Financial groups Essay

Today, Barclays is one of the most powerful financial groups in the world. But its origins can be traced back to a much more modest business, founded more than 300 years ago in premises close to the Group’s global headquarters in the heart of London’s financial district. In the late 17th century, the streets of the City of London were filled with goldsmith-bankers, who provided monarchs and merchants with the money they needed to fund their ventures around the world. One such business was founded by John Freame and his partner Thomas Gould in Lombard Street, London, in 1690. The name Barclay became associated with the company in 1736, when James Barclay – who had married John Freame’s daughter – became a partner. Private banking was common in the 18th century, bankers would keep their clients’ gold deposits secure and lend to credit-worthy merchants. By the 1890s there were some 100 private banks. In 1896, 20 of these companies came together to form a new joint-stock bank. The leading partners of the new bank, which was named Barclay and Company, were already connected by a web of family and business relationships. The new bank had 182 branches, mainly in the East and South East, and deposits of i 26 million – a substantial sum of money in those days. It expanded its branch network rapidly by taking over other banks, including Bolithos in Cornwall and the South West in 1905 and United Counties Bank in the Midlands in 1916. In 1918 the company – now Barclays Bank Limited – amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank to become one of the UK’s ‘big five’ banks. By 1926 the bank had 1,837 outlets in its own name. The development of today’s global business began in 1925, with the merger of three banks in which Barclays held shares, the Colonial Bank, the Anglo Egyptian Bank and the National Bank of South Africa. The new Barclays Bank had businesses in much of Africa, the Middle East and the West Indies. Its name changed to Barclays Bank DCO in 1954, in response to changed economic and political conditions. It became Barclays policy to decentralise, away form London setting up locally-established banks, and 1985 called Barclays Bank. Today’s Barclays has tremendous global strength and a reputation for being first with innovative products and services. As of 30 June 2000, staff worldwide consisted of 70,300, of which 52,300 were in the UK. Today, Barclays has five business groupings that are managed as international businesses, reflecting changing customer needs and the developments taking place in global financial services. Barclays Barclays makes a direct and significant contribution to the well-being of the UK economy. The banking sector accounts for approximately 4. 2 per cent of the UK’s national output. In 1998, the financial industry contributed i 4. 6 billion to government revenues in mainstream corporation tax. Barclays alone paid a total of i 533 million in taxes in 1998. Around 30 million transactions are processed every day through UK clearing systems. The number of ways it is possible to access financial services is dramatically increasing for the benefit of customers. Telephone banking, increased accessibility to cash machines, means that millions of customers can use banking services 24 hours a day. Demand for these services is rising as an alternative to branch-based banking and, as a consequence of this the number of traditional branched will continue to decline. Due to the closure of branches there has been a decline in the number of jobs across the banking sector. Reasons for Change and Actions Taken The main reason for the change is the changing needs of the consumers. More people are working know, leading busier lives with longer days and travelling more and needing instant access to money without having to queue and wait. Customer tastes are becoming increasingly diverse, whilst some people want the immediacy of 24 hour electronic access to their money whilst others still prefer personal, face to face service from cashiers. Having seen that people want more instant access to their money Barclays have set up over 25,000 ATM’s, expanded their telephone banking service and offer the worlds leading internet banking service. They boast statistic of: â€Å"One million customers have signed up for our telephone banking service. Our call centres receive 25 calls every minute. † â€Å"The number of cash machined available to customers had more than trebled in the past five years. † â€Å"Barclays online banking has attracted more than 450,000 customers since it was launched in1996† Barclays has to keep its services in the public interest as they face serious competition from multinational banking corporation, supermarkets offering cash back, and even car manufactures can offer banking services. In the last six years the total number of credit card issuers has more than doubled. The recent advances in technology, particularly digital information, mean that many of the new competitors in the financial market do not need to maintain a nationwide chain of branches. It is possible, and much cheaper, to provide financial services over the telephone, PC or internet. Due to the increase of competition it has been important for Barclays to aim to lead the way for banking in the future, and also for them to be careful that they handle their customers needs and expectations. One of the biggest challenges for all financial services providers is to develop a new generation of more sophisticated, flexible products and services. Customers want and require straight forward easy access to their cash, whether it be through a cash machine, over that phone or the cash desk. At Barclays it is possible for customers to chose what kind of accounts they want, for example all in one accounts, such as those offered by Virgin One and Mortgage Trust or they can opt for savings accounts from building societies and insurance companies. Traditional banking providers are offering more advanced current accounts. The number of customers choosing Barclays more advanced current account is increasing. Services such as internet banking unheard of ten years ago, are now offered as standard by most banks. Barclays has a long history of innovation. They were the first bank in the world to install the cash dispenser, this was located at their Enfield branch in 1967 having previously launched the first credit card in Europe in 1966. In the 1980’s they introduced the UK’s first debit card. In October 1998, Barclays became the first bank to introduce instant banking, and to allow the credit card to offer customer access to their current account and credit card details over the phone. Barclays realises that to keep up with competition that they will have to continue their long history of investment in production and service innovation, increase the use of the technology available to them, ie the internet, e-commerce and telebanking. They also propose to provide business customers with full euro capabilities and offering their personal banking customers an even broader range of flexible savings, mortgage and loan plans. Barclays has spent over i 10 million on customer research programmes in 1999 to ensure that they have an in depth understanding of the needs of their customers and their expectations. In total they surveyed more than 1. 7 million personal customers during 1999. They found that customers were generally satisfied with their financial service provider. Customers said that they regarded Barclays as solid, safe and reliable in terms of the funds and business they entrusted in them. However it was noticed that customers wanted an improvement in the one to one service and for individual circumstances to be well received. Having heard this Barclays responded by launching a series of initiatives, many of these involved better use of customer data allowing them to anticipate customers needs and allowing them to pre-approve loans, overdrafts and mortgage arrangements. Barclays aims to make a contribution to the community, in September 1999 they announced proposals to contribute i 100 million to a new regional Venture Capital Fund, offering loans to growing businesses that are unable to gain conventional bank funding, this was part of Barclays aim to promote economic regeneration. Barclays has also developed three national sponsorship programmes, these include, Barclays New Futures, this is the largest educational sponsorship scheme worth i 8 million over eight years, run in conjunction with Community Service Volunteers. Barclays Sitesavers, this is the largest environmental regeneration sponsorship worth i 3 million over six years, this is a partnership scheme with Groundwork, they are aiming to turn derelict land into in to parks, gardens, play areas and sports grounds. Barclays Stage Partner aims to allow people who otherwise could not afford to go to the theatre, it will cost Barclays a total of i 4. 5 million over six years. However for Barclays to keep up with competition in the millennium it was necessary for them to widen their market and a merger with the Woolwich was proposed. Both the chief executive of Woolwich and Barclays realised that they had a shared philosophy, strategy and vision, as well as their views on the future of banking being similar. A deal between Woolwich and Barclays would double Barclays’ share of both the mortgage and savings market, provide access to the country’s second largest team of independent financial advisers and give it Open Plan, Woolwich’s all-in-one bank account, which was adding a further 8,000 customers a week. However, due to the merger taking place over 100 Woolwich branches were located within 100 metres of a Barclays, as these were now unnecessary these 100 Woolwich branches were closed, leaving the group with a combined total of 2,000 branches. Barclays said that the Woolwich name would be kept and would become the mortgage brand for Barclays products. The newly merged group now had more than 16 million customers, with both sets being able to attain the advantages from both Barclays and Woolwich. However Barclays continued closing banks, closing a further 171 branches across Britain. It was argued that to keep up with their plan and to advance in this world with new improved technology it was no longer necessary to have so many branches. If the bank was not to realise this and change its methods of banking it would go out of business. However as Britain’s second biggest bank it was still difficult for them to justify the closing of so many branches with little pre warning leaving 7,500 people with no job and over 40,000 customers, most from rural communities without there local banking service. Barclays said that even after the closure of the rural branches people living in those areas would still have a local branch within three miles. This however was not true as now many customers face round trips of twenty miles to alternative branches and fears have been raised for the safety of people carrying cash to be cashed into their accounts. In one case a 79 year old woman staged a sit in at their local Barclays Bank to protest against plans to close it. The locals were said to be ‘devastated and worried to be losing their local bank and the effect it would have on businesses. ‘ Protest groups across the country are planning sit ins and other forms of disruption to try to deter Barclays from closing their local branches. Barclays quickly picked up on the negative atmosphere towards them in the areas they had closed the branches and announced that they had agreed a deal allowing customers to pay cash and cheques and withdraw cash from their local post office. The bank arranged this in 155 of the 171 areas were they had closed the banks. Barclays said that they hoped that the deal with the post offices would help to keep them open in areas they were they too were under threat. However locals complained that the new service was no substitute for full time banking facilities. It is not just Barclays facing these problems, most banks have been closing their local branches and been changing to more modern methods of financial services and issuing money. With more people working, with less time to go to the banks it is necessary for them to be able to withdraw cash at any time of day of night. In the past, when less woman worked it was possible for the woman to go to the bank and to cash in cheques and withdraw money, however now, often with both members of the family working it leaves little time to get to the bank, thus the need for instant services, ie. Telephone, Internet banking and twenty- four hour cash dispensers. Though many jobs have been lost through the closure of all the branches a vast number of jobs have been opened up through telephone banking, with Barclays alone boasting more than twenty- five calls minute. It is often the people who are scared of change who resist to it, though it may inconvenience them at first, in the long run it will benefit them allowing them easier access to their money.

Operations in management

Operations Management Is one of the essential business functions and is therefore vital to any organizational system that delivers products and services , for example a bank, airline, or computer manufacturer. At the very core, operations management Is all about, designing, creating, controlling and Improving the many operational processes wealth a company (In such system environments).Operations management deals with a transformation of inputs such as raw materials, labor, capital and information into outputs such as goods and services and can include finished products that are ready for consumptions and semi ready products such as work-in-progress or inputs for other operations. Transformation of inputs usually requires a series of processes (steps) in order to get the desired output. Successful transformation depends on sufficient feedback so that we can continuously control and improve the existing processes.Supply chains bring products to customers ND consist of a network or all interactions between suppliers and customers. In order to efficiently manage each facet of the SC, each company has to perform in each area; any operational decision might effect and impact the other stakeholders in the supply chain. They ensure alignment of strategy and operations with suppliers and customers through communication and information flows. -Involves several different companies. The individual companies are connected through flows. However Supply chains are usually more complex. Multitude structure made up of multiple companies. These companies have to work together in order to form a functional supply chain. SCM is about planning and controlling all the aspects of interaction between the companies involved in the complex process of forming a Vs†¦ A â€Å"system† refers to a collection of parts working interdependently to create a specifiable outcome. Feedback is the information about the performance of the system, that when returned to the system, can mod ify the system's behavior.A system is an interconnected and coordinated set of elements and process that converts inputs into desired outputs. A company is made up of numerous individual systems in the various functional areas, not only in manufacturing or operations but also in engineering, marketing, accounting, and other areas that together constitute the overall system that is the company itself moment in time. LINE VIEW: multiple activities in sequence. 0 CIRCLE VIEW: results of one cycle provide feedback to the next cycle.Help everyone see the big picture: employees do not focus too heavily on their own goals, the business is interrelated, therefore it is important employees also focus on he business' goals as a whole so that the system works efficiently. -Understand how individual systems really work and how they interact: while trying to improve one system it is important not to damage another. Therefore it is important not to try and fix a system without understanding how e ach one works and how they interact with other systems. Understand problems before trying to fix them: â€Å"The typical way of managing is to take the whole and divide it into parts, then try to make each part perform as well as possible. But we have proven many times now that when you improve the reference of the parts you do not necessarily improve the performance of the whole. In fact, you can make it worse. Putting a Mercedes engine in a Volkswagen, for instance, doesn't make the Volkswagen a better car, even though it now has a superior engine. A system has properties that none of the parts have.

History paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

History paper - Essay Example This time, though, the rising urban class of shopkeepers and artisans, known as the bourgeoisie, continued the struggle, focusing it against the noble landowning class that had traditionally been the support of the monarchy. With the bourgeoisie success, the noble class was pulled down, the king along with it as its figurehead, and replaced by the First Republic. In many ways, the search for the reasons and participants can be found in the theories brought forward by Karl Marx, such as in the popular protest movements of the day which provide a more accurate view of both how the monarchy lost its favor and who was most in control of the political and social changes that were happening in those years. French society at the time of the Revolution was very similar to most of the other countries of Europe of the period in that it had an absolute monarchy that followed much the same pattern of rule that had been established by Louis XIV in the early 1700s. As a part of this system, there was an aristocratic class that held most of the status and wealth of the nation in a feudal-type system and a merchant class called the bourgeoisie that, at times, held enough wealth to rival the nobles, but had none of the political clout. There was â€Å"a vast peasantry accounting for one in seven or one in eight of the population, most of who were legally free but bound to their seigneur †¦ by a myriad of services and obligations surviving from the medieval past. †¦ And, in cities, †¦ a great urban population of innumerable crafts and occupations, for the most part poor and depending for survival on cheap and plentiful bread† (Rude 1995). What made France different from thes e other countries that shared so many attributes was the fact that the French bureaucracy had been allowed to gain enough wealth to make them independent of the crown that had given them such

Educational Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Educational Reflection - Essay Example As a function of engaging with this particular topic, the author will discuss three distinct ways in which my own personal experience with education has either made me into less of an individual or more of an individual. Through such examination, is the hope of this author that the reader will gain a more informed and relevant understanding of the manner through which education, at least in its formal context, conserve both positive and negative aspects of socialization and the degree and extent to which individuals come to represent a singularity and their approach. Finally, whereas it is true that these three distinct examples that will be discussed are contingent upon personal experience, it is the expectation and belief of this particular analyst that the issues which will be discussed are universal and invariably affect a very large number of individuals throughout society. Firstly, within my own personal experience, the level of similarity and the expectation that all knowledge should be integrated in one particular way as decreased the level of individuality that I have been able to promote my life. For instance, rather than allowing the student to explore and to understand the concepts and practices that the educational system seeks to impart in more of a natural manner, rote memorization and the necessity to understand a given topic in a particular way took away from the individuality that I might otherwise exhibit. Whereas there is most certainly a level of benefit from presenting children with a particular topic and a singular manner, the overall level of independent thinking that such an approach engenders necessarily robs the student, myself included, of a degree of experiential learning. However, one particular aspect of my own educational experience that actually contributed to the development of personality and independence was with regards to the level and degree to which my own life experience, personality, and views

Personal experience with mental illness and treatment Essay

Personal experience with mental illness and treatment - Essay Example As a young baby, he seldom played with any of us, and preferred to play with his toys. None of us thought anything of it. When he turned 3, and still didn’t utter a single word, our parents became concerned and consulted a few doctors and psychotherapists. Initially my brother was misdiagnosed with Down’s syndrome. A chromosomal disorder, in which individuals range from mild to profoundly mentally disabled. His speech therapy started when he was 3 years old with minimum results and no results whatsoever in trying to get him to socialize with other children. Our parents thought the doctors were not doing their job properly and kept changing schools and doctors, speech therapists and other professionals. People who came in contact with my brother did not realize he had some sort of disability till they tried to interact with him. After which they tried to socialize but getting no response from my brother, left him alone. We continued to treat him according to what the doctor initially diagnosed as Down’s syndrome, not understanding why he wouldn’t talk and why he wouldn’t socialize. It is characteristic of a Down’s syndrome child to be friendly, and have some form of speech, where as my brother had very limited, 2-3 word sentence speech and hardly any friends. He was most friendly with his nanny and both me and my elder sister, and managed to communicate with us. Mostly the speech therapy sessions were very discouraging and had no results to show. My brother refused to interact with the therapist and every kind of therapy he tried, ended in vain. On a conference on autism and its types, I went through the symptoms of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and realized my brother did not have Down’s syndrome, but Autism. This explained all his primary behaviors, which were all characteristic of ASD, such as not having developed

Project Management Strategic Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Project Management Strategic Issues - Essay Example The project officially began on October 2000. Demolition of the old structure was scheduled on December 2000 and the new stadium was expected to open in 2003. However, the project was delayed to 9th March 2007. This was because of delays caused by various factors chief among them financial and disputes related issues. Upon completion, the one kilometre circumference Wembley Stadium was supposed to have a bowl volume of 1,139,100m3 and 90,000 sitting capacity with demountable seats. The most spectacular thing is the 1750 tonne and 133-metre tall arch that became the symbol of the stadium. Wembley Stadium has 2618 toilets, state of art conferencing and banqueting facilities as well as 103,000m2 foot print. There were 3500 workers on site who constructed 90,000m3 concrete and 23,000 tons structural steel. There were 444km main cables, 80 km speaker cables, 87 km security cable, 38 km CCTV cables, 71 km cable tray and 14 kilometre fibre optic within the stadium. Other workings were 15000 steel reinforcements, 21,000 sprinkler heads and 1720 km small power and lighting. However, it was not possible to develop retractable new roof of the stadium and fans became disappointed. The work was quite satisfactory as most specification in the contract was met despite the delay occasioned by factors beyond the construction Company. Multiplex Construction Company made  £70 million over budget. The planned cost of the total project was  £798 million. However, Multiplex was later paid a total of  £834 million indicating project variance cost of  £36million. There are many reasons that explain the delays and increase in the project cost of Wembley Stadium. The delays caused millions of losses in pounds to the Wembley National Stadium Limited, Multiplex and other outsourcing companies such as Cleveland Bridge (steel contractor) and PC Harrington (concrete contractor). Wembley National Stadium Limited paid additional  £36m to the Multiplex (WNSL 2010). In addition, the

Leadership Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership - Case Study Example This theory encourages leaders to make sure that there are no roadblocks that might hinder their subordinates from realizing both their goals and those of the organization. It also dictates that leaders should incorporate rewards as their employees continue to reach the organizations goal. Finally, leaders should clarify what path subordinates are expected to pursue in order for them to know what is required of them. Approach of this theory hugely depends on the situation the leadership faces. For example, giving rewards greatly depends on whether the organization is in a financial situation to give such gifts and prizes. As a result, this theory categorizes leadership into four styles which are, Achievement oriented, Directive, supportive and participative leadership. Supportive leadership involves the leader concentrating on his followers’ or subordinate’s needs by being concerned on their welfare. This creates a working environment which is friendly by making their s ubordinates to feel that their work is interesting. This should be often applied in situations where work is extremely dangerous, boring or stressful. Directive leadership entails leaders instructing their subordinates on what is expected of them giving them guidance often. The leader should schedule work for their subordinates allocating time for each activity. ... As a principle the path goal theory can be very instrumental in ensuring the academic success of the students. I will hold weekly staff meetings to encourage teachers to formulate goals on which they will ensure that by the time the weekends, a specific section of the curriculum will have been met. I will also encourage teachers to ensure that they should consider teaching a service the community and not just a means of earning a live. By teaching their students well they will ensure that the students have a great future as a result of the education they get from their teachers. I expect this application of the theory to work because it stipulates other employee motivation concepts that do not involve the use of money. This will help a lot because the school is in no financial position to motivate teachers using methods that require extra money. Question two In order to ensure that the school is succeeding academically as a principle, I must ensure that the teachers are motivated in other ways since the school cannot afford to motivate teachers using the normal motivation techniques such bonuses, gifts and prizes. To do so I should incorporate the goal setting theory of motivation. This is a theory stipulates that setting of goals is majorly associated with task performance. In the theory, goals which are challenging and specific greatly result in task performance that is higher and better. When combined with feedback from subordinates, it ensures that organizations meet their goals. The theory simply implies that goals usually direct and indicate to an employee the direction which an organization wants to allow in order to ensure that the

The Impact of Logistics and Supply Chain Integration on Maritime Research Proposal

The Impact of Logistics and Supply Chain Integration on Maritime Transportation - Research Proposal Example The oceanic containers make sure liveliness of consignments and several ports are bestowed to this expertise and as a result, strengthen their position as a key hub center. There have been a number of convergences of â€Å"Maritime Transportation† with Maritime Logistics, and which can be attributed to the objective integration of the modes of transport obsessed by the packaging and the growing needs of the end-users, which demands the use of logistics concepts (Edgerton, 2013, p. 25). To study and evaluate the contemporary technologies of integrated cargo transportation by sea and land, in combination with the port, maritime and ground transportation technologies, new communication and information technologies, shipment forwarding as well as warehousing techniques. These will be done according to the flows of commodities and shipment itinerary abiding with the basic principles of logistics of timeliness, security and competence, and keeping harmony with national and international maritime law. Demand for uninterrupted freight and â€Å"transportation† methods for the upcoming concept of â€Å"supply chain† and logistics integration is increasingly rapidly (Edgerton, 2013, p. 25). The unending problems of congestion faced by road transport and the limitation of the rail transport networks have resulted in a development of more effective integrated transporting solution. Supply chain integration stands for an assuring but complicated tool, which is still growing as a weapon in the global industry place. To maintain this maturation procedure, more supply chain research is required to expose the critical barriers of the integration procedure. â€Å"Maritime transportation† industry is a vital industry whose significance is being increasingly recognised in the global trading practices (Edgerton, 2013, p. 25). Carbone and DeMartino

Network Security Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Network Security Questions - Assignment Example Botnets mainly send harmful mails in form of spam campaign messages to the target points of the attackers. The botnet can therefore spread as viruses, Trojans or worms through emails and websites. The objectives of botnet attack are to enable the attackers spy on the victims and gain access to sensitive information such as financial statements. They steal the victims’ credentials and hijack banking information, ultimately leading to stealing of money. Their transactions run concurrently with those of their victims. The attackers can also use botnet to access the system source codes. Botnet attackers can use their victims’ computers and resources for sending malicious spam. These can then spy other victim’s and execute denial of service command against them. The victims spend a lot of money as well as time to recover from the consequences. Worse still, botnet attacks can land victims into legal challenges. It is not easy for the victim to realize from the onset that the sender of the malware is in fact a fellow victim. In that case, the end victim may take sue the supposed attackers. On the other hand, Proxy firewalls are intermediate barriers that accept every traffic instructions moving into a network. It achieves this through impersonation of the actual receiving point of the traffic in the network. From the results of inspection, it grants or denies access and the proxy firewall relays feedback to the destination. After the destination replies, proxy firewall ends the connection. Only one of the two computers remains connected to the global network. ACLS are not capable of reading past packet headers. This gives only basic details concerning the network. In this regard, ACLs packet filtering is not sufficient in itself to eliminate network threats. Proxy firewall demands that every application require a separate proxy at the level of each application. Proxy firewall network suffer