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†.