the Spice Islands (Muruku Islands) with an ultimate goal which was to accumulate wealth through mercantilist trade and to expand the rule of Spain throughout the corners of the globe. Because of this, Spain met the islands of the Philippines. The rediscovery of our country by Magellan on March 17, 1521, marks a new age in our history. After this discovery, Spain sent various expeditions for the conquest and colonization of our country, namely the Loaisa expedition (1525), the Cabot expedition (1526), the Saavedra expedition (1527), the Villalobos expedition (1542), and the Legazpi expedition (1564). It was the Legazpi expedition which succeeded in colonizing our country and establishing Spanish rule. Spain had three aims in colonizing our country, namely (1) to spread Christianity, (2) material wealth, and (3) to acquire political glory. Under Spanish rule our country developed religiously, economically, politically, and culturally. Our land acquired a national name  ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬- Filipinas. Our people came to be known as Filipinos. Towns, cities, provinces, schools, hospitals and charitable institutions were established. New plants and animals, the Christian religion and Spanish civilization, and new industries were introduced. Domestic and foreign trades with China and Japan were fostered. Communication and transportation were improved. Our country during the Spanish reign was a crown colony of Spain, in the sense that it belonged to the Spanish crown. From 1565 to 1821, our archipelago was governed by the Viceroy of Mexico in the name of the Spanish king. All officials, royal decrees, and troops for the Philippines came from Mexico. It was also the Mexican viceroy, not the king of Spain, who sent the annual subsidy to Manila to cover up the annual deficit of the Philippine government. In 1821 Mexico won her independence from Spain, so that from this year to 1898, Spain directly ruled our country. Spain as a colonizing power was marred by certain defects such as (1) inefficiency and corruption in the colonial government, (2) abuses by the friars, (3) racial discrimination against our people, (4) denial of human rights to Filipinos, and (5) inequality of Spaniards and Filipinos before the law. These colonial defects, however, were offset by the good things done by Spain in our country. By and large, we owe her a lasting debt of gratitude. She gave the majority of the people a great religion, taught us how to build more durable buildings, roads, and trade facilities, introduced new crops and livestock and better methods of farming, and brought our people into contact with the western culture. Settlement Patterns Before and During the Spanish Period During the Pre-Colonial period, the social unit in the Philippine islands was the barangay which comes from the Malay term balangay meaning boat. They were headed by a datu or the village chief. Barangays were generally small and consisted of thirty to one hundred houses and the population varied from one hundred to five hundred persons. The largest barangay was Manila which had two thousand inhabitants at the time of the Spanish conquest. Communities were coastal, near-coastal and riverine in orientation. This was because the principal sources of protein came from the seas and rivers; people rely more on fishing than on hunting. People travelled principally by water, the movement of the population were across rivers and along the coasts. Trails followed by the streams; neither roads nor any wheeled vehicles were there. It was in the coastal communities that were more accessible to traders where a higher degree of development emerged. A higher cultural level was attained due to contact with traders from China, India and Arabia. The economy of the barangay communities deeply relied on agriculture. There was an abundance of rice, coconuts, sugar cane, cotton, hemp, bananas, oranges, and other fruits and vegetables. Land cultivation was done through the kaingin system or by tilling. Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan, noted that there was an abundant produce of the land in Cebu as well as in Palawan. Productivity was increased by the use of irrigation ditches, as evidenced by the world-famous Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao. Aside from agriculture, pre-colonial Filipinos had other industries such as animal-raising, lumbering, weaving and gold and silver mining. The absence of a political unity involving all or the majority of the people of the archipelago allowed the Spanish conquistadores to impose their will on the people step by step even with a few hundreds of colonial troops at the start. The successful voyage of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to the Philippines was a prequel to the long term colonization of t he country under the imperialist Spain. The Filipino society, split up into numerous barangay units, faced the impossibility to put up an effective armed resistance against the well-equipped and prepared conquistadores; an almost â€Å"bloodless† conquest of the Philippines was then accomplished. It was Legazpi who in 1565 and thereafter succeeded in hoodwinking a large number of barangay chieftains typified by Sikatuna in quelling recalcitrant barangays with the sword and in establishing under the cross the first colonial settlements in Visayas and subsequently in Luzon.The kind of society that developed in more than three centuries of Spanish rule was colonial and feudal. It was a society basically ruled by the landlord class, which included the Spanish colonial officials, the Catholic religious orders and the local puppet chiefs. The masses of the people were kept to the status of serfs and even the freemen became dispossessed. In the classic fashion of feudalism, the union of church and state suffused the entire colonial structure. All colonial subjects fell under friar control from birth until death. In the material base as well as in the superstructure, friar control was total and most oppressive in the towns situated in vast landed estates owned by the religious orders. In the colonial center as well as in every province, the friars exercised vast political powers. They supervised such diverse affairs as taxation, census, statistics, primary schools, health, public works and charities. They certified the correctness of residence certificates, the condition of men chosen for military service, the municipal budget, the election of municipal officials and police officers and the examination of pupils in the parochial schools. The Encomienda and Hacienda Encomiendas are grants from the Spanish crown to a Spaniard to exercise control over a specific place including its inhabitants. It is from the Spanish word â€Å"encomendar† which literally means to entrust. Thus, a definite number of â€Å"souls† or inhabitants of a territory were entrusted to the care of an encomendero. The encomienda grant can only be passed up to the third generation and was then given back as the crown’s property. There were three kinds of encomiendas: (1) the royal encomiendas, belonging to the king of Spain, (2) the ecclesiastical encomiendas, belonging to the church, and (3) private encomiendas, belonging to private individuals who were rewarded for their services to the crown. The encomienda was an administrative unit with powers to collect tribute and to use the personal services of the inhabitants of their encomiendas. In return, the encomenderos were supposed to look after the welfare of the natives and to give them some education. Theoretically, each encomendero, in whose care a native settlement, was entrusted a threefold responsibility: (1) to protect the natives by maintaining peace and order within the encomienda, (2) to support the missionaries in their work of converting the people to Catholicism, and (3) to help in the defense of the colony. In return for these services, the crown authorized the encomendero to collect a tribute of eight reales or its equivalent in kind from all 19 to 60 year old males in the encomienda. At least one-fourth of the total collection went to the encomendero, another portion to the friars, and the rest to the government. What seemed to be beneficial for the natives’ development was turned the other way around. The encomienda system was generally characterized by greed and cruelty. The encomenderos exercised their powers to the full but for the most part ignored their duties and treated the natives as slaves. They saw the grant as nothing more than an opportunity to enrich themselves and used every opportunity open to him, whether in the collection of tributes or in the unlawful exaction of numerous services. Antonio de Morga writes: â€Å"They employ the indios in building houses and large vessels, grinding rice, cutting wood, and carrying it all to their houses and to Manila and then pay them little or nothing for their labor.† Regarding the collection of tributes, the encomenderos forced the natives to pay a higher rate of tribute; they collected according to their personal whim. When gold was abundant and money was scarce, they demanded cash or reales; when the reales were plentiful and there was scarcity of gold, they asked for gold even when the poor Filipinos were coerced to buy them. Encomenderos sometimes seized the entire quantity of his rice from the Filipino without leaving him a grain to eat. Many Filipinos died of starvation, especially during famine and drought due to the scarcity of rice and they were forced to eat coconut and banana shoots. If the Filipinos resisted, they were publicly fogged, tortured or jailed. The unjust collection of tributes was one of the primary causes of intermittent uprisings in the Philippines. Haciendas grew out of the encomienda system and the hacienda system is still being used today; however, haciendas during the Spanish occupation era were given as incentives to deserving Spanish friars who will act as land lords. It has the characteristic of a feudal system which was prevalent in Europe during those times. Encomienda and hacienda system were forms of colonial appropriation but they were never the same and one did not necessarily lead to the other. The exploitative relations are based on and grow out of the ownership by the landlord of the tracts of land from which the tenants derive their livelihood. The hacendero has the right of inheritance and free disposition, two rights not covered by an encomienda grant. The exploitations of the hacenderos are more disguised than that of the encomendero through a fiction of partnership, hence the term kasamahan to denote a joint venture and the reference to the tenant as kasama or companion. Instead of tribute-paying, the system denotes sharing of the crops in terms of sharing of risks. The hacenderos will most likely require the lion’s share of the crops but in terms of the expenses for maintenance of the hacienda, the tenants are to pay more. The Center and the Periphery of the Colonial System With the pacification of the Filipino natives, Spain made a colony that will supply the crown with goods for its financial gain. Spain did this by exploitation of the natives so as to produce a product surplus. With the help of the personal greed of Spanish colonial administrators, friars, and officials, the natives, though living in subsistence, were made worse. Bureaucracy in the Philippines during the Spanish period may be divided into different levels of administration, from the national, provincial, city, municipal, and barrio levels. On the national level, with its seat of power in Manila, Intramuros, the governor general (gobernador y capitan-general) became the spokesman and the representative of the King of Spain to the Philippines. He was the commander-in-chief of the military and the navy. He was also the vice-real patron who supervises the work of the Catholic Church to spread the gospel of Christianity in the colony. His great powers were checked by the Real Audiencia (Supreme Court), the archbishop and the civil officials who denounced to the king whatever abuses the governor general might have committed. On the provincial level, heading the alcaldia or provincia was the alcalde mayor for the pacified provinces and districts. The corregimientos or unpacified military zones were headed by the corregidores. Only a Spaniard can be an alcalde mayor or a corregidor. The city government was called as the ayuntamiento and was headed by one or two alcaldes ordinarios. On the municipal level, the gobernadorcillo headed the pueblo or municipio. A Filipino or a Chinese mestizo can be head of the municipio; this was the highest government position a Filipino could attain during the Spanish regime. Barrio government rested on the cabeza de barangay whose main role was to be tax and contributions collector for the gobernadorcillo. All royal officials had the responsibility of keeping peace and order. To check the abuse of power of royal officials, two Castillan institutions, the residencia and the visita were employed. The residencia was the judicial review of a residenciado (one judged) conducted at the term of his office, a visita on the other hand was conducted by an officer sent from Spain and might occur at any time within the official’s term. Residencia and visita were supervised by juez de residencia and visitador-general respectively; its objective is to ensure faithful and efficient service on the part of the government authorities. If proven guilty of public misconduct, an official may be fined, dismissed from office, expelled from the colony, or imprisoned. However, Filipino natives still didn’t escape the exploitation of the government officials. The tribute collectors often abused their offices by collecting more than the law required and appropriating the difference. Many who did not pay, or could not pay were tortured or imprisoned. Others fled to the mountains only to have their houses burned or looted by the Spaniards in punishment for their defiance. In addition to the unjustified tribute, men between the age of sixteen and sixty were required to serve for forty days each year in the labor pool or polo, a form of forced labor. The polistas were seldom paid and death lurked to them and their families. Still another exploitative device was the bandala which was a kind of annual quota for the compulsory sale of rice, hemp and other farm products to the government usually without payment and seldom paid at very low prices. BIBLIOGRAPHY Agoncillo, Teodoro A. History of the Filipino People. Eighth edition, Quezon City: Garotech Publishing, 1990. Constantino, Renato. The Philippines: A Past Revisited. Manila, 1975. The Philippine History & Government. Mobcco. Circa 1970s Riple, Simoun. Philippine Society and Revolution. 1970`

Starbucks - Organizational behaviour Case Study

Starbucks - Organizational behaviour - Case Study Example Orgniztinl bhvir dls with th t mn t th bttm mn, vryn nds t b invlvd nd knw th right ctins nd ttituds fr n rgniztin t sky rckt nd xcl in th futur Strbucks Crrtin is th wrld's numbr n scilty cff rtilr. It rts mr thn 8,700 cff shs in mr thn 30 cuntris. Th cmny is cmmittd t ffring th highst qulity cff nd "Th Strbucks Exrinc" whil cnducting its businss in wys tht rduc scil, nvirnmntl nd cnmic bnfits fr cmmunitis in which it ds businss. (Chris, 2006, 84) "Strbucks urchss nd rsts high-qulity whl bn cffs nd slls thm lng with frsh, rich-brwd, Itlin styl srss bvrgs, vrity f stris nd cnfctins, nd cff-rltd ccssris nd quimnt -- rimrily thrugh its cmny-rtd rtil strs." (Hmbrick, 2007, 20) Strbucks Crrtin urchss nd rsts whl bn cffs nd slls thm lng with brwd cffs, Itlin-styl srss bvrgs, cld-blndd bvrgs, vrity f fd itms, slctin f ts nd vn lin f cmct discs. "Th riginl Strbucks, fundd in 1971, ws cmny ssintly cmmittd t wrld-clss cff nd ddictd t ducting its custmrs, n n n, but wht grt cff cn b." (Hmbrick, 2007, 20) "Yu gt mr thn th finst cff whn yu visit Strbucks. Yu gt grt l, first-rt music, cmfrtbl nd ubt mting lc, (Adlr, 2001, 44) nd sund dvic n brwing xcllnt cff t hm. At hm yu r rt f fmily. At wrk, yu r rt f cmny. And smwhr in btwn thr is lc whr yu cn sit bck nd b yurslf. Tht is wht Strbucks str is t mny f its custmrs - kind f "third lc" whr thy cn sc, rflct, rd, cht r listn." (Adlr, 2001, 44) Th Strbucks Crrtin blivs thir mlys r n f thir mst imrtnt ssts in tht thir nly tru dvntg is th qulity f thir wrkfrc. By crting ridful wrkfrc, by ffring

The Batek of Malaysia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Batek of Malaysia - Research Paper Example They are one of the groups of Malayan aborigines (Orang Asli) and from historic times they have always been gathering food by hunting and gathering natural resources (Bisht and Bankoti, 2004, p.100). This paper will focus on forage as primary mode of subsistence of the Batek population and its impact on some aspects of their culture. The Batek have maintained their primitive lifestyles but with time they might be facing challenging with respect to upholding their beliefs and traditions. There is a population of 133,000 Orang Asli in Malaysia and they are divided into 3 groups which again has 18 ethnic sub-groups. Each group has an identity of their and differ in language, culture and also architecture. In the age of urbanization they have adopted modern lifestyles and have come to live in urban areas. However, the Batek still maintain their traditional nomadic lifestyle (Beswick, 2010). The Batek people claim to have a strong and positive relationship with the forest. They hunt for food in the forests and also take refuge in the forests. In spite of their dependence on forests, their everyday life can be in danger. As with other nomadic groups, the Batek too suffer from this fear. The major factor that contributes to their fear of life is falling of trees. The Batek have an inherently practical approach to this problem. They cut down a tree if they think it has the possibility of falling over their camp. If cutting down of a tree does not seem possible then they escape from the way of the tree. As the best and hassle free solution they build their camps in place where there are no old trees so that they are saved from the threat of potential falling trees. In general term, this fear of the Batek of falling trees is a fitting environmental behaviour and can be considered normal for people living among trees. The Batek people believe that the world will cease to exist if no people live in the forests and so according to their belief they are holding up the world by remaining attached to the forests. Administrative boundaries do not restrict the Batak and they move freely in and out of Taman Negar a Park. Based on their political and sexually democratic structure, there exist no boundaries among groups. The main characteristic of their daily camp life is fluctuation. The Batek people always look for new zones for resource and so their encampments are always fresh and in established sites (Tuck-Po, 2005, pp.250-251). A camp group has an average of 38 people and in general does not remain in one place for more than two weeks. They move from one rive valley to another in three to four months. Their movement is not random through the forest. They follow a definite walking trail and other pathways including rivers and streams (Tuck-Po, 2005, pp.250-251). The Batek do not have ownership of lands and they only look after lands. This makes them easier to move every five months so that the forest can replenish (Beswick, 2010). In Batek society leadership is not ascribed. It is based on situation and activity. Although individuals make decisions, still group decisions act as the best c ompromise between peaceful agreements and chaotic conflicts. Dominating behaviour is not favorably accepted and even the children have the right to object and refuse obedience. The nuclear family is the primary unit for production and consumption. An important social performance is the practice of sharing of food between households. The largest share of food that they gather goes to the family members of the hunter and their closest kin and the remaining portion of the food is distributed among the other members of the

Geographies of war, occupation, resistance, and terrorism Essay

Geographies of war, occupation, resistance, and terrorism - Essay Example Unlike Britain and France, the major European powers, the US were highly recognized by Middle East as a good country with good people. Some of the key factors that improved US image in the eyes of the Middle East countries include the introduction of up-to-date medicine initiatives in the region, establishment of educational institutions, and provision of qualified petroleum engineers. As a result of the contributions of the US made in Middle East, the two regions had a strong connection prior to the Second World War. However, in the recent past, the two regions had a negative relationship that had triggered political unrest. This paper seeks to analyze the causes and solutions of the conflicts between Middle East and US. Even though Arabs and Israel have been involved in conflicts for a long period of time, the vested interest of the foreign countries, also referred to as foreign elite, has triggered the violence that led to large number of deaths in the Middle East countries. In ad dition to the US, China, Britain, Germany and Russia have also focused at controlling the oil in the Middle East countries. It is worth noting that as long as the foreign elite continue to be involved in the Middle East politics, the conflicts will remain unresolved. ... According to the Arab countries, US is the major cause of the conflict based on its political suppression, occupation of native land, military invasion as well as continued support of Israel on its political suppression against Palestine (Wu Sike 15). Additionally, Middle East countries argue that the US have negatively affected the culture of Arab countries by bringing about western values that have sabotaged the significant values of Islam community. As a result of the US invasion, the radical in the Middle East have gone to the extreme in their endeavor to resist the US control resulting to the emergence of terrorism. Another major cause of the animosity between the US and Middle East is the aim of the former to control the Middle East oil. In their efforts to expand their oil reserves, the US and other powerful states interferes with Arab-Israel conflicts with an aim of controlling the vast petroleum resources that acts as the major source of income for the Middle East countries. As a result, Arab countries have joined together to attack US interests in their countries such as the embassies, diplomats and other expatriates. In their efforts to improve their economy and intensify their control over the Middle East foreign countries have continued to sell weapons to the Arab countries an aspect that instigated conflicts in the Middle East. In this regard, it is fundamental for the UN and other international organizations to ban the sale of weapons to the Middle East countries to eliminate the war that has decapitated the economy of the Arab countries. Morris (37) argues that the emergence of corrupt and poor leadership in Middle East is one of the

Discussion on Business Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discussion on Business Organization - Essay Example This market leadership may relate to pricing innovation, product innovation, new forms of promotion, development of new market segments, or initiating a new trend in the market. Quite often such market leaders may not be large organizations, but more innovative smaller organizations, like Dyson in vacuum cleaners; or organizations with better expertise, like specialized accounting firms or those with more talent and competencies, like Stella McCartney in fashion designing. Simon, 2009, p.29, terms such smaller organizations as â€Å"hidden champions†. These â€Å"hidden champions†, reframe the definition of market leadership to â€Å"market leadership not only in terms of market share, but see it as an extended claim to overall leadership in their markets† (Simon, 2009, p.29). Table – 1 below gives the advantages and disadvantages of market leadership. ... Compounding the contribution of these factors to problems in identifying market leadership is the issue that some organizations, do not concentrate on achieving leadership by merely market share. They may to look to acquiring leadership in other aspects, like asset leadership, which gives them a boost towards taking over market leadership. Asset concentration may be in terms of competencies of the employees, or superior equipment or strength in distribution channels. Identifying market leadership thus becomes a more difficult endeavour (Pickton & Masterson, 2010, p.40). Following in the path laid out by a market leader are the organizations that may be called market followers. Market followers identify and keep a track of the successful ideas and strategies employed by market leaders. This does not imply that they follow a me-too product design and promotion strategy. Rather, the strategy employed is to allow the market leader to employ resources in testing their innovative ideas and strategies, and then cash in by employing the successful innovative ideas and strategies themselves. This can be seen from the example of the competitors of McDonald’s in the 1990’s waiting for McDonald to identify locations for its outlets, using its resources, before moving into the location as a competitor. It is these market followers that need to identify the market leaders, so as to copy their successful innovative ideas and strategies (Pickton & Masterson, 2010, p.39). 2. The EC Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the German Act against Unfair competition define unfair competition as â€Å"unfair commercial practices that are likely to distort the economic behaviour of consumers† (De

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Strategy implementation and context Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

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China online banking development Essay Example for Free

China online banking development Essay China is expected to become the largest information technology (IT) market in the world in the next five years, acknowledging that computers will be popular in Chinese families by that time. China now ranks No. 2 in Internet subscribers in the world. Owing to Chinas large population, the countrys Internet market still has great potential. Information technology has been utilized in almost all sectors of Chinas economy today. E-government, e-business, e-finance, and upgrading of state-owned enterprises will all provide more opportunities for the development of the industry in  China is expected to become the largest information technology (IT) market in the world in the next five years, acknowledging that computers will be popular in Chinese families by that time. China now ranks No. 2 in Internet subscribers in the world. Owing to Chinas large population, the countrys Internet market still has great potential. Information technology has been utilized in almost all sectors of Chinas economy today. E-government, e-business, e-finance, and upgrading of state-owned enterprises will all provide more opportunities for the development of the industry in China. Read the Memo sent out by Jaime about 2004 Mid-Year Offsite Business-planning meeting conducted by S1 management team, the key topic of Perfecting our International and Distribution Business caught my attention. Learned the news that Macau Tai Fung bank implemented S1 Banking Solution to launched its online banking services, and found out that S1 opened an office in Beijing Chinas capital city, I got a feeling that S1 already turned its eyes to Chinese Market and wonder whether S1s management would like to make further moves and seize the opportunity. Before left China to immigrant to Canada, I had 6 years working experiences in Beijing-my home city, dealing with Chinese financial agencies and institutions, Chinese and foreign banks as well as other financial institutions and service providers in China, Im quite familiar with Chinese financial industry structure. Id like to reuse my knowledge and made this online research report. If S1 is interested in expanding business in China, but not clear what is the situation there and where to start, my research report will, I hope to a certain extent, answer some of your questions. The main purpose of this report is to provide some information and personal suggestions that, I hope, could be helpful for S1s management or marketing team to better understand Chinese market. This report includes information covering Chinese banking system structure, the emergence and development of Internet banking and online insurance services in China, Chinese governments policies and regulations toward online banking and insurance business as well as some prepositional thoughts about how to present S1 and its products to China. Naissance of Online Banking in China In the late 1990s, China began allowing banks to open online businesses. In 1996, China Merchants Bank launched the 1st online financing service in China through All in One Net, an online payment method, which set up the basic operating pattern of China online banking. On October 1997, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) established its own homepage on Internet to promote its financing services and to provide business guide for Internet users. March 1998, Bank of China successfully handled its first e-transaction. To 1999, all major banks in China had sped up their online banking construction. To date, online banking has made good progress in China. According to statistics from the recently seminar called International Symposium on the Development of Online Banking and Supervision sponsored by China Banking Regulatory Commission, Chinas online bank transactions are expected to reach 20 trillion yuan (about 2. 4 trillion US dollars) by the end of this year. Currently, China has over 40 million individuals and 60,000 companies and institutions involved in online banking businesses. In 2003, Internet-based banking businesses have witnessed a big step forward, owing to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Traditionally, Chinese have placed a premium on face-to-face meeting for important business-related matters, but the SARS crisis has forced people to change their attitude. Online Banking Development in China China is in the early stages of a vast transformation from a traditional cash and carry banking system where customers use the branches for almost every banking activity to a modern Internet banking system. Currently, more than 50 commercial banks (domestic and foreign) and over 200 of their branches in China have opened websites, among which, a total of over 50 banks have launched online businesses. The Growth of Online Banking Customers in China Chinas online bank transactions were 14. 3 billion yuan in 2001, increased to 21. 8 billion yuan in 2003, and are expected to reach 20 trillion yuan (about 2. 4 trillion US dollars) by the end of this year. Figure 3. 1: The Growth of Online Banking Customers in China Online Shopping Payment Methods in China. According to a survey made by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), payment online by credit card and deposit card is becoming the 1st choice for online purchasing. The traditional payment method of payment on delivery by cash and postal remittance decreased 3. 7% this year. Figure 3. 2: Online Purchasing Payment Methods in China An analysis shows that security and service abilities are the main concerns for Chinese to use online banking services, 72. 2% of the people inquired care a lot about whether the banks can guarantee the safety of all transactions in their online services, 60. 6% hope to see more functions and flexibilities. Figure 3. 3: Factors that that will attract Chinese to use online banking services Both Chinese and foreign banks in China realized that the internet solutions provide clients with more channels to communicate with them and allow them to benefit from greater control and cost efficiency, which are top of mind for treasurers today. Domestic Banks and Their Online Banking Services For many Chinese, banking in general is a new experience and in an economy where cash remains important, so bank branches also provide security to customers. However, with accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chinas major banks having to face competition, the local players are increasingly seeing their extensive and heavily manned branch networks as a liability. More and more Chinese banks seem to have discovered the Internet as new source of revenue and the powerful attraction of Internet banking is reflected an attractive proposition. The Chinese bank that has bee quickest off the mark in building Internet banking is China Merchant Bank, which launched the first online financing service in China in 1996. The four state-owned commercial banks quickly followed and successively began to offer some online services since then. May 2000, the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) implemented a trial Internet banking service in its Guangzhou Branch, which allowed their customers in Guangdong province to access their account through Internet. December 2000, ABC launched online banking service in Shanghai called 95599 Online Bank. The new service of 95599 Online bank has reportedly attracted a number of large corporate clients, such as China Worldbest Group and Shanghai Volkswagen. The services offered include currency exchange, personal cheque issuance and access to consumer loans. Users can also report the loss of certificates of deposit, bankbooks and bankcards as well as prearrange withdrawals of cash sums. At the same time, China Construction Bank (CCB) announced its plans to extend its online banking services to 15 cities in the mainland as well as simplify the process of related authentication in a bid to boost the number of clients using online services. The bank began offering online services in April 2000 in cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Qingdao. Last year, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) unveiled a new platform for its personal online banking business [emailprotected] ICBC officials said the upgraded e-banking platform could facilitate a key shift of the banks outlets from all-round functions to sales-orientated services, and gives it a firmer foothold in a market with intensifying foreign competition. ICBC officials said the 58-function brand-name allows almost all services a traditional banking outlet offers to be processed by the client on the computer, including 24-hour any-amount transfers of funds or remittances, securities and foreign currency trading as well as collateralized loans. Figure 3. 4: Internet Services provided by the 4 state-owned commercial banks Name Website URL Language Internet Services The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) www. abocn. com Chinese Simplified Banking industry news and website news, Regulation for foreign currency deposits Link to online banking Bank of China (BOC) www. bank-of-china. com Chinese Simplified English Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Link to E-banking services Cash management Information on the bank and its activities Information on credit card deposits online and phone banking, loans and remittances. China Construction Bank www. ccb-on-line. com Chinese Simplified English Links to exchange rates, stock quotes, deposit rates, loan rates, bank fees. Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Credit card information. International Operations such as financing, merchant banking, international settlements, currency exchange, treasury services, credit investigations Information on oversea branches and domestic branches that conduct international transactions Foreign currency deposit, multi-currency remittances, account settlement and term deposit. Link to online banking and payment The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) www. icbc. com. cn Chinese Simplified Chinese Traditional English Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Link to online bank services: personal banking, corporate Banking. Information on E-banking Online financing Links to exchange rates, stock quotes, deposit rates, loan rates, bank fees. Foreign Banks and Their Online Banking Services Citibank claims that they are the 1st foreign bank in China that obtained approval from the Peoples Bank of China (PCBC) to offer Internet banking services in China to both domestic and international corporations, as well as consumers. Its Internet banking services provide clients with convenient, easy-to-use, and secure access to banking transactions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, over the Web. Offering its CitiDirect corporate banking service for cash management, the bank has developed an internet-based payments system specifically for the country. The system enables corporate clients in China to make local currency (renminbi) payment transactions to beneficiaries in over 7000 locations. The system, called Citibank Easy Payments, also delivers various payment and collections reports for clients to view or download into their computers. Its Internet-based banking services available in China for corporate and consumer clients include: CitiDirect(r) Online Banking is Citibanks Web-based delivery channel for corporate clients, designed to securely deliver online an ever-expanding array of Citibank transaction products. CitiDirect(r) Online Banking provides access to account information, payment initiation capabilities, collections data, trade finance transactions, and import/export file integration capabilities. CitiDirect(r) replaces traditional electronic banking applications with a single Web-based delivery channel, thereby improving efficiency and reducing costs to clients. Available in 90 countries and 20 languages including traditional and simplified Chinese, CitiDirecti Online Banking gives clients the benefits of real-time processing, robust security and integration with their in-house treasury systems. * Citibank Easy Payments, an Internet-based payment system that allows corporate clients in China to make local currency (Renminbi) payment transactions to beneficiaries in over 7000 locations in China. This system was specifically developed for the China market. Citibank Easy Payments also delivers various payment and collections reports for clients to view or download into their computers. Citibank Easy Payments supports interface with all major Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages such as SAP, Oracle, BPCS as well as locally developed Chinese accounting packages. Citibank. com. cn, an Internet banking portal that allows corporations and consumers to manage their accounts online, make online enquiries or transactions, view customize and personalize pages as well as get online tools and real-time global market information. Global banking group HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia received online-banking license and launched online banking service in China on January 2003. This new service allows their customers to check their balances, transfer funds, make time deposits and account enquiries, check interest and foreign exchange rates, and send remittance instructions through Internet. It is said that more foreign banks, like London-based Standard Chartered Bank, have also received approval to launch online banking services in China, but it is not clear when the emerging market specialist would offer such service. China is expected to become the largest information technology (IT) market in the world in the next five years, acknowledging that computers will be popular in Chinese families by that time. China now ranks No. 2 in Internet subscribers in the world. Owing to Chinas large population, the countrys Internet market still has great potential. Information technology has been utilized in almost all sectors of Chinas economy today. E-government, e-business, e-finance, and upgrading of state-owned enterprises will all provide more opportunities for the development of the industry in China. Read the Memo sent out by Jaime about 2004 Mid-Year Offsite Business-planning meeting conducted by S1 management team, the key topic of Perfecting our International and Distribution Business caught my attention. Learned the news that Macau Tai Fung bank implemented S1 Banking Solution to launched its online banking services, and found out that S1 opened an office in Beijing Chinas capital city, I got a feeling that S1 already turned its eyes to Chinese Market and wonder whether S1s management would like to make further moves and seize the opportunity. Before left China to immigrant to Canada, I had 6 years working experiences in Beijing-my home city, dealing with Chinese financial agencies and institutions, Chinese and foreign banks as well as other financial institutions and service providers in China, Im quite familiar with Chinese financial industry structure. Id like to reuse my knowledge and made this online research report. If S1 is interested in expanding business in China, but not clear what is the situation there and where to start, my research report will, I hope to a certain extent, answer some of your questions. The main purpose of this report is to provide some information and personal suggestions that, I hope, could be helpful for S1s management or marketing team to better understand Chinese market. This report includes information covering Chinese banking system structure, the emergence and development of Internet banking and online insurance services in China, Chinese governments policies and regulations toward online banking and insurance business as well as some prepositional thoughts about how to present S1 and its products to China. Naissance of Online Banking in China In the late 1990s, China began allowing banks to open online businesses. In 1996, China Merchants Bank launched the 1st online financing service in China through All in One Net, an online payment method, which set up the basic operating pattern of China online banking. On October 1997, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) established its own homepage on Internet to promote its financing services and to provide business guide for Internet users. March 1998, Bank of China successfully handled its first e-transaction. To 1999, all major banks in China had sped up their online banking construction. To date, online banking has made good progress in China. According to statistics from the recently seminar called International Symposium on the Development of Online Banking and Supervision sponsored by China Banking Regulatory Commission, Chinas online bank transactions are expected to reach 20 trillion yuan (about 2. 4 trillion US dollars) by the end of this year. Currently, China has over 40 million individuals and 60,000 companies and institutions involved in online banking businesses In 2003, Internet-based banking businesses have witnessed a big step forward, owing to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Traditionally, Chinese have placed a premium on face-to-face meeting for important business-related matters, but the SARS crisis has forced people to change their attitude. Online Banking Development in China China is in the early stages of a vast transformation from a traditional cash and carry banking system where customers use the branches for almost every banking activity to a modern Internet banking system. Currently, more than 50 commercial banks (domestic and foreign) and over 200 of their branches in China have opened websites, among which, a total of over 50 banks have launched online businesses. The Growth of Online Banking Customers in China Chinas online bank transactions were 14. 3 billion yuan in 2001, increased to 21. 8 billion yuan in 2003, and are expected to reach 20 trillion yuan (about 2. 4 trillion US dollars) by the end of this year. Figure 3. 1: The Growth of Online Banking Customers in China Online Shopping Payment Methods in China According to a survey made by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), payment online by credit card and deposit card is becoming the 1st choice for online purchasing. The traditional payment method of payment on delivery by cash and postal remittance decreased 3. 7% this year. Figure 3. 2: Online Purchasing Payment Methods in China An analysis shows that security and service abilities are the main concerns for Chinese to use online banking services, 72. 2% of the people inquired care a lot about whether the banks can guarantee the safety of all transactions in their online services, 60. 6% hope to see more functions and flexibilities. Figure 3. 3: Factors that that will attract Chinese to use online banking services Both Chinese and foreign banks in China realized that the internet solutions provide clients with more channels to communicate with them and allow them to benefit from greater control and cost efficiency, which are top of mind for treasurers today. Domestic Banks and Their Online Banking Services For many Chinese, banking in general is a new experience and in an economy where cash remains important, so bank branches also provide security to customers. However, with accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chinas major banks having to face competition, the local players are increasingly seeing their extensive and heavily manned branch networks as a liability. More and more Chinese banks seem to have discovered the Internet as new source of revenue and the powerful attraction of Internet banking is reflected an attractive proposition. The Chinese bank that has bee quickest off the mark in building Internet banking is China Merchant Bank, which launched the first online financing service in China in 1996. The four state-owned commercial banks quickly followed and successively began to offer some online services since then. May 2000, the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) implemented a trial Internet banking service in its Guangzhou Branch, which allowed their customers in Guangdong province to access their account through Internet. December 2000, ABC launched online banking service in Shanghai called 95599 Online Bank. The new service of 95599 Online bank has reportedly attracted a number of large corporate clients, such as China Worldbest Group and Shanghai Volkswagen. The services offered include currency exchange, personal cheque issuance and access to consumer loans. Users can also report the loss of certificates of deposit, bankbooks and bankcards as well as prearrange withdrawals of cash sums. At the same time, China Construction Bank (CCB) announced its plans to extend its online banking services to 15 cities in the mainland as well as simplify the process of related authentication in a bid to boost the number of clients using online services. The bank began offering online services in April 2000 in cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Qingdao. Last year, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) unveiled a new platform for its personal online banking business [emailprotected] ICBC officials said the upgraded e-banking platform could facilitate a key shift of the banks outlets from all-round functions to sales-orientated services, and gives it a firmer foothold in a market with intensifying foreign competition. ICBC officials said the 58-function brand-name allows almost all services a traditional banking outlet offers to be processed by the client on the computer, including 24-hour any-amount transfers of funds or remittances, securities and foreign currency trading as well as collateralized loans. Figure 3. 4: Internet Services provided by the 4 state-owned commercial banks Name Website URL Language Internet Services The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) www. abocn. com Chinese Simplified Banking industry news and website news, Regulation for foreign currency deposits Link to online banking Bank of China (BOC) www. bank-of-china. com Chinese Simplified English Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Link to E-banking services Cash management Information on the bank and its activities Information on credit card deposits online and phone banking, loans and remittances. China Construction Bank www. ccb-on-line. com Chinese Simplified English Links to exchange rates, stock quotes, deposit rates, loan rates, bank fees. Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Credit card information. International Operations such as financing, merchant banking, international settlements, currency exchange, treasury services, credit investigations Information on oversea branches and domestic branches that conduct international transactions Foreign currency deposit, multi-currency remittances, account settlement and term deposit. Link to online banking and payment The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) www. icbc. com. cn Chinese Simplified Chinese Traditional English Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Link to online bank services: personal banking, corporate Banking. Information on E-banking Online financing Links to exchange rates, stock quotes, deposit rates, loan rates, bank fees. Foreign Banks and Their Online Banking Services Citibank claims that they are the 1st foreign bank in China that obtained approval from the Peoples Bank of China (PCBC) to offer Internet banking services in China to both domestic and international corporations, as well as consumers. Its Internet banking services provide clients with convenient, easy-to-use, and secure access to banking transactions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, over the Web. Offering its CitiDirect corporate banking service for cash management, the bank has developed an internet-based payments system specifically for the country. The system enables corporate clients in China to make local currency (renminbi) payment transactions to beneficiaries in over 7000 locations. The system, called Citibank Easy Payments, also delivers various payment and collections reports for clients to view or download into their computers. Its Internet-based banking services available in China for corporate and consumer clients include: CitiDirect(r) Online Banking is Citibanks Web-based delivery channel for corporate clients, designed to securely deliver online an ever-expanding array of Citibank transaction products. CitiDirect(r) Online Banking provides access to account information, payment initiation capabilities, collections data, trade finance transactions, and import/export file integration capabilities. CitiDirect(r) replaces traditional electronic banking applications with a single Web-based delivery channel, thereby improving efficiency and reducing costs to clients. Available in 90 countries and 20 languages including traditional and simplified Chinese, CitiDirecti Online Banking gives clients the benefits of real-time processing, robust security and integration with their in-house treasury systems. * Citibank Easy Payments, an Internet-based payment system that allows corporate clients in China to make local currency (Renminbi) payment transactions to beneficiaries in over 7000 locations in China. This system was specifically developed for the China market. Citibank Easy Payments also delivers various payment and collections reports for clients to view or download into their computers. Citibank Easy Payments supports interface with all major Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages such as SAP, Oracle, BPCS as well as locally developed Chinese accounting packages.   Citibank. com. cn, an Internet banking portal that allows corporations and consumers to manage their accounts online, make online enquiries or transactions, view customize and personalize pages as well as get online tools and real-time global market information. Global banking group HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia received online-banking license and launched online banking service in China on January 2003. This new service allows their customers to check their balances, transfer funds, make time deposits and account enquiries, check interest and foreign exchange rates, and send remittance instructions through Internet. It is said that more foreign banks, like London-based Standard Chartered Bank, have also received approval to launch online banking services in China, but it is not clear when the emerging market specialist would offer such service. Read the Memo sent out by Jaime about 2004 Mid-Year Offsite Business-planning meeting conducted by S1 management team, the key topic of Perfecting our International and Distribution Business caught my attention. Learned the news that Macau Tai Fung bank implemented S1 Banking Solution to launched its online banking services, and found out that S1 opened an office in Beijing Chinas capital city, I got a feeling that S1 already turned its eyes to Chinese Market and wonder whether S1s management would like to make further moves and seize the opportunity. Before left China to immigrant to Canada, I had 6 years working experiences in Beijing-my home city, dealing with Chinese financial agencies and institutions, Chinese and foreign banks as well as other financial institutions and service providers in China, Im quite familiar with Chinese financial industry structure. Id like to reuse my knowledge and made this online research report. If S1 is interested in expanding business in China, but not clear what is the situation there and where to start, my research report will, I hope to a certain extent, answer some of your questions. The main purpose of this report is to provide some information and personal suggestions that, I hope, could be helpful for S1s management or marketing team to better understand Chinese market. This report includes information covering Chinese banking system structure, the emergence and development of Internet banking and online insurance services in China, Chinese governments policies and regulations toward online banking and insurance business as well as some prepositional thoughts about how to present S1 and its products to China. Naissance of Online Banking in China In the late 1990s, China began allowing banks to open online businesses. In 1996, China Merchants Bank launched the 1st online financing service in China through All in One Net, an online payment method, which set up the basic operating pattern of China online banking. On October 1997, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) established its own homepage on Internet to promote its financing services and to provide business guide for Internet users. March 1998, Bank of China successfully handled its first e-transaction. To 1999, all major banks in China had sped up their online banking construction. To date, online banking has made good progress in China. According to statistics from the recently seminar called International Symposium on the Development of Online Banking and Supervision sponsored by China Banking Regulatory Commission, Chinas online bank transactions are expected to reach 20 trillion yuan (about 2. 4 trillion US dollars) by the end of this year. Currently, China has over 40 million individuals and 60,000 companies and institutions involved in online banking businesses. In 2003, Internet-based banking businesses have witnessed a big step forward, owing to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Traditionally, Chinese have placed a premium on face-to-face meeting for important business-related matters, but the SARS crisis has forced people to change their attitude. Online Banking Development in China China is in the early stages of a vast transformation from a traditional cash and carry banking system where customers use the branches for almost every banking activity to a modern Internet banking system. Currently, more than 50 commercial banks (domestic and foreign) and over 200 of their branches in China have opened websites, among which, a total of over 50 banks have launched online businesses. The Growth of Online Banking Customers in China Chinas online bank transactions were 14. 3 billion yuan in 2001, increased to 21. 8 billion yuan in 2003, and are expected to reach 20 trillion yuan (about 2. 4 trillion US dollars) by the end of this year. Figure 3. 1: The Growth of Online Banking Customers in China Online Shopping Payment Methods in China According to a survey made by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), payment online by credit card and deposit card is becoming the 1st choice for online purchasing. The traditional payment method of payment on delivery by cash and postal remittance decreased 3. 7% this year. Figure 3. 2: Online Purchasing Payment Methods in China An analysis shows that security and service abilities are the main concerns for Chinese to use online banking services, 72. 2% of the people inquired care a lot about whether the banks can guarantee the safety of all transactions in their online services, 60. 6% hope to see more functions and flexibilities. Figure 3. 3: Factors that that will attract Chinese to use online banking services Both Chinese and foreign banks in China realized that the internet solutions provide clients with more channels to communicate with them and allow them to benefit from greater control and cost efficiency, which are top of mind for treasurers today. Domestic Banks and Their Online Banking Services For many Chinese, banking in general is a new experience and in an economy where cash remains important, so bank branches also provide security to customers. However, with accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chinas major banks having to face competition, the local players are increasingly seeing their extensive and heavily manned branch networks as a liability. More and more Chinese banks seem to have discovered the Internet as new source of revenue and the powerful attraction of Internet banking is reflected an attractive proposition. The Chinese bank that has bee quickest off the mark in building Internet banking is China Merchant Bank, which launched the first online financing service in China in 1996. The four state-owned commercial banks quickly followed and successively began to offer some online services since then. May 2000, the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) implemented a trial Internet banking service in its Guangzhou Branch, which allowed their customers in Guangdong province to access their account through Internet. December 2000, ABC launched online banking service in Shanghai called 95599 Online Bank. The new service of 95599 Online bank has reportedly attracted a number of large corporate clients, such as China Worldbest Group and Shanghai Volkswagen. The services offered include currency exchange, personal cheque issuance and access to consumer loans. Users can also report the loss of certificates of deposit, bankbooks and bankcards as well as prearrange withdrawals of cash sums. At the same time, China Construction Bank (CCB) announced its plans to extend its online banking services to 15 cities in the mainland as well as simplify the process of related authentication in a bid to boost the number of clients using online services. The bank began offering online services in April 2000 in cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Qingdao. Last year, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) unveiled a new platform for its personal online banking business [emailprotected] ICBC officials said the upgraded e-banking platform could facilitate a key shift of the banks outlets from all-round functions to sales-orientated services, and gives it a firmer foothold in a market with intensifying foreign competition. ICBC officials said the 58-function brand-name allows almost all services a traditional banking outlet offers to be processed by the client on the computer, including 24-hour any-amount transfers of funds or remittances, securities and foreign currency trading as well as collateralized loans. Figure 3. 4: Internet Services provided by the 4 state-owned commercial banks Name Website URL Language Internet Services The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) www. abocn. com Chinese Simplified Banking industry news and website news, Regulation for foreign currency deposits Link to online banking Bank of China (BOC) www. bank-of-china. com Chinese Simplified English Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Link to E-banking services Cash management Information on the bank and its activities Information on credit card deposits online and phone banking, loans and remittances. China Construction Bank www. ccb-on-line. com Chinese Simplified English Links to exchange rates, stock quotes, deposit rates, loan rates, bank fees. Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Credit card information International Operations such as financing, merchant banking, international settlements, currency exchange, treasury services, credit investigations Information on oversea branches and domestic branches that conduct international transactions Foreign currency deposit, multi-currency remittances, account settlement and term deposit. Link to online banking and payment The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) www. icbc. com. cn Chinese Simplified Chinese Traditional English Link to branch offices in other cities and provinces Link to online bank services: personal banking, corporate Banking Information on E-banking Online financing Links to exchange rates, stock quotes, deposit rates, loan rates, bank fees. Foreign Banks and Their Online Banking Services Citibank claims that they are the 1st foreign bank in China that obtained approval from the Peoples Bank of China (PCBC) to offer Internet banking services in China to both domestic and international corporations, as well as consumers. Its Internet banking services provide clients with convenient, easy-to-use, and secure access to banking transactions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, over the Web. Offering its CitiDirect corporate banking service for cash management, the bank has developed an internet-based payments system specifically for the country. The system enables corporate clients in China to make local currency (renminbi) payment transactions to beneficiaries in over 7000 locations. The system, called Citibank Easy Payments, also delivers various payment and collections reports for clients to view or download into their computers. Its Internet-based banking services available in China for corporate and consumer clients include: CitiDirect(r) Online Banking is Citibanks Web-based delivery channel for corporate clients, designed to securely deliver online an ever-expanding array of Citibank transaction products. CitiDirect(r) Online Banking provides access to account information, payment initiation capabilities, collections data, trade finance transactions, and import/export file integration capabilities. CitiDirect(r) replaces traditional electronic banking applications with a single Web-based delivery channel, thereby improving efficiency and reducing costs to clients. Available in 90 countries and 20 languages including traditional and simplified Chinese, CitiDirecti Online Banking gives clients the benefits of real-time processing, robust security and integration with their in-house treasury systems. * Citibank Easy Payments, an Internet-based payment system that allows corporate clients in China to make local currency (Renminbi) payment transactions to beneficiaries in over 7000 locations in China. This system was specifically developed for the China market. Citibank Easy Payments also delivers various payment and collections reports for clients to view or download into their computers. Citibank Easy Payments supports interface with all major Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages such as SAP, Oracle, BPCS as well as locally developed Chinese accounting packages.   Citibank. com. cn, an Internet banking portal that allows corporations and consumers to manage their accounts online, make online enquiries or transactions, view customize and personalize pages as well as get online tools and real-time global market information. Global banking group HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia received online-banking license and launched online banking service in China on January 2003. This new service allows their customers to check their balances, transfer funds, make time deposits and account enquiries, check interest and foreign exchange rates, and send remittance instructions through Internet. It is said that more foreign banks, like London-based Standard Chartered Bank, have also received approval to launch online banking services in China, but it is not clear when the emerging market specialist would offer such service.

Clovis People Essay Example for Free

Clovis People Essay DNA harvested from the remains of an infant buried 13,000 years ago confirms that the earliest widespread culture in North America was descended from humans who crossed over to the New World from Asia, scientists say. The research, detailed in this weeks issue of the journal Nature, also suggests that many contemporary Native Americans are direct descendants of the so-called Clovis people, whose distinctive stone tools have been found scattered across North America and Mexico. The origins and genetic legacy of the people who made Clovis tools have been topics of debate among scientists. While most archaeologists think that the Clovis people were descended from Asians, an alternative theory suggests that the Clovis ancestors emigrated from southwestern Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum more than 15,000 years ago. The new findings strongly refute that idea, known as the Solutrean hypothesis, said study co-author Michael Waters, director of the Center for the Study of the First Americans at Texas AM University. This shows very clearly that the ancestry of the very first Americans can be traced back to Asia, Waters said. David Anderson, an anthropologist at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, agreed. Theres been a standard model for a long time that modern Native Americans are descended from populations coming from East Asia a few thousand years before Clovis, and thats what this finding reinforces, said Anderson, who was not involved in the study. Anthropologist Dennis Jenkins of the University of Oregon said the new study was a really important and really well done piece of research that opens the door for new kinds of genetic comparisons among ancient Native American remains. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized, said Jenkins, who also did not participate in the research. People have often asked me whats the relationship of the Paisley Caves—a site in Oregon where human feces and artifacts up to 13,200 years old have been found—to Clovis, and Ive always said that would be really nice to know, but there hasnt been any Clovis DNA until now, he said. Oldest Burial in North America. The skeleton of the Clovis child—which experts determined belonged to a young boy about one to one-and-a-half years old—was discovered in 1968 in the Anzick burial site in western Montana. Dozens of ochre-covered stone tools found at the site were consistent with Clovis technology, and radiocarbon dating revealed that the skeleton was approximately 12,600 years old. The Anzick skeleton is the oldest burial in North America, and the only known human burial associated with the Clovis culture, Waters said. Photo of the site where the artifacts were found. † width= PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE WATERS The earliest known North American burial was found here in western Montana. Using bone shavings collected from the skull, the scientists painstakingly reconstructed the full genome of the young Clovis child. It was actually quite a big challenge, said study leader Eske Willerslev, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark who led the sequencing effort. Only 1 to 2 percent of the collected DNA was human, Willerslev said. The rest of it came from bacteria that invaded the skeleton after death. Comparison studies of the ancient DNA showed that it was similar to the genomes of ancient people living in Siberia and the ancestors of East Asians. The team also discovered a deep genetic affinity between the boys genetic material and those of 52 Native American populations living in South America and Canada. The Anzick remains share a common ancestry with almost every modern Native American group that we looked at, Waters said. This is an incredible result, Willerslev said, because it suggests that the relatives of the Anzick child were the direct ancestors of most Native American groups living today. This would be possible, he added, if the population of humans living in the New World about 13,000 years ago was very small and every member was closely related to the others. The scientists say they strongly suspect, but cannot yet prove, that Native Americans in the United States are also closely related to the Clovis people. Native American groups in the U. S. have been reluctant to share their DNA, or the DNA of their ancestors, with scientists. Unfortunately, we dont have much genetic material for native people living in the United States, Waters said. If you look at the genetic map [of humans around the world], the U. S. is a big [blank] spot. Jenkins of the University of Oregon said he hopes the new study will lead to further collaborations between scientists and U. S. Native American groups. That trust has got to be developed, and thats where Willerslevs group really excelled, Jenkins said. Well be better anthropologists and scientists if we view these remains more as the remains of people rather than just artifacts.

Preventing Cyber Breaches

Preventing Cyber Breaches Jacob Malone The digital universe is growing at an astonishing 40% every year. With this kind of growth cyber security is more import today than any time in history. Cybersecurity is the body of technologies, processes and practices designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access (Rouse, 2016). In 2015 the global cybersecurity market hit $75B and is expected to reach over $170B by 2020. Cyber risk has become an international priority due to fears that cyber-attacks or security failures could lead to a global economy collapse. Cyber crime costs the global economy over US$400 billion per year, according to estimates by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2013, some 3,000 companies in the United States had their systems compromised by criminals, the Center reports (Gabel, Liard, Orzechowski, 2015). These cyber-attacks fall into two main categories: breaches in data security and sabotage. A security breach can be anything from targeting personal data to gaining trade secrets to information pertaining to bids or mergers. On the other hand attackers my send denial of service attacks in order to sabotage the infrastructure in order to gain information. Since the late 1980s there have been several critical cyber-attacks. In 1989 the first computer worm was created by Robert Morris that spread so hastily that it shut down the majority of the internet. Fast forward to 2008 and Heatland Payment Systems suffered suffered from one of the largest credit card information breaches in history. It is estimated that over 130 million records were compromised. Their system was corrupted by malware that was inserted into their network that recorded credit card data as it was received from retailers. Finally, in 2015, China attacked the federal government in which they stole PII for over four million federal employees spanning almost every government agency. Officials said the thieves broke in by using stolen contractor logins and passwords (Nakashima, 2015). Once the attackers gained access to OPMs network they installed a malware package the created a backdoor. From there they were able to escalate their rights and privileges in order to access more of OPMs network. The hackers got away with names, birth dates, home addresses, and Social Security numbers (Castelluccio, 2015, p. 79). Almost a year passed before OPM realized they had a problem that discovered irregular SSL traffic by using a decryption tool that was install a few months earlier. Once discovered they reported the discovery to DHS U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team which began the investigation. The discovery of a threat to the background investigation data led to the finding two days later, on April 17, of a risk to the personnel records. US-CERT made the discovery by loading data on the April 15 incident to Einstein, the departments intrusion-detection system. On April 23, US-CERT spotted signs of the Dec. 15 exfiltration in historical netflow data, and OPM decided that a major incident had occurred that required notifying Congress. (Lyngaas, 2015) After a thorough investigation it was undetermined how the hackers acquired the credentials from the contractor KeyPoint Government Solutions. In the wake of the disaster OPM deployed a predictive malware prevention across their network in order to sever the attackers network access. In addition, the agency used an advanced host-based security tool to discover, quarantine and eliminate [the] malware (Lyngaas, 2015). In the end, the Chinese government arrested the hackers that were responsible for the attack. OPMs network was protected by one major Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program called Einstein. The Einstein system, which DHS began deploying in 2005, focuses on the perimeter of federal networks by installing sensors at Web access points and sifting through that data for vulnerabilities (Lyngaas, 2015). This system is only a first line of defense with nothing else to help back it up in case of an intrusion. In order to have avoided this attack or minimize the devastation these programs needed to be accompanied with tools such as masking, redaction, and encryption. OPM could have also used data masking or redaction and encryption techniques to minimize the damage done by the attackers. Data masking obfuscates sensitive data by replacing it with other data typically characters that will meet the requirements of a system designed to test or still work with the masked results. Masking ensures vital parts of personally identifiable information (PII) (Simpson, n.d.). This is commonly used in organizations that work with sensitive data like PII. The sensitive data is masked or redacted in order to protect the information since it passes through so many hands. For example, the first five digits of a social are typically covered or masked is Xs in order to protect the information leaving only the last four digits legible. This process, once completed, is irreversible. Data encryption involves converting and transforming data into scrambled, often unreadable, cipher-text using non-readable mathematical calculations and algorithms. Restoring the message requires a corresponding decryption algorithm and the original encryption key (Simpson, n.d.). This process is used in organizations where data needs to be transferred between networks or computers. During this process the data is converted to non-legible gibberish like ciphertext. The only real way to gain access to this data is to have a special key or password that only authorized users have access to. Encryption Masking Reversible Highest security Trusted with security proofs Realistic data Format-preserving and partial reveals Range and value preserving De-centralized architectures Format-preserving and partial reveals Complex No performance impact on usage Key management Zero need for authentication and authorization and key management Useless without robust authentication and authorization Not as well marketed Data value destruction Not reversible Table 1 Given the scenario of OPMs data breach encryption would not have prevented the breach or loss of data. This is largely due to the fact that the perpetrators had valid user credentials and would be able to access the network just like any other user. The best way to have prevented this attack would have been the timely detection of the intrusion. It can take days or weeks for an intruder to navigate their way around a system and successfully compromise data. During this point if you can identify a breach you can contain the infiltrator before he can accomplish his mission. This could mean the difference between a catastrophic breach and unauthorized user access. Since the attack DHS developed the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program. It focuses on endpoint security and identity management. Furthermore, it provides a dashboard to allow network administrators to view vulnerabilities and provides continuous monitoring. Finally, it also has the ability to identify bad sectors of the network once an attacker is through the perimeter. Also, President Obama signed an Executive Order to create the Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAOs) to buffer between government and industry. The Order presented a framework for enhanced information sharing with the purpose of encouraging private sector companies to work together and work with the federal government to identify cyberthreats (Russo Rishikof, 2016, p. 427). In conclusion, it is highly unlikely that OPM could have completely prevented this attack. However, there are steps they could have taken in order to mitigate the devastation that was caused. Although if encryption techniques were used it would not have protected the information due to the fact the intruders were operating under valid credentials. However, if the data was masked then a limited amount of PII would have been available. Furthermore, if there was a more timely detection of the attackers the damage would have been significantly less. Finally, with the new Executive Order signed by President Obama is a step in the right direction to strengthen cyber security and prevent future attacks. References Castelluccio, M., (2015). The biggest government hack yet. Strategic Finance, 97(8), 79-80 Gabel, D., Liard, B., Orzechowski, D. (2015, July 01). Cyber risk: Why cyber security is important. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://www.whitecase.com/publications/insight/cyber-risk-why-cyber-security-important Lyngaas, S. (2015, August 21). Exclusive: The OPM breach details you havent seen. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://fcw.com/articles/2015/08/21/opm-breach-timeline.aspx Lyngaas, S. (2015, June 5). Security experts: OPM breach shows Einstein isnt enough. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://fcw.com/articles/2015/06/05/opm-einstein.aspx Nakashima, E. (2015, July 09). Hacks of OPM databases compromised 22.1 million people, federal authorities say. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/07/09/hack-of-security-clearance-system-affected-21-5-million-people-federal-authorities-say/?utm_term=.976d563a63f2 Rouse, M. (2016, November). What is cybersecurity? Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/cybersecurity Russo, K., Rishikof, H., (2016). Cybersecurity: Executive Orders, Legislation, Cyberattacks, and Hot Topics. Chapman Law Review, 19(2), 427. Simpson, J. (n.d.). Data Masking and Encryption Are Different. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from http://www.iri.com/blog/data-protection/data-masking-and-data-encryption-are-not-the-same-things/

Endless Witch Trials: Salem, Massachusetts, McCarthy Hearings, and the KKK :: essays research papers

What is the difference between witches in today’s society and witches in the past? Why were people accused of being witches? What were the punishments people got when they were accused of being a witch and found guilty? How is the witch trials repeated in history?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When someone talks about witches what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Most people think of witches from movies such as the witch in the â€Å"Wizard of Oz† or in â€Å"Snow White and the Sevens Dwarfs†. These two witches are looked at as old, ugly and dressed in black from head to toe. People also think of witches in today’s society riding on brooms and chanting evil curses on their enemies. In the past witches could be anyone from the family doctor to the next door neighbor. The word witch comes from the old English word Wicca which means male witch. Witch also means to cast a spell on others. No matter how a witch is looked at, it’s all about mystery and magic. In Massachusetts there are two Salem’s, Salem town and Salem village. The villager wanted to be separated from the town. The accusing began in the village at the Parris’s home because of Reverend Parris wanting to accuse people. Then the Parris’s allies the Putnam’s started to get accused of witchcraft. In Salem people were accused to be witches because they were different or an outcast in the community. Tituba, who was a slave in the Parris household, was an easy person to accuse of practicing witch craft because she was black, mysterious and had a different religion and traditions. If people didn’t attend church they would also be accused of being a witch. Sarah Good was a beggar who everyone thought was mean spirited and always grumbling things to people even if they did give her money or food. She also smoked a pipe, which also gave people a reason to say she was performing witch craft. Sarah Osborne was another person accused of witchery becaus e she married her servant. Martha Corey, a well known church woman was accused because she was to inherit land from her husband who past way. Other people wanted to take that land from her, so they put a false accession on her. Other people in the village were accused because people didn’t like them or they weren’t in good social standings.

Free Grapes of Wrath Essays: Steinbecks Portrait of Fear :: Grapes Wrath essays

Portrait of Fear in The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck shows throughout The Grapes of Wrath that mankind is afraid of failure. Although that fear is present in both the desperate migrant workers and the big, ruthless land owners, Steinbeck uses Al Joad's character to his full advantage t model this characteristic of man. Al's personal fear of failure motivates him to do well in life in comparison to his male role models, as well as to help support the family. This is conveyed through Al's sense of responsibility to his family, his careful nature, and his moody and defensive behavior. Al's sense of responsibility to his family is a major element in his determination not to fail. His knowledge and operation of automobiles are Al's major contribution to the family: "He might be a musking goat sometimes, but this was his responsibility, this truck, its running, and its maintenance...And everyone respected him and his responsibility" (Steinbeck, pages 131 and 132). Al not only helps the family succeed in getting to California by taking on this responsibility, he also makes up for other areas of his character in which he feels he is failing or lacking. Such an area of character might be his apathy towards letting his family know his whereabouts when he disappears for days at a time in Oklahoma. Al's careful nature is another obvious sign that he does not want to fail. He feels that precaution is the only way to prevent something from going wrong and ultimately failing. This is visible in his meticulous care of the truck: "Al grew tense over the wheel. A little rattle had developed in the engine. He speeded up and the rattle increased...Al blew his horn and pulled the car to the side of the road" (page 225). Al's care, though obvious only in that of the truck, definitely suggests that should he fail to properly maintain the truck, he would fail himself and his family as well. To offset such an event, Al constantly watches for and prevents any possible problems with the truck. Al's moody and defensive behavior is also a strong example of his resolution not to fail. Although his attitude could be attributed to adolescent arrogance, one who examines Al's character can see that he has more pressure placed upon him than most of the other members of the family.

Communication Is Complex Essay

When two or more people are sharing information, they both are sending and receiving at the same time, sometimes without even saying a word but by simply sending and receiving certain signals. Listening makes one the receiver and at the point when you respond, you become the sender and this interchanging and complex role shifting happens very fast. Non verbal sending and receiving is just as complex. A child could be crying (sending a message) and the parent put her arm around her for reassurance (receiving), when the parent pats the child’s back (sending), the child calms down receiving). The attitude of the people involved will largely determine the quality of their sending and receiving and the strength of their signals may affect how the messages are received. Messages a. Everything that is communicated is categorized into symbols. A symbol is something that stands for something else. Symbols are everywhere around us. The eagle in the United States stands for that country, the Statue of Liberty stands for freedom. The complex issue is that; any one symbol may have hundreds of interpretations depending on what sense the receiver makes out of the symbol. Any one symbol may have many contrasting definitions largely depending on cultural backgrounds. The human communication is made up of two kinds of symbols. The words that are used in a language are verbal symbols. Where no words are used, then that becomes nonverbal symbols. When the word refers to a physical object like someone says, ‘pads’,, this is called a concrete symbol because it represents an object. A female listener may think the sender is referring to the sanitary pads and the motor mechanic may assume that the sender is referring to the brake pads. Symbols are subject to different interpretations largely depending on the attitude, culture and background of the listener. Even more complex are the abstract symbols, these are the intangible or non figurative symbols like the word ‘love’. Various and interesting assignations may be given to the word depending largely on culture and background. A child brought up in a strict religious order may think it refers to the love that the Deity has over mankind and yet on the other hand a child raised by a mother of loose morals, may construe it to mean lust or the desire that may shared by two consenting and sexual partners. In nonverbal symbols, the communication has no written or verbal words. These symbols include but not limited to; facial expressions, gestures, posture, vocal tones and appearance. A yawn may mean that you are tired or bored and yet in another culture it may mean that you are sleepy and need to rest. Over ninety percent of messages sent and received by Americans are nonverbal. Thus, we see complexities arising out of the symbols, care and due diligence is therefore critical in deciphering symbols to be as near as possible to the intentions and definitions of the sender. Channels This refers to the channel or route that we use when communicating. In verbal symbols, we use sound and sight. The receiver has to interpret the sound and what he/she is seeing to come to a conclusion of what the sender is trying to send out. In nonverbal communications, people use several channels, like a firm handshake may denote confidence, jittery and nervous expression at a presentation may mean poor preparation and shallow knowledge. Use of a wrong channel will give a wrong message altogether and defeat the purpose of the communication. Feedback Feedback refers to the responses that the sender gets from the receiver. In a conversation, both sender and receiver get feedbacks as they talk. Feedback helps to assure the sender that the receiver is attentive and is responsive. When no feedback is given, it may send a wrong signal to the sender. In a lecture, if students don’t ask questions after the presentation, then the deliverer may assume that they have understood when in fact they have not. Noise Any interference that prevents a message from the sender from being delivered to the receiver is called ‘noise’. Noise is found in three forms; external, internal and semantic. External noise comes from the outside, the environment. While having a good conversation with your Pastor, you may be disturbed by the Pastor’s mate asking for the car keys from their mate or a squashed sitting area in a taxi might make you unbearably uncomfortable to lose out on what the person sitting next to you just said. Internal noise refers to what the receiver may be going through internally that he/she may fail to hear what the teacher just said. These are internal thoughts, and distractions†¦ Setting This refers to the environment in which the communication process occurs. The setting affects and influences the kind of communication process that will take place. The setting itself communicates a message to the participants. A divorcing couple would chose to meet in the lawyer’s office as that is perceived as neutral. From the above discourse, it is clear that the communications elements can pose a great challenge to the whole process of communication. Parties to the process should make sure that all the elements are in the ideal size, to effectively communicate as desired. Complexities will always exist, the parties to communication can only minimise them to enhance the process. Self Perception A human being is a complex individual. The process of communication starts with the self perception and the value that humans put on themselves. Self concept is how a person thinks about themselves. Sometimes in a communication process, people are so worried about how other people think they are and this ideally makes them less effective in their communication process and fail to either deliver their message or fail to get the correct message as intended by the sender. Social comparisons occur when people compare themselves on how they measure up to other members of the communities. When we fail to measure up to a certain standard that we see ion others, most likely we lose all home and get de-motivated and in worst case scenarios, become emotional wracks. The way in which the individual sees himself/herself is called self perception. Self perception is largely grounded on the past experiences. Positive experiences will influence a better perception and the opposite also holds true. The state of mind about oneself eventually impacts on performance. Its becomes dangerous when self esteem is too high as a failure results in negative and bad attitudes. Acts of perception require a form of expectations. ‘Without expectations, or constructs through which you perceive your world, your surroundings would be booming, buzzing confusion’ The perception process involves; selecting the information, organizing it and interpreting it. Perfect perception is always because of deletions, distortions, and generalizations. There are also perceptions filters.

Observing a Preschool Classroom Bicultural

July 1, 2012 M L HD 351/551 Assignment#5 Book reflection: â€Å"Resolving conflicts at work† Reading some of â€Å"The ten strategies for everyone on the job†, one that I found very important was, â€Å"Why people engage in difficult behavior†, is because, sometimes we judge people by their difficult behavior, and we do not take the time to ask â€Å"Why† they behave that way. For us could seems (senseless) or irrational to us, we ought to find out why they behave that way.Every time we ask an honest, emphatic question â€Å"Why†, we ask may lead to a more accurate description of the reasons they chose to engage in difficult behaviors. Every accurate description of those behaviors can help us to develop a strategy for stopping or discouraging them. One story in the reading is about a group of employees learned this lesson when they asked the question â€Å"Why† one person refused to go along with the consensus and adamantly refuse to accept t he design favored by the rest of the group.Her† difficult behavior† created considerable conflict and criticism, but she held firm, seeming to enjoy the conflict and smiling as she stood her ground. By asking â€Å"Why† and other open-ended questions, they discovered that her real issue had nothing to do with her design of the coordinating committee, but concerned her work team where she had been unsuccessful in raising or solving the problem. Another important point that I read was, that sometimes family or co-workers engage in difficult behavior because they have family problems at home.One example, I recall when I was supervising this person with a difficult behavior, I found out she was having personal problems, I never asked the question â€Å"why†. Perhaps if I would have the knowledge of this book â€Å"Resolving conflicts at work†, it could be easier for me to work with this person. What the author want us to believe is to understand better, why people behave that way, never to blame them for their difficult personally. Moreover, not regarding their negative behavior, but honestly calling attention to the difficulties it creates for us.One of the patterns I have discovered in the reading was that we would find people with this kind of difficult behavior in our job, co-workers and our own families; I read that difficult behaviors start in the family. Some of these difficult behaviors probably began long before we entered in their lives. Another important point in â€Å" The ten strategies† talks about some difficult behaviors people have since childhood, they follow a pattern because no one resolved their conflicts before. Resolving conflicts at work† strategy 7 we also learned how to understand people with difficult behaviors, bust also talks about methods for changing difficult behaviors. By focusing on the behaviors of the others, offering empathetic feedback, ceasing to reward their behaviors, and search ing for collaborative solutions, it is possible for us to shift from feeling hopeless in our conflicts to being strategic about them. The follow methods can help us to become more strategic in our response to difficult behaviors.They developed these methods to support the staff of a large U. S. government agency in changing their focus defining their problems as difficult people and personalities to identifying the chronic behavioral problems within the organization and developing the skills, they needed to address them. These are only a few of the methods. * Surfacing the conflict: They began by interviewing the staff about their experiences with conflicts in the work place.Summarized the main issues and distributed their comments to everyone without censoring or watering them down. They make a list of all the problems that needed to be solved and placed them on the table for discussion, negotiation, and problem solving. * Conflict coaching: It talks about coaching the leadership t eam in the organization on how best to respond to conflicts and the difficult behaviors that created them, how to model openness to criticism, how to be strategic by not rewarding them, and how to reward honest, empathetic communications instead. Teamwork: By having a group conflict resolution session, they assigned everyone to random teams and asked them to read the comments from the interviews. I believed in today’s competitive workplace, your ability to communicate is the most important business skill. After reading this book, â€Å"Resolving conflicts at work†, I am planning to use these strategies when I need to resolve a conflict at work. One of my questions is â€Å"How can we resolve our conflicts with our own brothers and sisters†.