English Discussion Question Essay Example for Free

English Discussion Question Essay Irony plays a major part in Raymond Carver’s Popular Mechanics. As the man tries to seize the infant from her, the woman accuses him of hurting the baby. The irony is that she, too, hurts the baby. In fact, both of them are hurting the baby. Both of them want the best for their child, but they are unconscious that the effect of their separation will greatly affect the kid. Like in many broken families, the child suffers the most. Another irony in the story is that the couple wants to part ways. However, as they fight over the baby, nobody wants to give in. It is as if they are using the baby as an excuse to keep the separation at bay and waiting for anything that may change the break up to happen. Deep in their hearts, they don’t really want to separate after all. Compared to other stories with conventional style, the Popular Mechanics is different as the author uses unorthodox approach. What is unusual is the absence of the quotation marks for the direct speech in the conversation between the two main characters. This makes the story confusing because there is the tendency for the readers to mix up the narration with the dialog. The story also is direct and unadorned with rhetorical devices, which are common to many stories and novels. Aside from that, the author stays neutral and does not express his own opinion to either of the characters. He acts like a camera that transmits what is happening as he sees it. He leaves the story open for the readers to come out with their own speculations and conclusion. The story gives a vivid picture of what is going on to many families nowadays. The plot is very common: separation of married couple leads to the demise of their child/children. Due to its plainness, the story becomes insensitive. It is difficult to imagine a husband and a wife each pulling a hand of their infant. Although it is not indicated what happened to the infant, it is easy to assume that his tender limbs are impaired or, worse, detached. It is unfortunate that the settlement of the couple’s conflict is the demise of their child. Work Cited: Carver, Raymond. Popular Mechanics. Online July 17, 2009 http://www. uni-koeln. de/ew-fak/institut/engl/coit/essay/essayws5-6/carver. htm

The Computer Ethics | Essay

The Computer Ethics | Essay The computer and the Internet is probably the greatest tool that people rely on in the modern world today. However, they are the most unrestricted form of technology. Identity theft, stealing, fraud, and plagiarizing can now be done electronically and anonymously. There are people in the world that intend to hurt others through the computer. As such, it is important to not only understand a code of ethics to prevent harming yourself and others, but to also develop methods to protect yourself. Code of Ethics It is always important that when operating a computer that one does not harm other people. Unethical decisions in the use of the computer are as varying and harmful as acts committed directly against other people. The internet is very vast, and it does contain information and data, but it also provides dangers. There are as many dangerous activities through the internet as outside the computer and then some. Viruses, hacking, committing fraud, plagiarizing can all be done through a computer. Therefore, a code of honor should be established for anyone wishing to use the computer. Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics. The Computer Ethics Institute created the Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics. 1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people. 2. Thou shalt not interfere with other peoples computer work. 3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other peoples computer files. 4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal. 5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness. 6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid. 7. Thou shalt not use other peoples computer resources without authorization or proper compensation. 8. Thou shalt not appropriate other peoples intellectual output. 9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing. 10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure consideration and respect for your fellow humans. (Lee) Personal Care. A computer is personal property to the owner, and he or she may do as they wish with the computer. However, a computer is the same as any property such as a house or a car. It is important to take care of the computer so that it operates safely as long as possible. This means to avoid any behaviors that would harm the computer or that will harm you. An example is giving personal information to sites that should not be trusted and could result in identity theft. Maintain an anti-virus software program to prevent virus attacks and always maintain and update the Computer. If a computer was a car, the same rule applies. A car should regularly be checked and sent for a tune-up. Respect Property. As always, it is important to take care of your computer. However, it is just as important to respect and properly use other computers. The same old rule applies; treat others property as you want your property to be treated. There are several risky behaviors on the computer that can harm it, and should be avoided on another persons computer. As a general rule, treat another computer better than your own. Not only does this apply to a friends personal computer, but also to the computers at school or at the library that provide public access. Remember that access to these computers is a privilege and should be respected. There are several important behaviors to observe when operating a different computer than your own. First, never operate a computer without permission. There may be special circumstances that you may be unaware. Second, always take good care of the equipment; the keyboard, the mouse, CDs, and hard drive itself. Finally, never download material or do anything potentially harmful to the computer. An illegal act could cause trouble for the owner or harm the computer and information it contains. Intellectual Property Intellectual property is any creation of the mind. Certain property is protected under Copyright Law, such as: Scientific discoveries Works of art or literature Inventions Designs Films or television programs Trademarks and names Computer programs Entertainment The Internet and Intellectual Property. As mentioned several times, the Internet is a source of a vast amount of information. The Internet is not a library or book, the Internet is for the most part unmanaged, unedited, unsupervised; anyone can post information on Internet for all to see. (Emmans) Information or creative works are not limited to copyright protected companies or organizations. Anyone can place information or creative work on the Internet. There are no physical boundaries to protect against the infringement of copyright. With free access to the Internet, any user may steal information anonymously and claim it as their own and this makes Intellectual Property almost unenforceable on the Internet. Protecting Against Plagiarism. Fortunately, there are tools available on the Internet to ensure users that they properly give credit to the information on the Internet. First, many sites available assist students in creating the proper citations for their sources. Good examples of these include Easybib and Citationmachine. These sites allow the user to enter the information of the source that they used, from either the Internet or elsewhere, and the device creates the proper citation. Jus the same, there are websites available to check the authenticity of a source of information, either a website or another type of information. An example is Turnitin.com, which allows teachers to analyze students work for plagiarized information. Other sites can be used to find if other website is credible or not. Finally, databases are an excellent tool for student or researchers. Databases contain well-documented articles from professional journals to even whole books, while also providing the sour ce information. Any student should take advantage of the tools available on the Internet to properly cite information and to find real sites. Placing Information on the Internet. When placing items on the Internet always make sure that the source of the information or media is cited. Also, when running a website, always include information to the ownership of the site and when it was updated. In this way, people can cite your website if they wish. Also, when maintaining a website, update regularly and maintain the site constantly. A website that has not been updated in years or does not have the proper links does not appear to be a good website. Limiting Access Free Speech. In American, everyone has a right to free speech, but where does this cross the line on the Internet? While people have a freedom of speech, there are limits in the physical world. For example, a person cannot slander or falsify against someone that will harm them. For example, claiming that a political opponent stole money from the treasury when this is not true is illegal. However, in the realm of the Internet, where there are no boundaries or enforcement, anything that can be said is said without punishment. The Internet is an excellent source of information, but as said before, websites should be evaluated before they are considered trustworthy or capable. An excellent example is Wikipedia, a free-access reference site. The site is well maintained and there is plenty of information with credible sources. However, anyone can edit a page on Wikipedia, and some of the facts may be false if not blatantly. In addition, on the Internet, there is a large amount of media, music, videos and images, even derogatory images and videos. Given that there is free-access, children may accidentally find these inappropriate images from innocent searches. Schools and Libraries. Schools and Libraries can help protect students and children from unrestricted access to the Internet. School and Library servers can now be fitted with restrictions that will block harmful or inappropriate websites. For students, this is very helpful in keeping them from exploring harmful sites while still having access to find information. In Libraries, it is important to protect the computers and restrictions on the internet help in this task, since many people come and go on the computers. (Emmans) Parental Control. Still the best protection for children is parental oversight. Children should not operate the computer or navigate the Internet themselves. This should also be applied to teenagers. Cindy Emman writes, A minor walking into a store to try to buy pornography can be stopped; a minor logging into the Internet can easily pose as an adult no one is the wiser. Parents should monitor teens use of the computer and teach their children proper use of the internet. (Emmans) Conclusion There are many concerns for the use of the computers. There are many harms that are created by others and there are harms created by the operator. Fortunately, there are methods developing to defend against harmful viruses, internet theft, and plagiarizing. The key for the prosperity of the computer is that each owner of the computer exhibits proper behavior, and anyone can turn to the Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics as a guide. Remember; never do anything that would harm another.

Persuation Paper -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When watching college athletes participating in their sports, does it ever cross one’s mind that the athletes getting paid? â€Å"The NCAA establishes rules and regulations for universities to follow and one of the most important rules is that student athletes should not receive any money with the exception of scholarships towards their tuition and housing† (Winn). In 1999, the Chronicle of Higher Education surveyed atheletes’ statistics on â€Å"graduation rates for scholarship college athletes in the NCAA’s top Division I.† Fifty-one percent of football players and 41 percent of male basketball players graduated in six years (Meggyesy). NCAA Chief Operating Officer Dan Boggan stated; â€Å"before the eligibility standards, some student-athletes including minority student-athletes, were brought onto campuses solely for their athletics ability, with little chance for them to graduate† (quoted in Reith).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This makes me really disappointed that some schools take sports to be more serious than academics. The schools are willing to dish out a couple of hundred dollars to get the best athletes so that they can get a championship victory at their schools. That is just not right.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another thing that makes me very angry is that the media and fans want basketball and football players to leave school early because they have the talent to go straight to the pros. But when they do choose to do so, the media has s...

Women Have the Right to Abortion Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Arg

Women Have the Right to Abortion Webster's New World Dictionary defines the word abortion as, "any spontaneous expulsion of an embryo or a fetus before it is sufficiently developed to survive" (Webster's 1988; Pps. 3- 4). Assuming the reader of this essay agrees with the above definition, I will explore the following thesis, and support my answer with appropriate, adequate documentation, from "Conversations": "Should abortion be legal? At what point in time, and under what criteria should it be restricted?" Let me begin with a rather neutral source. Sallie Tisdale, a registered nurse and writer (Tisdale, 737) in her essay, 'We Do Abortions Here', states: "Like many women my age, I took the pill as soon as I was sexually active. To risk pregnancy when it was so easy to avoid seemed stupid, and my contraceptive success, as it were, was part of the promise of social enlightenment. But birth control fails, far more frequently than laboratory trials predict" (Tisdale, 738) According to the 'left', abortion shouldn't be legal for anyone, regardless of the circumstances. What about this first example? Do those with this philosophy imply that women just shouldn't have sex, plain and simple, until they're ready to handle caring for a child? How does this conflict with the reality in our society that young men and women are having sex at an earlier age, then in previous generations? Is it possible that although this idea is well-intentioned, it may not take into account a person's need to be sexual, which is just part of the human condition? What's a woman to do, if she's taken the necessary precautions, including one of several choices, including condoms (both for men and women), or the pill, and either method fails... ...ld have the option to terminate the pregnancy immediately, as such conditions arise, regardless of the developmental stage of the unborn fetus. Works Cited Irving, John. Pornography and the New Puritans. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 617. Tisdale, Sallie. We Do Abortions Here. 1987. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 737-741. Quinn, Sally. Our Choices, Ourselves. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 756. Meehan, Mary. Abortion: The Left Has Betrayed The Sanctity of Life. 1980. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.747-752. "Abortion." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed. "Murder." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed. Women Have the Right to Abortion Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Arg Women Have the Right to Abortion Webster's New World Dictionary defines the word abortion as, "any spontaneous expulsion of an embryo or a fetus before it is sufficiently developed to survive" (Webster's 1988; Pps. 3- 4). Assuming the reader of this essay agrees with the above definition, I will explore the following thesis, and support my answer with appropriate, adequate documentation, from "Conversations": "Should abortion be legal? At what point in time, and under what criteria should it be restricted?" Let me begin with a rather neutral source. Sallie Tisdale, a registered nurse and writer (Tisdale, 737) in her essay, 'We Do Abortions Here', states: "Like many women my age, I took the pill as soon as I was sexually active. To risk pregnancy when it was so easy to avoid seemed stupid, and my contraceptive success, as it were, was part of the promise of social enlightenment. But birth control fails, far more frequently than laboratory trials predict" (Tisdale, 738) According to the 'left', abortion shouldn't be legal for anyone, regardless of the circumstances. What about this first example? Do those with this philosophy imply that women just shouldn't have sex, plain and simple, until they're ready to handle caring for a child? How does this conflict with the reality in our society that young men and women are having sex at an earlier age, then in previous generations? Is it possible that although this idea is well-intentioned, it may not take into account a person's need to be sexual, which is just part of the human condition? What's a woman to do, if she's taken the necessary precautions, including one of several choices, including condoms (both for men and women), or the pill, and either method fails... ...ld have the option to terminate the pregnancy immediately, as such conditions arise, regardless of the developmental stage of the unborn fetus. Works Cited Irving, John. Pornography and the New Puritans. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 617. Tisdale, Sallie. We Do Abortions Here. 1987. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 737-741. Quinn, Sally. Our Choices, Ourselves. 1992. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 756. Meehan, Mary. Abortion: The Left Has Betrayed The Sanctity of Life. 1980. Conversations: Readings for Writing. Ed. Jack Selzer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997.747-752. "Abortion." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed. "Murder." Webster's New World Dictionary. 1988 ed.

Otello Aslam Essay -- Character Analysis, Lago

Othello â€Å"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves† as Victor Frankl once explained, that it is our environment that makes us who we are. And if we don't like who we have become, than we have to change ourselves to change the environment we are in. In Shakespeare's Othello, the order and disorder of the setting parallels the order and disorder of Iago's character. The story begins in Venice where Iago's character is parallel to the setting that is â€Å"orderly [and] law-binding†, of the city where the society is peaceful. Iago's charter reflects the current setting, since Iago has not yet caused any problems. He is acting orderly, like when he did not get the promotion, Iago simply said â€Å"there’s no remedy† (). Which develops his character as a peaceful person,because he simply accepted Othello's decision and dose not fight back or go against it. Thus reflecting the setting, because just like the setting Iago is acting orderly and peaceful. Not only did Iago not fight back when he did not receive the promotion, he also questioned himself â€Å"weather I in any.. term am affined to love [the] Moor† (1.1.40). By Iago questioning himself, it shows that Iago is being civil, because he is not attacking Othello, or hating Othello right away for not promoting him. Instead he is making a decision through thinking logi cally weather or not he likes Othello. So like the orderly setting of Venice, Iago’s character is the same because by thickening through the options you have before making a decision represents order since the decision will have reason behind it. Furthermore, Iago not only thought through his decisions while in the tranquil city of Venice, but he also provided security for Ro... ...arter thorough violence when â€Å"[h]e stabs Rodrigo† (5.1.61). Thus Iago’s character reflects the setting, since anger leads to violence because both anger and violence are directly related to each other. Also because it is our anger that causes us to become over passionate which causes us not to behave in order, casing us to commit violent acts . In short the new chaotic and tense,setting parallels with Iago’s character. Since Iago, stirs conflict between people, murders Rodrigo which reflects both a chaotic and tense environment. Altogether, in the story Othello, as the setting changed from orderly, to unpleasant, and to chaotic, Iago's character reflected the setting each time. As his character also changed through the story, from being orderly in Venice to finally becoming violent in Cyprus. Thus Iago’s character is parallel with the setting.

Strategic Management of Agribank

ABSTRACT In the present age, big cities in Viet Nam are growing at a rapid pace, especially in the economics, as a result many banks are established including Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.Founded on 26/03/1988, Agribank has always played the leading role in Vietnam’s economic development with 1034 correspondent banks in 95 countries and territories (since 12/2009). In the new period, Agribank constantly improve their competitiveness to maintain the number one position of commercial banks and the dominant role in agricultural and rural financial market, serving farmers, agriculture and rural areas. To become the member of Group Finance and Banking in the country, Agribank’s strategy is associated with the sustainable development of customers, banking, partners and communities.Based on the data obtained from a small-scale interview carried out within Agribank’s employees and reviewed literature, our project’s team analyze Agribankâ₠¬â„¢s strategic management. Another key point of this report is providing recommendations to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. It is hoped that this empirical report can bring the readers with a more detailed look at the Agribank’s strategic Management. TABLE OF CONTENT Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦1 I. Executive summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 II. Introduction of the company†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 III. Managerial function†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 IV.Literature review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 V. Strategic management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 1. Step 1: identifying the bank’s goal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 2. External Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 3. Internal Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 VI. Conclusion and recommendation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 I. Executive summary This report was commissioned to analyze, evaluate and also to give recommendation about the Strategic management of Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development of Vietnam. The research draws attraction to AgriBank’s current missions and goals: focusing on renovating and developing banking technology in a modernization manner.Further investigations give a SWOT analysis about AgriBank and conclusions about their status are made: Internally, Agribank has quite a lot of strengths such as large number of gross capital, high prestige, modern facilities, as well as some weaknesses like bad financial capability and low operation effectiveness. Besides, externally, Agribank also has many opportunities: peaceful political status, economy recovery, the freshness of the domestic market, and has to deal with lots of threats from competitors, loss of well-qualified employees, or governmental policies. After carefully evaluated, Recommendations are given: AgriBank should penetrate the market strategies to get higher performance by focusing its sources of human and facilities on Main market. †¢ AgriBank should also expand the market strategy, which is to take advantage of its available products and services to enter a new market in order to expand market share, get more output and approach new potential customers. II. Introduction of th e company Agribank is the largest bank in terms of fund resources, number of employees, assets, operation network and customer bases with reputation not only in local market but also international market.Agribank has always focused on the innovation and application of banking technology in favour of business administration and the development of an advanced banking service network. As the report of Agribank. com. vn – â€Å"As of November 2011, Agribank had the total asset of VND 5240,000 billion, total equity of VND 22,176 billion, total outstanding loans of VND 414,464 billion, total fund resource of VND 478,000 billion, total staff of 35,000 people, 2,300 branches and transaction offices†.Agribank is one of the leading bank in Viet Nam in terms of receipt and implementation of foreign projects, especially from World Bank, Asia Development Bank, European Investment Bank and French Development Agency. At present, Agribank is serving 10 million household and 30,000 ent erprises. With the position of a leading commercial bank in Viet Nam, Agribank has shown its great efforts and contribution greatly to the nation’s industrialization and modernization as well as economic development. Due to its location and market share, Agribank’s target market is Vietnam, especially in rural areas.About target customer, in the first period, its target was people who did the agricultural work. However, nowadays, Agribank has no target customer as it welcome everyone who provide capital and invest in many fields other than agriculture. III. Managerial function In the context of a profound and comprehensive integration, to make a difference in how well Agribank performs as well as to cope with this uncertain situation, Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam need strategic management.Hoang Thu Hien – one of the staffs of Agribank – pointed out that: â€Å"One of Agribank’s strategies is making great efforts in fund mo bilization from both local and foreign sources and maintain the credit growth at a reasonable level†. Another way is giving priority in investment in agriculture, farmers especially to farm households with agricultural, forestry, fishery and salt production. She also reveals that those strategies is built in the period 2000 – 2010 by a group of financial experts hired by Agribank. They are still used today and other details of the strategic management are kept as secret database of the bank.The general strategy of Agribank this period is it will put forth a number of solutions which are following the policy of the Government and the State Bank of Viet Nam on monetary policy in 2011 and for coming years (n. d. ). First of all is speeding up the fund mobilization from different sources for serving agriculture, farmers and rural areas then setting up the progress on implementing the Circulation 13, 19 of SBV on safe index for credit institutions or following the SBVâ€℠¢s Governor and relative agencies for adding fund in 2011 and developing strategy on international cooperation and foreign fund projects for 2010-2015.Secondly, Agribank has completely changed into Ltd Company with 100% capital of State and pushing up the modern banking technology based on IPCAS II which is used to develop the new products and services with high quality to better serve the customers. Thirdly, Agribank is trying to train the staff about the core cultural values including honesty, discipline, creativity, quality and efficiency. Finally, Agribank plans to carry out the project on business development strategy for 2011-2015 towards 2020 †¦ to prove the prestige of the largest commercial bank-financial institution in Viet Nam.IV. Literature review Regarding Strategic management, many scholars have researched about it so as to find out the best way to establish strategy and manage it. Stephen P. Robbins   and Mary Coulter with â€Å"Management tenth edition† have drawn the most detailed and comprehensive picture of Strategic Management. According to their theory, strategy is â€Å"plans for how an organization will do what it’s in business to do, how it will compete successfully, and how it will attract and satisfy its customers in order to achieve its goals† (Stephen amp; Mary 2009, p. 163). And then strategic management is defined as what managers do to develop an organization’s strategies. There are three reasons why strategic management is important which are stated that it makes a difference in how well an organization performs, it is necessary to cope with uncertain situation and to provide organizational goals for each part of the organization to work toward. After clarifying the importance of strategic management, those two authors draw a big picture of the strategic management process.There are all 6 steps in the process which the first 3 are most important. The first step is to identify the organizationâ €™s current mission, goals and strategies. Mission is defined as a statement of the purpose of an organization and goals are understood as measurable performance targets. Identifying those concepts will help the organization draw a general path to follow. The next two steps can be combined as SWOT analysis which analyze 4 main factors: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.It can also be defined as doing external analysis – environment around the organization and its effect- and internal analysis – the organization’s specific resources and capabilities. The next step namely Formulating strategies is done after all the analysis and is to establish a detailed path for the organization to follow. The last 2 steps are about implementing and evaluating the strategies that have been built up in the last step. Agreeing with those two authors’ theory, we have conducted interview and done some research and analysis about Agribank Vietnam. V. Strateg ic ManagementTo research about the company’s strategic management, we are required to conduct the first three steps of Agribank’s strategic management process. Our project team will identify the Agribank’s missions and goals and do the internal (SW) along with the external (OT) analysis. Furthermore, the recommendations will be set up to uphold the strengths, overcome weaknesses, maximize opportunities and eliminate any threats or turn them into opportunities. 1. STEP 1: IDENTIFYING THE ORGANIZATION’S CURRENT MISSION AND GOALS To maintain the leading bank, provide the modern and high quality products nd services, meet the demand of customers and increase the non-credit income, Agribank is focusing on renovating and developing banking technology in a modernization manner. That is its mission in 2011 and for the coming years The Agribank An Phu pointed out that Agribank expects to reach the goals for 2012 as follows: the fund resource increases by 15-17% co mpared with 2011, outstanding loans rises by 11-12%, the rate of loans to agricultural and rural areas is 70%, NPLs below 3%, non-credit income goes up by 10%, CAR complies with international standard.In general, Agribank’s goal is bringing prosperity to the customer. 2. EXTERNAL ANALYSIS After deciding the mission and goals of Agribank, the important thing is to conduct an external analysis, which includes the two components: the general and the specific environment. Each factors in the components maybe an opportunity or a threat to Agribank, basing on how they can affect Agribank’s market. A. Opportunities As to mention about the general environment, it is reported that the world’s and Vietnam’s economy are recovering from the crisis and are predicted to be growing in the near future.A recent article from the famous BBC (9 October 2012) has reported: â€Å"What is happening is a re-balancing of our economy. We have created a million net new jobs [and] we are now a net exporter of cars, but it is a slow process. † With the economy flourishing, Agribank has an opportunity to expand the market size and provide more services to the customers. In addition to the country’s economy recovery, Agribank also benefits from the fact that Vietnam has officially entered the WTO. By joining the world’s economic flow, Agribank has more chances to meet big partners and to develop itself.For example, the bank can learn from the foreigners about the new technology and inquire their way of working and technical skills. And, as to mention the political conditions, Vietnam is a peaceful country with no terrorists or civil wars; which encourages the development of law and economy, and Agribank can make use of this to complete their working system. The opportunity for Agribank does not only come from the general environment but also the specific environment, especially from the customers.According to the Standard Charter Bank’ s CEO, saying to baomoi online newspaper (Phuong 2009), Vietnam has a young and fresh banking market, which is not fully exploited. He also points out that in the recent years, the number of banking service users rises gradually and it will continue to rise in the next 5 years. Furthermore, according to the vietnamplus. vn (Son 2009), Vietnam’s average age tends to become higher, consequently, many people will begin to consider saving for their pension plan.Agribank can take advantage of this opportunity to reach more to the customers’ need. B. Threats Besides the opportunities, there are also threats that Agribank has to deal with. The fact that Vietnam has entered the WTO also brings along the trouble of the market share being downsized because Vietnam banks and companies are now freely get investments from foreign companies. It will also increase the competition between Vietnam and other WTO countries, creating great tension to Agribank. In addition to this, the Gov ernment policies are also putting Agribank under pressure.The current ceiling interest rate is kept really low at 9% – started from 11th June, but it’s also predicted to be lower, according to Dr. Vu Dinh Anh’s analysis (Thanh 2012). This policy makes it hard for Agribank and other banks to mobilize capital from people, and so on earn less profit on lending other companies money. In addition to the general environment’s influences, the specific environment, too, holds some menaces. The number of competitors growing rapidly in today’s time of high-technology, following with the decrease in number of high-quality employees is current problems that Agribank have to face.Nowadays, joint-stock company banks such as Vietcombank, Vietinbank or ACB bank are playing their leading roles in banking industry in Vietnam, alluring a large number of users comparing to AgriBank. Not as powerful as JSC Banks, but the banks with foreign investments like the Standard Charter Bank being equipped with higher quality and credit funds and non-bank credit organizations are acting as the harbingers to Agribank. According to Vietnam Credit Information and Rating Company’s report (Thanh 2012), 32 banks are rated to be highly competitive.Unfortunately, Agribank is not listed. Adding to the threats from competitors, the upcoming workforce in banking being estimated to be really large but cannot be so sure about the quality is also a trouble for Agribank. The best workers tend to chase for high position with high salary in foreign countries or other bank rather than Agribank; while the rests are not really well-trained. In general, the threats to Agribank are surpassing the opportunities that the bank can get, but its whole banking business is predicted to be growing. 3. INTERNAL ANALYSISBeside external analysis, it is also very important to explore and assess the internal factors of Agribank which are its strengths and weaknesses. Understanding ab out those internal elements will give us the knowledge of Agribank’s ability to take benefit from the opportunities and to face the threats. A. Strengths The first and the most powerful strength of Agribank is that it has the largest total capital, the biggest operation network and the hugest source of labors and customers in Vietnam. According to the article â€Å"3 ngan hang thuong m? i nha nu? c co v? n di? u l? tren 1 t? USD† on gafin. n (23 March 2012), a familiar website for investors, Agribank is the commercial bank that has the greatest amount of total capital in Vietnam which is over 29. 606 billion VND. It is an advantage for Agribank as it can invest in a lot of fields and activities with its huge capital. About its operation network and source of labors and customers, Agribank has over 2. 300 branches and office and 37. 500 staffs all over the country. Moreover, according to the official website of Agribank (n. d. ), it also signs contract with other foreig n banks from Laos, Cambodia and China to expand its market.Another strength is that it is the unique and main bank that focuses on the field of agriculture and rural areas. In Vietnam, only Agribank is the commercial bank that is nurtured and controlled by the government to develop agriculture and support agricultural workers. Vietnam is the country that has the main focus on agriculture and producing food so that this market share would be a big benefit for Agribank. Moreover, Agribank is considered as having the lowest rank of risk due to its support from the government and it also has the prestige of a governmental bank with tradition and experience.This advantage can gain the customers’ trust that not all other rivals can do. Last but not least, one more strength of Agribank is that its high technology applying in its infrastructure. To approve this point, the article â€Å"Viettel va Agribank ky k? t th? a thu? n h? p tac toan di? n† on danviet. vn (D? c 2011) sta tes that from November 20th, 2011, Viettel would coordinate with Agribank totally with its telecommunication infrastruction. The combination of those two giants will be an extreme advantage for Agribank to upgrade its system and bring better products to its customers. B. WeaknessesIt is undeniable that Agribank is one of the strongest banks in Vietnam at this time; however, it still has its own weaknesses that need improving to get the highest performance. The first alarming weakness is its bad financial capability. Although its system is modern and successful in Vietnam, Agribank’s financial control is still weak compared to the global standard. Stockbiz. vn reported that Fitch Ratings has affirmed Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (Agribank) Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B’ (12 July 2012). The Outlook is Stable.At the same time, the agency has affirmed Agribank’s Viability Rating (VR) at ‘cccâ €™ and Support Rating Floor at ‘B’. A full rating breakdown is provided at the end of this release. Also according to this rating agency, Agribank has low rank of risk thanks to the support from the government, not from its own ability. The bank’s reported non-performing loans (NPLs) are the highest among domestic peers. Its low level of reserves, together with a high level of special mentioned loans (SMLs) and a slower economic backdrop, is likely to keep credit costs elevated in the near- to medium-term.As a result, Fitch expects the bank’s profitability to remain low, given also potential margin squeeze from a regulatory cap on lending rates on the agriculture sector. Therefore this weakness may not affect Agribank immediately in the domestic market, but if it wants to expand to the oversea market, it has to improve its financial capability a lot. Another clear weakness of Agribank is that its operation effectiveness is not high enough. Although the bank was established in 1988, it still hasn’t made huge impact on Vietnam’s agriculture.Farmers still do the farming work with traditional methods and do not use much technology in working. The rate of poor households in rural areas is still high after years. This weakness could be very dangerous as it would lose the customers’ and government’s trust, which can reduce its total capital. One last weakness of Agribank is that its human resource is huge but not qualified enough. There is a sad truth in Vietnam that people who have social relationship with some â€Å"big men† inside the company are likely to get the job. And Agribank is not an exception.Due to this terrible truth, many people who are not educated well enough still have good job and decide the destiny of the bank. Therefore, its human resource can not satisfy the requirement of the global standard, which would be a disadvantage for it when expanding to the bigger world. VI. Conclusion and Recommendations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, like other corporations and organizations, Agribank has its all strengths such as large number of gross capital, high prestige, modern facilities, and weaknesses namely bad financial capability and low operation effectiveness.Beside these internal factors, Agribank also faces up with opportunities: peaceful political status, economy recovery, the freshness of the domestic market, and threats from competitors, loss of well-qualified employees, or governmental policies. Therefore, based on the analysis of SWOT and the wholesome interview of sole employee, we have drawn up the strategies for Agribank to achieve more success in the next five years. 1. Penetrating market strategies In this strategy, we would focus our resources of human and facilities on Main market to get higher performance.To get the strategy accomplished effecti vely, some methods must be applied such as: Improving the mobilization capital – by allowing wide range of maturities, or periods, interests rate or accumulated interests. Furthermore, the bank can also try to attain   sponsored -agricultural projects or projects of supporting small and average-scale business. Another method is improving the quality of credit service by using up the qualification of the staff to do   research on reducing some steps of procedures so that the transaction duration will be minimized which makes it faster and more convenient to deposit.Another effective   solution is diversifying and developing the quality of the services because at the moment most of Agribank   products are traditional ones, so it is less competitive. Therefore, the bank should introduce new advanced and convenient services and products to ensure the ability of serving customer efficiently. This method also heightens the administrative status of the management. 2. Expandi ng market strategy This is the strategy in which Agibank would take advantage of its available products and services to enter a new market in order to expand market share, get more output and approach new potential customers.There are some methods that can be applied, the first one could be intensifying the process of constructing material facilities or, in detail, purchasing necessary assets especially IT equipments, strongboxes, electric generators. Secondly, it could develop the network by establishing more   transaction posts which help popularize brand name. Thirdly, Agribank can enhance the quality of the staff by focusing on recruiting, introducing new reserving reward policies, retraining the current staff to get higher qualification and ability.Furthermore, in the period of expanding to new market, Agibank may appoint the most important and experienced cadres (skillful employees) to new brands in order to make sure that new brands can operate effectively. Beside those, Ag ribank   should speed up marketing operations/ activities   because marketing plays an important role in popularizing and giving products to the public. Some methods for developing marketing performance are : for products, improving traditional products and services, shortening procedure of transaction, and bringing new benefits to customer.For location, it can choose the most convenient location so that customers can easily make transactions. For advertisement, it is advisable to use radio, television, newspaper and the internet as the important way to advertise the bank. Furthermore, it is the way we serve that is one of the most means of advertisement to customers. Last but not least, we recommend to reinforce the control of internal activities which means that does not merely   check the account or the asset of the bank but verify the quality of credit, the efficiency, safety so that administrator can easily find out and re-correct defects and mistakes.References Agribank An Phu official website n. d. , â€Å"D? nh hu? ng phat tri? n c? a Agribank Vi? t nam†, viewed 17 November 2012, http://agribankanphu. com. vn/vn/company/details/dinh-huong-phat-trien-cua-agribank-viet-nam6. html Agribank Vietnam official website n. d. , â€Å"Agribank phat tri? n b? n v? ng vi s? th? nh vu? ng c? a c? ng d? ng†, viewed 17 November 2012, http://www. agribank. com. vn/101/786/gioi-thieu/dinh-huong-phat-trien. aspx Agribank Vietnam official website n. d. , M? ng lu? i ho? t d? ng Agribank – hon 2300 Chi nhanh, Phong giao d? ch tr? dai cung hinh ch? S, viewed 21 November 2012, http://www. agribank. com. vn/101/790/gioi-thieu/mang-luoi-hoat-dong. aspx BBC 9 October 2012, viewed 18 November 2012, http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-19876587 D? c Hi? u, Viettel va Agribank ky k? t th? a thu? n h? p tac toan di? n, 21 October 2011, viewed 21 November 2012, http://danviet. vn/62504p25c50/viettel-va-agribank-ky-ket-thoa-thuan-hop-tac-toan-dien. htm Ga fin 23 March 2012, viewed 23 November 2012, http://gafin. vn/20120323104832101p0c34/3-ngan-hang-thuong-mai-nha-nuoc-co-von-dieu-le-tren-1-ty-usd. tm Phuong Nhi 2009, â€Å"Th? tru? ng ngan hang Vi? t Nam r? t tr? †, Baomoi, April 2009, viewed 20 November 2012, http://www. baomoi. com/Thi-truong-ngan-hang-Viet-Nam-rat-tre/126/2960677. epi Thanh Thanh Lan 2012, â€Å"L? n d? u tien x? p h? ng nang l? c c? nh tranh ngan hang†, Vnexpress, 8 September, viewed 19 November 2012, http://ebank. vnexpress. net/gl/ebank/tin-tuc/2012/09/lan-dau-tien-xep-hang-nang-luc-canh-tranh-ngan-hang/ Thanh Thanh Lan 2012, ‘Tr? n lai su? t huy d? ng co th? v? 8% m? t nam', Vnexpress, 29 August, viewed 18 November 2012, http://ebank. nexpress. net/gl/ebank/tin-tuc/2012/08/tran-lai-suat-huy-dong-co-the-ve-8-mot-nam/ Son Bach 2009, â€Å"Vi? t Nam co co c? u dan s? vang, tu? i th? tang†, Vietnamplus, 31 December, viewed 19 November 2012, http://www. vietnamplus. vn/Home/Viet-Nam-co-c o-cau-dan-so-vang-tuoi-tho-tang/200912/29400. vnplus Stockbiz 12 July 2012, viewed 23 November 2012, http://en. stockbiz. vn/News/2012/7/12/309322/text-fitch-affirms-vietnam-s-agribank-at-b-outlook-stable. aspx *** Group tasks No| ID| Name| Task| Report|

Reconstructed Portrait of Juan Dela Cruz Essay

Reflection: This kind of article is somewhat made to be funny upon criticism although some of his statements are true but need adequate citation of example. The author’s points are thoughts of a typical charlatan English 101 passer that wants to show off his talent in composition of proses like this one. Nevertheless, I will give my comments on the statement given by him. First, the author’s claim of Filipinos’ uniqueness when it comes to humor didn’t work. The statement â€Å"†¦people making fun of their own mistakes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  makes me think of humorous videos of other races laughing at their own mistake, the statement doesn’t prove the uniqueness of the subject. And the part of the said article where â€Å"sense of humor† is talked about comes with a complicated context that it blends the positive and negative statement in one part of the text. He could’ve written it in a flow which either of the two statements comes first. Second, the issue of the Filipinos speaking foreign languages for them (foreigners) to appreciate the hospitality of the natives; it doesn’t seem to make a sense. For all I know, it’s a part of tourism. This statement proves that we only please the foreigners by speaking their language in our country and they do not speak our language in their country when we visit as tourist is baseless, the foreigners teach us their language and vice versa it serves as a souvenir, a token of knowledge. Maybe the author doesn’t know that we learn â€Å"konichiwa, aloha, que tal?† and they learn â€Å"mabuhay, kumusta ka† and â€Å"mahal kita† through this mean, it is hospitality Mr. author. Third, describing the creativity of Filipinos by mentioning â€Å"when there is a big flood, they take it to their advantage to go up on the roofs of their houses to fish tilapia for their dinner.† this has nothing to do with creativity and inventiveness, climbing up the roof on a big flood is not creative, it is matter of life and death, they are not there to go fishing, they are trying to save their lives Mr. author. Fourth, the claim of us Filipinos being great violators is a mere blind  judgment and an exposition of colonial mentality; violating street signs, eating medically prohibited food, buying pirated goods, â€Å"walang ganyan sa states†? I don’t think so. American people do these things worse than we do. Fifth, cramming is compared to the story of Juan Tamad, I don’t really think it’s related at all.