General Banking Perspectives: Dhaka Bank Ltd

1. Introduction Commercial Bank implies that banks devote most of their resources to meeting the financial needs of business firms. This institution offers the public both deposit and credit services as well as a growing list of newer and more innovating services, such as investment advice, security underwriting, and financial planning. In recent years financial institutions have diversified themselves to satisfy consumers and units of government around the world.The result is the emergence of a financial institution that has been called a financial department store because it satisfies the broadest range of financial services needs in the global economy. The importance to commercial banks may be measured in a number of ways. Banks are still the principal means of making payments, through the checking accounts, credit cards, and electronic funds transfer services they offer. Banks are important because of their ability to create money from excess reserves made available from the publ ic's deposits.The banking system can take a given volume of excess cash reserves and, by making loans and investment, generate a multiple amount of credit. Bangladesh is developing country. After liberalization, we achieve a poor economic growth in last three decades. This is because of number of micro and macro factors as density of people. Bangladesh is a place where we see lack of proper education and poor political stability. Political instability is the major factor in Bangladesh that makes a vital hazard to achieve the economic growth.All of above, banking industry brings a little bit hope that can be a better flavor to accelerate the economic growth in our country. This is the only sector (especially private banking) that getting a continuous develops from last two decades. One of the aims of this study involves the focus on ‘The General Banking Practice of Dhaka Bank Ltd, Halishahar Branch’. Another aim of this paper is to point out how management of the bank ca n perform better and provide better service to the clients. 2. Methodology Different data and information are required to meet the goal of this report.Those data and information were collected from various sources, such as, primary and secondary which is showed below: Primary data were collected from: ? Face to face conversations with the employees at various fields. ? Personal interviewing and interacting customers. ? Observing various organizational procedures. ? Customer’s response from questions. Secondary data were collected from: ? Internet and Annual report of Dhaka Bank Limited. ? Progress report/ Statement affairs and Bank Rate sheet of the Bank. ? Several kinds of Academic test-book and training sheet. Different publications regarding banking functions and foreign-exchange operation. ? Prior research report on this Bank. 3. Scope The scope of the research covers the General Banking practices of Dhaka Bank Limited. The report focuses on the general banking practices in general, how it is implemented in Dhaka Bank Limited. 4. Limitation of the study The present study was not out of limitations. From the beginning to end, the study has been completed sincerely and carefully. But some problem arises from conducting the study.During the study it was not possible to visit the whole area covered by the banks although the financial statements and other information regarding the study have been covered. Some limitation are given stated below- 1. The main constraint of the study is insufficiency of information, which was required for the study. There are various information that the bank employee can't provide due to security and other corporate obligations. 2. Due to time limitations many of the aspects could not be discussed in the present report. 3.Every organization has their own secrecy that is not revealed to others. While collecting data through interviewing the employees, they did not disclose much information for the sake of the confidentiality of the organization. 5. Background of Dhaka Bank: Dhaka Bank Limited is one of the premier and top ranked private banks in Bangladesh. The bank was established in the year 1995 as some veteran and well established businessmen grouped together and worked sincerely to establish this bank. The bank was incorporated as a public limited company under the companies act 1994.The founder of the bank was Mr. Mirza Abbas Uddin Ahmed who was also the former advisor of the bank. The Head Office of the bank is located at Biman Bhaban 1st floor, 100 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. The bank started its very first journey on July 5th 1995 with an authorized capital of Tk. 1000 million and a paid up capital of Tk. 100 million. Since the inception of the bank the bank made phenomenal growth in terms of operation, business and goodwill. As of March 31st 2010 the bank’s paid up capital stood at Tk. ,659,597,800 and the total equity (capital and reserves) stood up at Tk. 6,036,368,754. Th e bank currently has 62 fully operational branches all over the country, 3 SME Service Centers, 6 CMS Units, 2 Offshore Units, and one CPZ (central processing office) which is situated in BGMEA building Karwan Bazar , Dhaka Bangladesh As an integral part of their commitment to Excellence in Banking, Dhaka Bank now offers the full range of real-time online banking service through its all branches, ATMs and Internet Banking Channels.Dhaka Bank Ltd is the preferred choice in banking for friendly and personalized services, cutting edge technology, tailored solutions for business need, global reach in trade and commerce and high yield on investments. 5. 1. The Mission of Dhaka Bank Limited- To be the premier financial institution in the country providing high quality products and services backed by latest technology and a highly motivated team of personnel to deliver Excellence In Banking. 5. 2. The Vision of Dhaka Bank Limited- At Dhaka Bank, we draw our inspiration from the distant sta rs.Our team is committed to assure a standard that makes every banking transaction a pleasurable experience. Our endeavour is to offer you razor sharp sparkle through accuracy , reliability , timely delivery , cutting edge technology and tailored solution for business needs, global reach in trade and commerce and high yield on your investment . 5. 3 The Goal of Dhaka Bank Limited- Our people, products and processes are aligned to meet the demand of our discerning customers. Our goal is to achieve a distinction like the luminaries in the sky.Our Dhaka Objective is to deliver a quality that demonstrates a true reflection of our vision – Excellence in Banking. 6 General Banking General banking creates a vital link between customers and bank. It’s really a classic as crucial department for the bank. It is the introductory department of the bank to its customers. The Dhaka Bank Ltd, Halishahar branch has all the required sections of general banking. Every day it receives de posits from customers and meets their demands for cash by honoring instruments. General banking department is that department which is mostly exposed to the maximum number of bank customer. . 1 Different Departments of General Banking It has five major parts in the branch to perform. The sections are: i. Account opening section ii. Cheque clearing iii. Cash iv. Remittance v. Accounts section 6. 2 Different Types of Customers/ Account Holder: Any one can open an account in Dhaka Bank Ltd. if he is capable of entering a valid contract and a banker is satisfied his confide and willing to inter into the necessary business relation with him. So any one of the following types of customers can open account:- i. Individual ( personal ) ii. Joint iii. Proprietorship ( sole traders / registered or unregistered ) v. Joint stock companies ( private/ public ltd. companies) 6. 3 Account Opening and Dispatch Department: Account opening is the gateway to the bank. The relationship between a banker and its customer begins with the opening of an account by the customer. For this, account opening is considered the most important function of a commercial bank. All banks generally maintain a separate department to open accounts. The function of accounts opening department can be classified into the following three categories: 1. Supplying various accounts related information to the customers. 2. Opening of account and . Issuing cheque books and ATM Card. Supplying various accounts related information to the customers: When a customer comes to open an account with a bank, s/he needs to be informed about various information relating to account opening. Account opening department enthusiastically provides necessary information to the customer. Following information is supplied to the customer depending on their requirements: †¢ Type of accounts maintained by the bank †¢ Requirements/Necessary formalities for opening each type of accounts †¢ Eligibility to open an accou nt etc. Types of accounts maintained by DBLAccounts based on operations as under: †¢ Current Account (CD A/C) †¢ Short Term Deposit Account (STD A/C) †¢ Savings Bank Account (SB A/C) †¢ Fixed Deposit Receipt Account (FDR A/C) Accounts based on Nature of Customers as under: †¢ Single/Individual Account †¢ Joint individual Account †¢ Sole Trader/ Proprietorship Account †¢ Partnership Account †¢ Company Account etc. Savings accounts are opened for single/individual and joint individual customer. Business organizations/enterprises are not allowed to open savings account. 6. 4 Requirements/Necessary formalities for opening each type of accounts: ? Single/Individual Savings Bank Accounts: Introduction of customer (Must be either by an account holder (SB/CD A/C) or an employee of the bank. †¢ Photographs-Two copies (attested by the Introducer) †¢ Photocopy of valid passport/Citizenship Certificate from Chairman or Ward commissioner/Cer tificate from the employee of the bank. Add: †¢ Transaction Profile †¢ Signature on Money laundering Circular ? Joint Individual Account: No additional requirements/formalities other than the Single/Individual Savings Bank Accounts. ? Single Individual/Joint Individual CD A/C Requirements/Formalities as like as SB A/C, except here introducer must be a CD A/C holder of the bank. Proprietorship CD A/C †¢ Introduction of the customer (Must be by a CD A/C account holder or an employee of the bank. †¢ Photographs- (Two Copies) of the proprietor. †¢ Valid Trade License. †¢ Company Seal. †¢ Photocopy of valid passport of the proprietor/Citizenship/ Certificate from Chairman or Ward commissioner/Certificate from the employee of the bank. Add: †¢ Transaction Profile †¢ Signature on Money laundering Circular †¢ Signature on KYC form ? Partnership CD A/C †¢ Introduction of the partners (Must be by a CD A/C account holder or an employee of the bank. Photographs- (Two Copies) of every partner. †¢ Valid Trade License. †¢ Seal. †¢ Date of incorporation. †¢ Photocopy of valid passport of the proprietor/Citizenship Certificate or Identity Certificate from Chairman or Ward commissioner/Certificate from the employee of the bank. †¢ Partnership Letter. Add: †¢ Transaction Profile †¢ Each partner’s Signature on Money laundering Circular †¢ Each partner’s Signature on KYC form ? Limited Company A/C †¢ Introduction (Must be by a CD A/C account holder or an employee of the bank †¢ Photographs- (Two Copies) †¢ Valid Trade License Company Seal †¢ Resolution of the Company on company’s letterhead †¢ Certified and attested copy (attested by MD or Chairman) of Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association †¢ Certified and attested copy of Certificate of incorporation †¢ List of Directors †¢ Photocopy of valid passport/Citizensh ip Certificate or Identity Certificate from Chairman or Ward commissioner/Certificate from the employee of the bank. Add: †¢ Annexure E: Identification of Directors and Authorized Signatories †¢ Annexure D: Director’s Signature on KYC form †¢ Transaction Profile 6. Eligibility to open an account: Anyone capable of entering into a valid contract can open an account with the bank. A minor can also open an account under guardianship or alone if s/he is at least 12 years old. But a minor is not allowed to open a current account. Lunatic, Insolvent person/Drunker/Liquidator/Any other individual or organization by law cannot open an account with bank. 6. 6 Accounts Opening of Customers with the Bank Opening of an account involves certain formalities, which varies according to different types of accounts as well as various categories of customers.The bank supplies following printed forms during opening an account of a customer: o Account opening Form o Specimen Signat ure Card o Deposit Slip o Cheque Book Requisition Slip o KYC Profile Form o Transaction Profile Form Customers are requested to read all the instructions carefully and then fill up the forms properly. Account opening officer must have to check all the forms or documents i. e. whether the customer duly signs them where necessary as well as introducer must introduce the customer by putting signature in the space provided on the account opening form.After completion of all the formalities by the customer, Dhaka bank officials have to perform the following functions chronologically: |Scrutinizing account opening form and Specimen signature card | |Getting the approval of accounts by authorized officer | |Putting account number on the form | |Putting entry in the account opening register | |Posting all the account information in the computer | Issuing a cheque book | |Maintaining all relevant papers/documents in separate file in the name of the | |every account holder | |Sending the sp ecimen signature card to the cash department | |Sending a thanks giving letter to the New account opener’s address | |Maintaining all relevant papers/documents in separate file in the name of the every | |account holder | 6. 7 Issuing of a Cheque BookA cheque book is issued to the customer at the time of the account opening or may by issued after 2-3 days from account opening. And additional cheque book is issued at the request of the customer according to his/her necessity. Followings are the formalities during issuing a cheque book: Getting the cheque book requisition slip signed by the account holder By verifying the signature, issuing the cheque book Writing down the account number on each leaf of the cheque book Making entry to the cheque issue register Supplying the cheque book to the account holder after getting proper acknowledgement from the account holderInland Remittance Department Remittance Department: This department deals with transfer of money from one place to another place. Remittance can be classified as inland remittance and foreign remittance; however, remittance department mainly deals with inland remittance rather than foreign remittance. Instruments used for inland remittance as under: o Pay Order (P. O) o Demand Draft (DD) o Telegraphic Transfer (TT) Pay Order: A Pay Order is a written order on a specific instrument i. e. generally called â€Å"Block† issued by a bank to pay a certain sum of money to specific person, Organization or a bank.It is called banker’s cheque, as it is issued by a bank as well as drawn upon on a bank. Issuance of Pay Order: issuance of pay order involves following steps: ? Upon requests of customer, bank supplies prescribed application form ? Applicant has to provide detailed particulars of him/herself as well as beneficiary or receiver of the Pay Order ? Total amount of the P. O must be written both in words and in figures in the space provided ? Credit vouchers are prepared; one for com mission and another for VAT ? Now customer is requested to deposit the P.O amount along with VAT and Commission charges to the cash department ? Cash department releases the application form with authorized signature and cash received seal ? Now Pay Order is written on block which has three parts: First part is retained by the issuing bank, Second part is for customer and Third part is for the beneficiary of the Pay Order ? In this stage all the information is entered into the P. O register Payment or Encashment of Pay Order: Issuing bank makes payment of Pay Order upon presentation through clearing house. When the P.O does not consist of discrepancies, necessarily the proceeds of Pay Order is credited to the account of payee/beneficiary. However, before making payment of P. O, the signature of issuing officer is verified and date of payment is recorded in the Pay Order issue register. Demand Draft A Demand Draft, which is traditionally called DD. A DD is a written order on a specif ic instrument of one branch of a bank upon another branch of the same bank to pay a certain sum of money to or to the order of a specified person or of a specified organization. In practice DD is not issued between two branches within the same city.Issuance of Demand Draft: Issuance of DD involves following steps: ? Customer is asked to fill up a form in specific form provided by bank which is also treated as a voucher ? Commission and Charges are also mentioned in the form ? Two credit vouchers; one for commission and another for VAT is stapled with the form ? Customer pays cash in the cash department with relevant vouchers ? Cash dept. receives cash and delivers vouchers after completing necessary formalities ? Now DD is prepared in a block Branch-wise serial number is given on the draft ? The draft number is written on the voucher ? Draft block and voucher along with the register are sent to the officer in charge for checking and then sent to manager/Second in charge of the branc h for authorization ? The draft may be crossed if customer desires and finally delivered to him/her against initial or acknowledgement on the voucher Payment of Demand Draft: After receiving the DD, the drawer branch checks the date, amount both in words and figures and signature. In case of Test DD, Test number must be reconciled before payment.And then DD is cancelled and payment date is noted in the register. If the DD is crossed, the payment is made through clearing house. Telegraphic Transfer In case of Telegraphic Transfer, which in brief is called TT, an applicant has to fill up prescribed form supplied by bank to inform all the particulars about the sender as well as the receiver/beneficiary of the TT. Besides, following points should be checked in this regard: ? Full name of the beneficiary and his account number if the instruction here is â€Å"credit to beneficiary’s account†, or full address if instruction is there to advise & pay ?Commission and Telegram c harge are recovered from customer ? A cost memo has to prepare for customer in this regard; containing the amount of TT, commission and Telegram charges ? Customer has to deposit cash in the cash department along with voucher and application ? Remittance depart finally checks all the particulars viz. name of the beneficiary, account number of the beneficiary, name of the bank, name of the branch and mode of payment etc. ? Each and every TT must be Tested whatever the amount of TT ?Authorized officer then send the TT message through Telex/Telephone ? The issuing branch also sends a TT confirmation advice to the drawer branch and one copy is retained by the branch Payment of Telegraphic Transfer (TT): The payment of TT is paid only when TT test numbers reconcile. TT receiving branch maintains TT message receiving memo. On agreement of Test, the serial number of TT is entered in the TT payable register. The issuing branch informs if any number is mismatched or omitted. Two vouchers are prepared in this regard as under:DBL General A/C†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦****** Branch———-Dr. Bills Payable A/C†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. (TT payable)————-Cr. The TT amount is then credited to the beneficiary’s account if the beneficiary/receiver of the TT is an account holder of the branch; otherwise a Pay Order is issued if the beneficiary/receiver of TT is an account holder of another bank. 6. 8 Clearing Section: According to the Article 37(2) of Bangladesh Bank Order, 1972, the banks, which are the member of the clearinghouse, are called as Scheduled Banks. The scheduled banks clear the cheque drawn upon one another through the clearinghouse.This is an arrangement by the central bank where everyday the representative of the member banks gathers to clear the cheque. Banks for credit of the proceeds to the customers’ accounts accept Cheque and other similar instruments. The bank receives many such instruments during the day from ac count holders. Many of these instruments are drawn payable at other banks. If they were to be presented at the drawer banks to collect the proceeds, it would be necessary to employ many messengers for the purpose. Similarly, there would be many cheque drawn on this the messengers of other banks would present bank and them at the counter.The whole process of collection and payment would involve considerable labor, delay, risk and expenditure. All the labor, Risk, delay and expenditure are substantially reduced, by the representatives of all the banks meeting at a specified time, for exchanging the instruments and arriving at the net position regarding receipt or payment. The place where the banks meet and settle their dues is called the Clearinghouse. Activities of the Section: (a) Preparation of Clearing Outward and Inward Lodgment and record maintenance of the same. (b) Batch posting as and when required. On receipt of instruments, the same is endorsed here.Then clearing section wi ll sent IBDA to head Office for clearing purpose and on receipt of IBCA from Head Office amount is credited to customers account and vice versa. If the instrument is return then the same is given back to the customer. 6. 9 Collection Section: Checks, drafts etc. are drown on bank located outside clearing house are sent for collection. Motijheel Branch collects its client’s above-mentioned instruments from other branches of DBL and branches other than DBL. In case of out ward bills for collection customers account is credited after finishing the collection processor.And in case of in ward bills customers account is debited for this purpose. So it places dual role as follows: i) Collecting Banker ii) Paying Banker. Activities of the Section: Collection is done when (i) Paying Bank is located out side Dhaka City. (ii) Paying Bank is other branches of DBL situated inside Dhaka City. i) Paying Bank is outside Dhaka City: Collection department of Motijheel Branch (Principal Branch) , DBL sends outward bills for collection (OBC) to the concerned paying bank to get inter Bank Credit Advice (IBCA) from paying Bank.If the paying bank dishonors the instrument, the same is returned to principal Branch. ii) The Paying Bank of their own branches inside Dhaka City: Collection Department sends transfer delivery item to other branches of same bank situated inside Dhaka City. Upon receiving IBCA customer’s a/c is credited. Procedures for Outward Bills for Collection: 6. 10 Accounts Section: In banking business transactions are done every day and these transactions are to be recorded properly and systematically as the banks deal with the depositors’ money.Any deviation in proper recording may hamper public confidence and the bank has to suffer a lot. Improper recording of transactions will lead to the mismatch in the debit side and credit side. To avoid these mishaps, the bank provides a separate department whose function is to check the mistakes in passing v ouchers or wrong entries or fraud or forgery. This department is called Accounts Department. Besides these, the branch has to prepare some internal statements as well as some statutory statements, which are to be submitted to the Central Bank and the Head Office.This department prepares all these statements. Functions of Accounting Department: We can divide the functions of accounting department into two categories. One is day-to-day task and another is periodical task. a. Day to day functions: Here day-to-day function refers to the every day tasks. Accounting department of DBL performs the following day to day functions: b. Periodical functions: Periodical functions of accounts department include the preparation of different weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly and annual statement.The accounts department prepares the following statements: etc. 6. 11 Cash Section: Cash section is a very sensitive organ of the branch and handle with extra care. Operation of this section begins at the start of the banking hour. Cash officer begins his/her transaction with taking money from the vault, known as the opening cash balance. Vault is kept in a much secured room. Keys to the room are kept under control of cash officer and branch in charge. The amount of opening cash balance is entered into a register.After whole days’ transaction, the surplus money remain in the cash counter is put back in the vault and known as the closing balance. Money is received and paid in this section. 6. 11. 1 Cash Receipt: 6. 11. 2. Cash Payment: 6. 12 Conclusion: Bank is the largest organization of mobilizing surplus domestic savings. Attractive Savings Schemes are offered by DBL such as Contributory Savings Scheme, Monthly Benefit Deposit Scheme, Special Deposit Scheme, Education Savings Scheme, Fixed Deposit Scheme, Dhaka Bank Money Scheme, Dhaka Bank Insured Fixed Deposit Scheme as well as different accounts to save money.Schemes are designed concentrating in different purposes t o help the fixed income group people to help in need. Bank-Officials are also whole-hearted and dedicated to serve their customer with utmost care. 7. Online Branch Banking The Bank has set up a Wide Area Network (WAN) across the country to provide online branch banking facility to its valued clients. Under the Scheme,  clients of any branch shall be able to do banking transaction at other branches of the bank. Under this system a client will to be able to o following type of transactions # Cash withdrawal from his/her account at  any  branch  of the Bank irrespective of location. # Cash deposit in his/her account at any branch of the Bank irrespective of location. # Cash deposit in other's account at any branch of the Bank irrespective of location. # Transfer of money from his/her account with any branch of the Bank. Any amount can be deposited or transferred under Dhaka Line.In the system, however, at present there is a limit for cash withdrawal through bearer or by accou nt holder himself. Terms & Conditions of Online Branch Banking Service ONLINE BRANCH BANKING SERVICE is designed to serve its valued clients. Under this system, you shall be able to do the following type of transactions:    †¢ Cash withdrawal from your account at any   branch of the Bank †¢ Deposit in your account at any Branch of the Bank. †¢ Transfer of money from your account to any other account with any Branch of the Bank Transaction Limit Maximum ceiling of cash withdrawal by self is Tk. 10,00,000/- (ten lac) only per transaction †¢ Maximum ceiling of cash withdrawal by third party (bearer) per transaction is below Tk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Only (please mention the limit you wand to place). †¢ Cash deposit/transfer  by online transaction is unlimited Online Transaction Membership Fee Membership fee is  Tk. 50/- per month for the Online Branch Banking Service. Charges for Online Transaction †¢ There will be no charge for transac tion within the city where the account is domiciled †¢ Fee Tk. 7/- will be realized from the customer’s account for each remote transaction (inter-city)  for amount up to Tk. 1, 00,000 (one lac). †¢ Fee at the rate of   0. 075% will be realized from the customer’s account for each remote transaction of amount more than Tk. 1,00,000 (one lac). Who can get this service The Clients who has account in Dhaka bank or who will open account in Dhaka bank and would be interested to maintain substantial deposits in Savings, Current or STD accounts, will be eligible to get Dhaka Line Service.How one can get this service Intending and eligible clients have to apply in prescribed application form to their branch (where account is maintained) to get the online service from the bank. The client should submit two copies photographs and signature cards alongwith the application form. To avail the Dhaka Line service, no charge should be paid for online transaction within a locality where the account is domiciled. But charges should be paid by the customer for inter city online transaction When a account will be activated for onlineWithin 15 days from the date of submission application a account will be activated for online service Dhaka Bank Limited obtained Principal Membership of Master-Card International in the month of May 1999. Within a period of 6 months, the bank successfully launched Master Card-Credit Card which created a new dimension in its customer service and consumer financing. The Special feature of the Dhaka Bank Master Card is that its bears the card holder’s photo on the card, which is the first of its kind in Bangladesh and adds security against misuse.Dhaka Bank Limited issues 4 types of cards. These are Gold Local & International and Silver Local & International. Local cards can be used in Bangladesh only. 7. 1 Followings are the main feature of MasterCard Credit – †¢ Dhaka Bank Ensure High Level of Security  by inserting your Photograph on the Card. †¢ 20 to 50 days credit form the date of transaction. When you receive your monthly statement, you can either choose to pay in full or just minimum due amount shown on the statement. No interest is charged if you pay in full within payment due date. 24 hours a day, 365 days worldwide service. †¢ No joining/administrative fees. †¢ waiver of annual fees for International Card: If you accumulate 20,000 Dhaka Bank Bonus Point for your Gold Card or, 10,000 Bonus Point for your Silver Card in a year then you enjoy our Card without fees( $ 1 purchase: 1 Bonus). †¢ Waiver of annual fee for Local Card:   If you accumulate 10,000 Dhaka Bank Bonus Point for your Gold Card or 8,000 Bonus Point for your Silver Card in a year then you enjoy our Card without fees( Tk. 50/- purchase : 1 Bonus point). The Highest Dhaka Bank Bonus Point holder can enjoy free air ticket Dhaka-Bangkok-Dhaka. (Business Class). †¢ Cash advance faciliti es. †¢ 1,39,00,000 locations accept MasterCard worldwide Facilities Available with the Card : The Card can be used for: 01. Making payments to Merchants against purchase of all goods and services by the Cardholder form Marchant(s); and 02. Availing Cash Advances: ? 2. 1 From any of DBL Branches or any member of MasterCard of any Merchant authorized to make Cash Advances; as may be agreed upon by DBL or ?By the use of the Card on any ATM of DBL or of MasterCard. Subject to these terms and conditions and in compliance with such requirements, limitations and procedures as may be imposed by DBL, any Merchant or MasterCard from time to time. 7. 2 SWIFT Dhaka Bank Limited is one of the first few Bangladeshi Banks who have become member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunication) in 1999. SWIFT is members owned co-operative, which provides a fast and accurate communication network for financial transactions such as Letters of Credit, Fund transfer etc.By be coming a member of SWIFT, the bank has opened up possibilities for uninterrupted connectivity with over 5,700 user institutions in 150 countries around the world. SWIFT No. : PRBLBDDH Deposit Schemes of Dhaka Bank Limited: Bank is the largest mobilizer of surplus domestic savings. For poverty alleviation, we need self employment, for self-employment we need investment and for investment we need savings. In the other words, savings help capital formations and the capital formations help investments in the country.The investment in its turn helps industrialization leading towards creation of wealth of the country. And the wealth finally takes the country on road to progress and prosperity. As such, savings is considered the very basis of prosperity of the country. The more the growth of savings, the more will be the prosperity of the nation. The  savings rate in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world. In order to improve the savings rate, Financial Institutions responsible for mobilization of savings should offer attractive Savings Schemes so that the marginal propensity to save increases.The savings do not, of course, depend only on the quantum of income but largely depend on the habit of savings of the people. Contributory Savings Scheme: This is a Savings Scheme in which a person gets the opportunity to build up savings by contributing monthly installments and receives an attractive fixed amount at the end of a specified term. The Scheme is designed to help the fixed income group to save money and build up a sizable funds with which they can go for some income generating venture to improve the quality of their life and/or meet any future financial obligationsThe salient features of the Scheme are given below: > Minimum size of monthly installment shall be Tk. 500/- and multiplies of Tk. 1000/-. Maximum installment size shall be Tk. 25,000/- > The Deposit shall be for a period of 5 years. Lump sum amount shall be paid after maturity or monthly Pension shall be paid for the next 5 years according to the size of deposit. A brief chart of lump sum amount and monthly pension installments payable are shown below: Size of monthly deposit (Taka) |Terminal value after 5 years (Taka) |Pension for next 5 years (Taka) | |500/- |40,000/- |870/- | |1,000/- |80,000/- |1,739/- | |2,000/- |1,60,000/- |3,478/- | |3,000/- |2,40,000/- |5,217/- | |4,000/- |3,20,000/- |6,956/- | |5,000/- |4,00,000/- |8,695/- | |6,000/- |4,80,000/- |10,434/- | |7,000/- |5,60,000/- |12,173/- | |8,000/- |6,40,000/- |13,912/- | |9,000/- |7,20,000/- |15,651/- | |10,000/- |8,00,000/- |17,390/- | |11,000/- |8,80,000/- |19,129/- | |12,000/- |9,60,000/- |20,868/- | |13,000/- |10,40,000/- |22,607/- | |14,000/- |11,20,000/- |24,346/- | |15,000/- |12,00,000/- |26,085/- | |16,000/- |12,80,000/- |27,824/- | |17,000/- 13,60,000/- |29,563/- | |18,000/- |14,40,000/- |31,302/- | |19,000/- |15,20,000/- |33,041/- | |20,000/- |16,00,000/- |34,780/- | |21,000/- |16,80,000/- |36,519/- | |2 2,000/- |17,60,000/- |38,258/- | |23,000/- |18,40,000/- |39,997/- | |24,000/- |19,20,000/- |41,736/- | |25,000/- |20,00,000/- |43,475/- |Short Term Deposit ? A short term deposit (STD) account is a running account with amounts being paid into and drawn out of the account continuously. ? These accounts are called Demand Deposits or Demand Liabilities since the banker is under obligation to pay the money in such deposits on demand. ? These accounts are generally opened by Business Organization, Public Institution, and Corporate Bodies. ? An STD account may be opened by an individual person. ? It is an interest bearing deposit. Interest is calculated on daily basis as per Banks Prescribed Rate and is credited to account on half yearly basis. Current interest rate on STD account  is 6 Percent.Education Savings Scheme The educational expenses particularly the expenses for higher education are sharply increasing day by day in our country. Sometimes, the children are deprived of getting the desired level of education because of the inability of the parents to meet their educational expenses. But the parents would not feel any difficulty to defray such expenses if a proper financial planning is made much ahead of time. Moreover, we are receiving demands from the Islamic minded people of our country for an attractive Savings Scheme on the basis of Islamic Sariah so as to encourage them to save in Islamic way for education of their children.With this end in view, Dhaka Bank Limited has introduced a Savings Scheme entitled â€Å"Education Savings Scheme† in accordance with the principles of Islamic Sariah i. e. , on the basis of profit and loss sharing. The scheme provides a unique opportunity to the parents to make a future provision for the educational expenses of their children when they enter into Schools, Colleges and Universities out of the benefit of a small amount of savings with the Bank at an opportune moment The salient features of the Scheme are give n below: ? The Scheme shall be implemented through all Dhaka branches, though it is specially designed for Islamic Banking branches. ? Deposit of Tk. 50,000/- and multiples thereof but maximum limit of Tk. , 00,000/- at a time will be acceptable under the Scheme. ? A specially designed Receipt shall be issued for the deposit under the Scheme in the same manner as issued in case of FDR. Branches shall use the ESS receipts that used for existing scheme. ? The instrument shall be issued for a period of 5 years term. ? On maturity a lump sum amount of Tk. 85,382/- shall be payable or education allowance @ Tk. 1,854/- per month per Tk. 50,000/- shall be payable on the basis of deposit amount for next 5 years starting from the completion of the term as per following table. Income Tax @10% on interest may be deducted at source at the time of payment of lump sum amount. Initial Deposit (Taka)    |Lump sum amount payable at maturity (Taka)    |Amount of Education allowance per month | | | |  (Taka) | |50,000/- |85,382/- |1,854/- | |1,00,000/- |1,70,763/- |3,705/- | |1,50,000/- |2,56,145/- |5,558/- | |2,00,000/- 3,41,526/- |7,410/- | |2,50,000/- |4,26,908/- |9,263/- | |3,00,000/- |4,69,704/- |11,115/- | |3,50,000/- |5,47,988/- |12,968/- | |4,00,000/- |6,26,272/- |14,820/- | |4,50,000/- |7,04,556/- |16,673/- | |5,00,000/- |7,82,840/- |18,525/- | Double Benefit Deposit Scheme ? The Scheme shall be implemented through all the branches of Dhaka Bank Limited. ? Deposit of Tk. 25,000/- (Taka twenty five thousand) and multiplies thereof but maximum limit of Tk. 25, 00,000/- (Taka twenty five lac) at a time will be acceptable under the scheme. ? The instrument shall be issued for 5 years 4 months term. ? At maturity after 5 years 4 months double the amount of deposit will be paid to the depositor. Photograph of Nominee, duly attested by the depositor, shall be obtained at the time of opening the account. ? Normally no withdrawal will be allowed before maturity. But if any depositor intends to withdraw his deposit before maturity, the following rules will apply: ? (a) No benefit including interest/profit shall be allowed for pre-mature encashment within one year. (b) If the accounts / deposits are closed / encashed after one year of its opening, benefit shall be allowed on the deposit at normal Savings Deposit rate ? The instrument will be acceptable as collateral security against any investment subject to registering lien with the issuing branch. In case of death of a depositor, the amount of instrument will be paid to the nominee, to the legal heirs of the depositor on production of succession certificate. ? In case of instrument is lost the procedure for the issuance of a duplicate receipt will be the same as applicable in case of loss of FDR. ? Under the scheme depositor can get free insurance facility. ? Insurance coverage is only applicable to personal accident and serious illness related insurance policy. ? Depositor can take loan against his/ her deposit under this scheme ? At present no income tax will be deducted from the interest earned. But in future for any change in the government policy Bank reserves the right to deduct income tax.Fixed Deposit Scheme This type of deposit should be kept for a fixed term or period. Dhaka Bank Limited deals with the following terms deposit. Particulars Interest Rate 1(One) month 9. 00% 3(Three) month 12. 00% 6(Six) month 11. 50% 1(One) year 11. 00% Lakhopati Deposit Scheme (a)Monthly Installment size, tenure and terminal value of the scheme will be as follows: Monthly Installment Size (Taka) |Tenure |Amount to be paid after maturity (Taka) | |250/- |15 years |1,00,000/- | |500/- |10 years |1,00,000/- | |1,285/- |5 years |1,00,000/- | |2,400/- |3 years |1,00,000/- | Dhaka Millionaire   Scheme Monthly installment shall be Tk. 12,465. 00 /Tk. 7,890. 00 /Tk. 4,570. 0 for the tenor of 5/7/10 years respectively |Size of monthly deposit   (in |Investment Tenor (in |After the investm ent Tenor the terminal |Pension size of installment | |Taka)   |Year) |value of the Scheme (in Taka) |according to the years Invested | | | | |(in Taka ) | |12,465/- |5 |1,000,000/- |21,748/- | |7,890/- |7 |1,000,000/- |17,137/- | |4,570/- |10 |1,000,000/- |13,786/- | House Building Deposit   Scheme # The tenor of the House Building Deposit Scheme will be 5/7/10 years. # Minimum Equity building amount shall be Tk. 10. 00 lac. |Size of monthly |Size of monthly deposit in|Investment Tenor (in|Age Limit |After the   investment Tenor | |deposit in Tk. |Tk. Year) |(in Year)* |the terminal value of the | |(without |(with Insurance) | | |Scheme | |Insurance) | | | |(in Taka)** | |7,890/- |8,045/- |7 |18 to 38 |1,000,000/- | |12,465/- |12,640/- |5 |18 to 40 |1,000,000/- | |9,135/- |N/A |10 |18 to 35 |2,000,000/- | |15,770/- |N/A |7 |18 to 38 |2,000,000/- | |24,925/- |N/A |5 |18 to 40 |2,000,000/- | * Age upper limit will be applicable for HBL facilities only # Insurance Coverage will be restricted to terminal amount of Tk. ,000,000/-(Taka Ten Lac) only, here the age limit will be from 18 years to 60 years # A person can open more than one account but House Building Loan facility shall be on one account only. # Account in the name of minors can be opened too under the Scheme but without insurance coverage. # The installment shall be payable by the 8th day (in case of holiday the next working day) of every month. Advance payment of any number of installments  is acceptable. 8. CAMEL Rating of 48 Banks: The capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management standard, Earning and Liquidity rating (CAMEL) of all commercial banks on the basis of credit management performance till December 2007 have been rated by Bangladesh Bank (BB). It is mentionable that Dhaka Bank Ltd. got the top position in â€Å"A† class banks. CAMEL Rating:Analyzing the overall operational activities of all commercial and specialized banks; central bank, the regulatory authority of countryâ €™s banking sector has ranked 6 ‘A-class’, 27 ‘B-class’, 8 ‘C-class’,5 ‘D-class’ and 2 ‘E-class’ banks by the end of 2007, which was completed recently. A- Class Banks: 1. Dhaka Bank Ltd. 2. Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd. 3. Commercial Bank of Ceylon. 4. Citibank N. A. 5. State Bank of India 6. Standard chartered Bank B – Class Banks: 1. Eastern Bank Ltd. 2. Premier Bank Ltd. 3. The Trust Bank Ltd. 4. BRAC Bank Ltd. 5. Southeast Bank Ltd. 6. NCC Bank Ltd. 7. One Bank Ltd. 8. Standard Bank Ltd. 9. Woori Bank 10. Bank Alfalah Ltd. 11. National Bank of Pakistan. 12. Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd. 13. Exim Bank Ltd. 14. Mutual Trust Bank Ltd. 15. Jamuna Bank Ltd. 16. Bank Asia 17. Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. 18. Uttara Bank Ltd. 19.National Bank Ltd 20. The City Bank Ltd 21. Basic Bank Ltd. 22. Habib Bank Ltd. 23. HSBC 24. Pubali Bank Ltd. 25. Mercantile Bank Ltd. 26. Social Investment Bank Ltd. 27. Dhaka Bank. C- Class Ban ks: 1. First Security Bank Ltd. 2. UCBL 3. Al-Arafa Islami Bank 4. Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha 5. IFIC Bank Ltd. 6. AB Bank Ltd. 7. Agrani Bank Ltd. 8. Rupali Bank Ltd. D- Class Banks: 1. Sonali Bank Ltd. 2. Bangladesh Krishi Bank 3. Bangladesh Shilpa Bank 4. Janata Bank Ltd. 5. RAKUB E-Class Bank: 1. Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd. 2. Oriental Bank Ltd. 9. Recommendation After observing the operation procedure of DBL, I recommended the following: ATM:Dhaka Bank has few ATM booths in the Dhaka city, but these are not sufficient to give service to the customer’s . So Dhaka Bank has arranged an agreement with Dutch Bangla Bank limited so that the customers of the Dhaka Bank can use its booth. To give smooth service to the customers Dhaka Bank should increase its own ATM Booth. Branch: Dhaka Bank should open branches in the all district towns besides Dhaka & Chittagong city for expansion its business area. Interest Rate: Dhaka Bank should Increase interest rate on FDR and other deposit scheme. Islamic Banking Branch: Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country, so Dhaka Bank should increase their Islamic Banking Branch in Bangladesh. 10. ConclusionIn Halishahar branch I have been working for 3 months, by this time I have found some good strengths and opportunities, Dhaka Bank Halishahar Branch has a strong opportunity to achieve strong market in Halishahar area because it is situated in a appropriate and attractive place. In short time Halishahar Branch gathered 30 core deposits; this is a great achievement for Halishahar branch and also achieving healthy profit as a new branch. From my view, this branch has some Strength these are: ? Dhaka Bank has well reputation in the market. It is number one Private commercial Bank in Bangladesh. ? In Halishahar branch efficient management practice. ? Halishahar branch is Well-furnished and Air-conditioned Bank. Dhaka Bank’s Officers are highly educated. ? Dhaka Bank’s Executives are highly qualified and ex perienced. ? Credit Department of Halishahar branch is strong prospective department. ? Dhaka Bank gathered maximum market share in banking business. ? Dhaka Bank not engaged in unfair business practice. ? Dhaka Bank has many attractive deposit schemes. ? Dhaka Bank becomes more reliable to the all kind of people. References 1. Kenova, V. & Jonasson P. 2006. Quality Online Banking Service. Jonkoping university. 2. Pallent, Julie. 2007. SPSS Survival Manual: A Step by Step Guide to Data Analysis usingSPSS for Windows. England: McGraw. 3. Cooper, D. R. , & Schindler, P. S. (2003).Business research methods (9th Ed. ). Mc GrawHill. 4. Cooper and Schindler (2006) 5. Malhotra 2003 6. http://www. htm. uoguelph. ca, 7. â€Å"Marketing Professional Services† By Philip Kotler, Thomas Hayes, Paul Bloom. 8. Mr. Alan Lau, Head of Consumer Banking, Maybank Singapore 9. October 20011 Mr. Laksham Silva, CEO, DFCC Vardhana Bank (07/03/2012 ADRIANA REYNERI), (Tanbir Ahmed Chowdhury-2009). â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Deposit-slip depositing the cheque along with Crossing of the cheque are done indicating the Branch as collecting bank Entries are given in the Outward Clearing Register Endorsement â€Å"Payee’s A/C will be credited on realization† is given

Language and Logic: Behind the Last Word

There has been a lot of misconception whether the true nature of the language hides behind the context of every letter it has. But since the systematic arrangement of the letters give the essence to what it will mean, the notion of having a naturalistic view wherein we are settled to believe that everything exists as they are is not a god point in defining the social phenomenon that later make it useful. As defined by the writer, those who successfully undergone the challenges that was set by the fast changing environment wherein the substance of the spoken literature and the unheard story of the language emerged as the primary tool of examining the precise condition of certain issue in the society. As we are aware of what is happening around us, it is equally important to visualize the significance of taking some actions in accordance to what we see as fit and right. Moving on from the tradition of generations, the awareness of having these things behind the power of language had settled the misconceptions of breaking the odds that was produced by the conflicting ideas of the members of the community. Because of these, the struggle to fight the increasing prejudice and the social problem arises from the bottom line of the issue. Since then, the power to develop certain criteria and use of the language as a tool of communicating with others had been undermined by some technological advancement which does not promote any metaphysical understanding. It is important that we use the development of our language in developing our relation to the cosmic being. With the use of the language as a powerful tool, we can not only use this as a communicating skill but the ultimate tool in discovering the facts behind the fallacies and the truths behind the fake notion. At any case, those who obtained the pure understanding of how the language works will be able to understand how different language perceived stimuli from sources and attached meaning to it as it try to develop the utmost understanding of the issue. It also provides the venue for rationalization of everything that has been incorporated with such idea in developing behind the context of the situation. Since it has been needed to aspire the success and the continuous growth of a certain language for the achievement of the goals being set by the majority of the society where in effect, the introduction of the new system of communication will lead to a better development of communicational skills. Since what matters most in our daily communication with other people is the meaning attached to every letters and words that came from our mouth, the internal realization of the thoughts that had been made is the primary important point in determining the validity of a statement. Although we do not have an objective basis in pin pointing the deviation of the truth from the lie, but the greater discovery behind that is that, whenever there are sudden outburst of emotion, it is a sudden manifestation of the inner desire where the language capability of the human had been surpassed and the language he or she knows does not offer a venue or even a meaning for the said emotion. In setting this development, we had conquered the primary barrier where people had been fighting for recognition of certain important points but failed to adhere to the basic rule of language sensitivity where all the words that we used has some implications on the social status that we have been gone through. But in the end, the language itself is a complete tool of undermining the meaning imposed by the society itself in conquering the true nature of the real world, where the language has a great effect and no one bothered to listen when you know that there have been more things to be said than to be left unspoken. Provided that all the premises had been satisfied, logically speaking, it can give explanations to many uncertainties in life. By continuously analyzing the causality and the effects of certain situation, logically, we can arrive to a better explanation of the phenomenon that we’ve been going through. Many believed that such idea had falsely equated the truth to the absolute truth and to the ways of finding the truth. The well supported proposition of having a logical manifestation of our daily encounters in life had been sufficiently proven by the facts and the literal explanation he mentioned. He showed that in able to define one’s position in the place where he assumed any position, it will only be put into a realization where the complete arguments and the representation of all the abstract concepts will be materialized. In this sense, all that we can give reasons and prove by any mathematical or logical explanation can be regarded as the truth and branded as the last word. The search for this had tried to invade the human civilization as it occurred in different places across time. But the quick impact and the history left by this notion had made us developed the consciousness of having a more concise and logical views in the society as it shows the true side of the society. Since then, the analysis of the context based on its logical composition will not only yield us in discovering the truth but also finding the way to the truth. For searching the exact definition of the experience he or she encountered, an individual can now freely assess his r her environment as it gives impact to his or her behaviors. In doing so, the subjective part of the human development will help the objective part, which is the logical and other first order knowledge, in discovering the truth behind the life scenic view of every day’s interaction with each other. By looking into the capacity of humans to decode and understand the meaning attached to every symbols he or she is seeing in the society, by extracting the logical element of it and transforming into some useful information that can be used as the front runner of having a established notion for the people to freely assess the developmental change that might occur in the group of people as well. In this case, the logic of dealing and having a more precise view whether it is something that needs the intervention of the cosmic side of the world or stay at least in the radical minds of the people is still important in looking forward into the impact it has in the society and the questions it forged. From the time being of realization and finding the truth behind all the questions and through scientific investigations, we can narrow down our limitations and make us more aware of the external environment that we’ve been going through. In effect, the perspective of the world as a two-dimensional stage will be transformed into an object presented in many dimensions, each dimensions represents a part of it which may be small, but highly essential for it to exist. As we try to rediscover the known knowledge given to us by the generation that came before us, the power of discovering something and merging it as our own is the power that we can have as we go through with the challenges of life. This book by Thomas Nagel had opened many philosophical queries and questions that until now, looks like unfamiliar to most of the people. Many still does not understand the different concepts of looking into the elements of life as Nagel tries to point out. Although we have many cultural background, we are bounded by the universality of the reaction we could made in order to secure the relationship not only with our close group but with the environment we have in our system. Thus, language and logic is the two important tools in dealing with the search for the explanation of the existence and finding the truth hidden behind the context of certain social phenomena. As it is equally important of finding yourselves in the diversified society, this elemental component should be integrated for you to function better.

China Blue Documentary

Erin Brumbaugh 03. 18. 2013 ChinaBlue/Ngai China Blue offered a different perspective on the working women of China in sweatshops. The quota levels and the pay was very disorganized, and called for very in-depth attention to the workers by management. In China Blue, the girl was marveled at the accommodations of the factory, and quickly realized that these accommodations, and the food provided was not free, nor were they really much better than her home life.According to Ngai, dormitory labor systems regulate the labor mobility, and control the labor force in a way that is usually not seen. Many of the laborers are migrant workers that travel from the countryside to the city to find work, and as seen in China Blue, these workers are often underpaid, and have strict regulations from being in the city. In both the article and the film, the factory controls the migrant workers, and the city provides legislation and/or policy that the factories must house them.By having dormitories onsit e, the factory is almost its own little city. It provides food, shelter, and because they control every portion of the laborers life, they can force them to work late, and penalize them for bad behavior, or not meeting their quotas. According to Ngai, the dormitory system is also stressful on these migrant workers as it removes them from their families. Isolation and maltreatment in the form of cheap labor is how China expects to compete globally.The force their workers to work long hours, subsidize their living expenses, and keep their wages low. There seems to be a force dependency upon the work. This is seen in the film. The girl was isolated, and unable to return home during the New Year. She was left by herself, and she relied heavily upon her fellow workers. However, the camaraderie between coworkers only extended so far. There is also the issue of adjusting to the new economy. As China entered the WTO, and the rural life became harder, people began to send their children to t he city to earn more money.These low educated youth are expected to work in the factories, and have very little knowledge of the world outside their farmstead. This is the major point discussed in the film. These factories make a lot of money exporting their goods abroad. China’s economy is based upon exports. And their profit margin increases when they don’t have to pay their workers well. It was seen quickly that when a strike was going to be staged, the manager in China Blue was willing to concede immediately to get their shipment sent. In order to do that, the workers were forced to work all night.

Student's Demands on and Expectations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Student's Demands on and Expectations - Essay Example But still, they are not mature enough to take complete responsibility (although partial) for their actions and reactions. University students, on the other hand, are much more mature and are completely able to live a life on their own. They can take their own decisions, make their own choices and are able to take the responsibility for their actions and reactions, whatsoever. There are thousands of all kinds of expectations and demands made on high school students. These demands create an environment that puts a pressure on the students enabling them to familiarize with competition and professionalism. These demands help them become more realistic, more practical, more familiarized with the outer world (outside their innocent nutshells) and come out of their childhood fantasy-world. Teachers demand students to be more mature in their studies, mainly assignments, writings, papers, reports, presentations, etc. They also demand them to be less childish and more grown-up for that matter. After so many things expected from high school students, they have some expectations in turn too. They expect their elders to be more cooperating and helping as their lives become more and more challenging so that they get thorough this very difficult, yet interesting and very memorable part of their lives. They expect their teachers to assist them in the more challenging jobs and assignments assigned to them and want a little leniency, at least in the attitude, to help them cope with these new challenges. Demands on University Students: University students are subjected to similar expectations as the high school students as well but on a much higher level. Since they are considered to be much more grown up and mature. Considered to be old enough, they are expected to portray a bit more adult behavior than high school students. Their teachers expect them to be more professional and able to understand harder things easily. Since they are about to enter the actual professional world soon enough, they are expected to come out of books, understand the practical world and act accordingly. The environment of a university is rather professional than educational since the main thing to be taught at this level is professionalism and practicality and not education (since that is what is done throughout their previous years - like high school) Parents expect them to be almost completely on their own. Sometimes, they are even expected to fulfill their financial requirements themselves through some part-time job etc (unlike high school students who are completely dependent upon parents). Expectations of University Students: Unlike high school students, the expectations of university students are comparatively more practical and realistic. They try to be on their own as much as they can but obviously they are not independent grown-ups (but on the verge of being one). So they expect at least some leverage in some such regards. Similarly, they are not

Read the case and assignment, and answer the question. don't find any Assignment

Read the case and , and answer the question. don't find any resource from Internet or other book - Assignment Example The force is only significant when certain suppliers within the industry can differentiate their products to improve the quality of the industry’s products. However, the supplier bargaining power can influence the industry since not all suppliers possess all the movies available in the movie rental industry. Potential new entrants pose a strong competitive force within the movie rental industry. The dynamic nature of markets makes it easy for emerging firms to penetrate the market to fill any identified gaps within the industry. Existing firms do not have any control over the changing markets. New entrants increase the competitive forces within the industry. Similar firms in the industry compete on the basis of ‘business rivalry’ among themselves. The strength to attract customers among multiple sellers in the industry is the strongest competitive force. Customers are satisfied by the product that satisfy their needs, and maximizes their utility. Movie libraries compete to attract customers with the aim of maximizing revenue. The firm with the largest customer base becomes the most preferred firm among the existing and prospective customers. There are numerous changes about where and how movie rentals can be sourced. Movie rentals can be obtained from cable, fiber-optic, and satellite television providers. Consumers can connect their television sets to the internet to stream movies from online providers. Consumers are at liberty to obtain movie DVDs by; The internet has proven to be limitless within the movie rental industry. Advancements in technology have forced Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Prime Instant Video to resolve to online streaming as opposed to the traditional pay-per-view rentals. The gradual transition from pay-per-view and Video on Demand (VOD) rentals to unlimited internet streaming is a driving force in the movie rental industry. The dynamic nature of the movie rental industry

The relationship between justice or rights Essay

The relationship between justice or rights - Essay Example It can be noted that there is a correlation between the concepts of rights and law. As such, this paper seeks to critically analyse the relationship between rights and law. It starts by defining these two concepts in order to get a full understanding of their meanings. The main part of the paper discusses the theoretical framework underpinning these two concepts. Human rights are literally the rights that one has simply because he or she is human. Donnely (1998, p. 3) posits to the effect that â€Å"human rights, because they rest on nothing more than being human being, are universal, equal and inalienable. This means that everyone is entitled to human rights and is empowered by them regardless of creed or belief. Theoretically, Joel Feinberg: â€Å"To have a right is to have a claim to something and against someone, the recognition of which is called for by legal rules or, in the case of moral rights, by the principles of an enlightened conscience,† (1980 p. 159-160). Human beings should be treated as equal and their rights should not be violated by others. As going to be discussed in detail below, there are various institutions that are mainly concerned with protecting the rights of people in different countries. ... Thus, in different countries, respective governments lay down binding regulations that form the law of the land as enshrined in the constitution (Muller et al, 2007). As such different cases are reported to different courts and these have the power to settle issues that may exist among different people in the society. The law also stipulates that all the accused persons have the right to fair trial and they are innocent until they are proven guilty by the court. In most cases, the law is specifically meant to regulate the behaviour of different people in their societies. From the above explanations, it can be seen that there is a close relationship between the concepts of rights and law. In as far as the concept of rights is concerned, John Locke’s Second Treatise Government 1776 posits to the effect that individuals have natural rights to their lives, liberties and estates (Donnelly, 1998). In the absence of government, these rights are of little value. Therefore, the governm ent has a responsibility to ensure that the rights of the people are protected. The existence of the government and people’s rights are complimentary as they are designed to serve the interests of the people. The government is an institution that has the power to enact laws that guide the behaviour of the people in their respective countries in order to ensure that there is peace and harmony among the people. In essence, the existence of the government is mainly concerned with protection of people’s rights so that they are not violated. It can be noted that there is a close link between the concepts of law and rights. According to Locke’s philosophy of inalienable rights among the people, the government is based on social contract between the rulers and the ruled (Tackach,

'Despite the extenxive advances in integration in the European Union, Essay

'Despite the extenxive advances in integration in the European Union, the member states remain in the driving seat'. How accura - Essay Example ember States are Seen to Remain in the Driving Seat.† How Accurate is this Description of Where Power Lies in the European Union? Introduction The European Union The European Union which is more formally referred to as the European Economic and Monetary Union is essentially an economic and political Union that that comprises of 28 different countries that are seen to primarily located in Europe. The European Union (EU) is seen to primarily operate through a number of institutions that variously include; the European Union Council, the EU court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Commission as well as the European Parliament. The Union essentially serves to establish a common market for use by its different member states, a factor that caused the Union to eliminate the restive border controls that existed between the member states. This has allowed for the relatively free flow of both people and goods although there are however, random checks that are normally conduc ted to prevent drug trafficking and crime between the different members states (Staab, 2013). The common market formed by the European Union is seen to allow for the legal sale of products that have been manufactured in one country in another different country without the restrictive influence of any duties or tariffs. Taxes across the Union’s different member countries are also seen to have been greatly standardized. The EU is also seen to allow service providers in various fields such as medicine, banking, law, tourism, and insurance to freely operate across all the different member countries of the Union. While the formulation of successive treaties is seen to have helped provide the EU with an extensively elaborate foreign policy making machinery, the various member states of the EU are seen to not collectively mobilize their strength to help the Union fully realize its power. It is this position that is seen to raise question surrounding power in the European Union and t he general postulation that â€Å"Despite the Extensive Advances in the Integration of the European Union, the Member States are Seen to Remain in the Driving Seat.† The History of The Formation of the European Union The idea behind the formation of a unified Union Europe is seen to not be a new one. During the 9th Century, the Frankish emperor is seen to have made efforts towards the unification of Europe and ended up dominating much of Europe. During the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte is seen to have led France in an attempt to try and attain this objective and also ended up conquering a large part of Europe. During the 1930’s, the dream of having a unified Europe is seen to have been borne by Adolph Hitler who sparked the second world war in his attempt to conquer all of Europe. Throughout history, numerous wars

Compare the ways philosophers, Machiavelli and Hobbes, DESCRIBE OR Essay

Compare the ways philosophers, Machiavelli and Hobbes, DESCRIBE OR JUSTIFY POLITICS-AS-VIOLENCE - Essay Example With freedom man considers politics as his highest responsibility for his society stressing the significance of moral values and standards. With a variety of activities afforded by a new found freedom under shifting historical conditions, man starts behaving in morally questionable and dazzling explosion of human vice. Stressfully, political philosophy has provided answers to these behaviors as an approach to correct erring human behavior. However such means does not effect a certain change in a short period of time. Recognizing the increasing scope, intensity and sophistication of vices and crimes brought about by globalization, politics has approached violence as an aggressive means to attain a certain stature and the fastest solution to achieve political power and agenda that tends specifically recruit others to form a stronger criminal group. Government systems have learned to adapt to the controversial theories of Hobbes and Machiavelli who propagate violence to justify the swif t solutions to the critical problems faced by a society. Such theories have a purposeful goal to control errant behavior; however veiled attempts to use such for one’s own political gain and selfish reassurance for maintenance of power would leave the society and the common populace struggling under a stringent dictatorial rule. Both Hobbes and Machiavelli have equated politics seemingly dependent on violence-based solutions to any socio-political situation encountered. Man and society’s struggle for survival, maneuvering for position and fighting over spoils (Lerner, 1950:11) has produced certain livid situations that call for the action of the one in power. In Machiavelli’s The Prince, proposes that stability was paramount and the government or ruler could achieve such balance should be tyrannical. Intensely singing praises to a character of power is depicted to his well-emphasized Prince. Machiavelli astoundingly adhered

Tea market segmetation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tea market segmetation - Research Paper Example Tea bags and loose leafs will be packaged in paper and aluminium boxes in 50gm and 100 gm packaging. Cold ready mix teas will be packaged in soft pouch and also aluminium cans. The printing on packaging will not inform customers about the brand and its values but also provide history of herbal and specialized teas and their benefits according to the type of tea. The front of packaging will have soft images of herbal and specialized teas stored in it. The logo of the brand will comprise of a leaf image in green colour with colourful vibrant background. d. Place The company aims to adopt a step wise approach to the market where distribution network will be used to distribute different types of herbal and specialized teas to wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, hotels, and coffee shops. Wholesalers in particular will be engaged to make distribution to large retail stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Asda, etc. The distribution intensity of the new brand and its products is dep endent upon various factors including the size of the target market segment, pricing of the company and funds to be allocated for the promotion of the brand. Initially, the new brand will use selective distribution to sell its products to wholesalers and retail outlets and coffee shops in London Area. The reason for choosing this approach is due to the company’s unique selling proposition which needs to be tested out in one major region of UK tea market. Once the company gain experiences from this market then it will engage in intensive distribution throughout UK. e.Price There are various pricing strategies that may be considered when introducing a new brand in the market. Based on the characteristics of the UK tea market it... The distribution intensity of the new brand and its products is dependent upon various factors including the size of the target market segment, pricing of the company and funds to be allocated for the promotion of the brand. Initially, the new brand will use selective distribution to sell its products to wholesalers and retail outlets and coffee shops in London Area. The reason for choosing this approach is due to the company’s unique selling proposition which needs to be tested out in one major region of UK tea market. Once the company gain experiences from this market then it will engage in intensive distribution throughout UK. e.Price There are various pricing strategies that may be considered when introducing a new brand in the market. Based on the characteristics of the UK tea market it is obvious that the new brand has to face tough landscape in terms of the intense competition between existing prices and their ability to produce and market tea at lower profit margins. According to BBC, the price of tea is rising due to the increase in demand for tea (Twining). Therefore, the company can adjust its pricing strategy according to the expected demand for its different types of herbal and specialized teas.

Strategy management - culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategy management - culture - Essay Example When an organization merges its tangible and intangible resources, it keeps the resource-based view (RBV), allowing itself to move in the pool of competition (Abt, 2007). Management scholars view RBV in a slightly different context. They have signified certain gaps in RBV approach, which needs further critical identification. To verify these gaps in RBV, Google Inc. has been chosen to assess the discrepancies, which is a prominent and successful business organization in the contemporary period (Henry, 2008). There are many things besides the Resource-based view that brought Google into a success position. Innovation is the first key step that marked its way towards successful performance (Farnham, 2014). Similarly, it is Google’s top leadership, which had the vision and competitiveness to bring the organization to that successive phase. Above of all, it was Google’s mastery of knowledge management (KM) that brought the company in to such distinction of progression. Not to forget, Google’s reliance on innovative strategies to make it both cost and product effective (Barney, 2001). Google kept the Resource-Based view of its resources, but also enhanced its culture of innovation to gain competitive advantage (Burke, 2010). It was something more than just adaptation of RBV concept that brought Google to success. All this indicates that Resource-Based view is not the only thing required for competitive success, but there are other significant factors that bring competitiveness within organization. RBV approach is basically contributes lesser for competitiveness (Abt, 2007). Through contemporary business perspective, mergers and acquisitions are strategic dimensions for any emerging organization (Phillips & Gully, 2011). According to general perspective of organization’s leadership, mergers and acquisitions are sufficient to raise company’s horizontal knowledge, which is very important for bringing competitiveness in long

A Reflection Paper on Animal Minds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Reflection Paper on Animal Minds - Essay Example I find this article very interesting and intellectually stimulating. As a human being, I often take for granted that animals respond to different external stimuli without really thinking. I hold the preconception that as opposed to humans, animals solely rely on their instinct and reflexes in order to survive. However, this article opens my mind into the possibility that maybe, at some points, animals also think and are conscious about their actions and emotions. The body of literature explored by the author appears very convincing that animals do share a level of consciousness even if it is largely limited compared to human beings. I agree with the claims that "some kind of mental activity is being attributed to animals: that is, there is considered to be some internal sifting and selection of information rather than simply the release of certain responses by a certain set of environmental conditions" (Griffin 10). This claim can be supported by human experiences and their interaction with animals. For instance, the argument that animals can process and retain information is evidenced by the fact that they can learn certain skills-parrots can be trained to speak specific words and dogs can be taught to perform funny tricks.

Career Apparel and Uniform Essay Example for Free

Career Apparel and Uniform Essay Career and Uniform apparel becomes a necessity for many Americans in the work place. Now a days, many people characterize or stereotype curtain job positions base on what people wear. For example, a police officer, a security, and an army solger can not be able to distinguish without their uniform. In contrast, people that works in the corporation word they do not have to wear uniform, to distinguish them from others. However, professionals have to followed a dress code guide line. This guideline helps the professional to a good first impression in the workforce. For this assignments, I interviewed two gentleman’s that uses career apparel as well as uniform. Sammy haddad, which job is internal auditor for KPMG, and Mickey Walker, which jobs is a police officer in Seagoville Tx. Whether career apparel or uniform, each of my interviewers is has their personal opinion about their type of apparel that they have to wear during work hours. Sammy haddad, auditor for KPMG, has to wear business causal clothe almost every day. His dress code is a collar shirt with long sleeves tuck in with dress slacks. However, there are some days that Sammy has to meet with clients for business meetings and his company requires him to wear suits. Sammy’s personal opinion is that he hates wear suits, especially in Texas because sometimes his meetings are far from his offices. On the hand, mickey walker the police officer found his uniform very practical and utilitarian for the performance of his job. However his does not like how thick is the fabric and uncountable to wear during summer time. Without any questions, to be able to wear career apparel the professional needs to have a budget to be able to afford the career apparel. For example, Sammy’s annual income is $75.000 and he purchase his own wardrobe. Every year, Sammy’s buys three dress shits and two dress pants at brooks brothers, he purchase a suit every tree years and for the rest of the year he purchase items on sale at banana republic. In contrast, Mickey’s annual income is 52.00 a year. His department pays for two uniforms every tree years and if he needs other uniforms he has to purchase it with his own money. Over all, career apparel and uniforms has a propose in their own work classification. In Sammy haddads case, the career apparel a most, because it gives him cre dibility, authority, professionalism and is good for the work environmental during work and after work hours. The only thing that he dislike about the dress code is that he has to pay the cleaners services. The other perspective is Mickey’s, he likes his uniform just because it gives him authority, and it distinguish him from other in case of emergency. Finally, career apparel and uniform are necessary for cretin’s jobs. Both of the jobs requires the professional to dress in a matter that shows the valued for their work position and sometime incase of emergencies it helps the people to distinguish the authority.

Vitamin C Effect on Apple Browning | Experiment

Vitamin C Effect on Apple Browning | Experiment This experiment was designed to investigate the effect of Vitamin C concentration on the enzymatic browning of apples. Apple slices were dipped into Vitamin C solution of different concentration ranging from 0 mg to 100 mg. They were left under room temperature and conditions for 24 hours before the browning index was measured. There was a general decrease in browning index as Vitamin C concentration increased with 80 mg showing the lowest browning index. Pearsons product-moment correlation coefficient established a strong negative correlation between the two variables investigated with a 5% confidence level. The results supported the experimental hypothesis. Research and Rationale The browning of certain fruits such as apples, pears, peaches and bananas is caused by an oxidation process known as enzymatic browning which requires three factors: substrate, which consists of polyphenolic compounds; a polyphenol oxidase (PPO), an enzyme that can catalyze the first step in the reaction; and oxygen, a reactant.[1,3] Enzymatic browning is mostly undesirable but is inevitable when these fruits are subjected to mechanical injuries or processing. When fruits are sliced or the skin of the fruit is pierced open, the enzyme PPO which exists in the cells are released and exposed to the surrounding air. Upon contact with oxygen in the atmosphere, PPO reacts with oxygen and starts catalyzing the conversion of polyphenolic compounds into quinones. Quinones are not dark in color but are readily polymerized to form complex brown polymers. [12] 369words Prevention of undesirable enzymatic browning is of utmost importance to the food processing industries because browning of fruits will cause deterioration of quality, alteration of flavor and color of fruit products, causing industries to incur losses and wastage of food. Preventive steps include inactivation of enzyme by heat denaturation, the use of acid to inhibit enzyme activity and the use of bisulfites to interfere with browning.[1] In this practical, I am looking at the function of Vitamin C in preventing enzymatic browning. The function of Vitamin C as a natural antioxidant to the browning of sliced apples was first discovered by Dr. Szent Gyorgi, a Nobel Prize Winner. Vitamin C, a strong reducing agent and reactive species, prevents enzymatic browning by reacting with oxygen, inhibiting the PPO enzyme and disallowing oxygen to react with the phenolic compounds. Borenstein (1965), Sapers and Dougles (1987) and Sapers and Ziolkowski (1987) stated that ascorbic acid is a more effective inhibitor of enzymic browning than are sulfites or erythorbic acid. Besides that, Taeufel and Voigt (1964) stated that ascorbic acid is the most significant inhibitor of PPO because it has no detectable flavour at the concentration used which would interfere with the acceptability of the final processed product. Also it has no corrosive action upon metals, in addition to its vitamin value. The biggest advantage of using Vitamin C as a browning inhibitor is it is natural and healthy. [6] Vitamin C is the most widely used as a food additives in inhibiting discoloration due to enzymatic browning because Vitamin C has quite powerful reducing properties together with its obvious physiological acceptance and safety. Moreover, Vitamin C becomes a very common food additive due to its worldwide legislative acceptance and many of its technical uses. The availability of crystalline Vitamin C to a very high standard of purity in industrial quantities has undoubtedly been of assistance in the growth of the market. [2] Apples are chosen as a material in this experiment because apple is a very common fruit used in the food industry and is always included in our daily diet for its high nutritional value. Moreover, apples brown rapidly after being bruised due to their high polyphenolic compound contents. The pale coloration of apples gives an easily observable and clear indication of the amount of browning. Vitamin C is applied on the surface of cut apples to slow down the oxidation process. In the experiment, the amount of browning was indicated by the browning index of the apples. The higher the browning index, more enzymatic browning that took place. According to Eskin et al. (1971)[6] reported that food material must be treated with an adequate amount of Vitamin C to totally halt the browning process, otherwise browning is only slightly delayed, up to the point at which all the Vitamin C is oxidized. Therefore, the aim of experiment is to investigate the relationship between Vitamin C concentration and enzymatic browning of apples, determining the ideal concentration which inhibits enzymatic browning most effectively. Experimental hypothesis The higher the concentration of Vitamin C, the slower is the enzymatic browning of apples. Null hypothesis There is no significant correlation between the concentrations of Vitamin C and the enzymatic browning of apples. Planning A trial experiment was conducted to help me choose the most suitable methods to conduct the experiment, the best 2 quantification methods and the range of concentration of Vitamin C to be used in the real experiment. Methods involved Preparing Vitamin C of different concentration A standard Vitamin C solution of concentration 4mg/ml was prepared by dissolving two 500mg Vitamin C tablets in 250ml of distilled water and homogenised in a volumetric flask. Six different concentrations of Vitamin C solutions of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100mg with the same total volume of 25 ml were prepared by serial dilution method. To make Vitamin C solution of 20mg, 5ml of the stock solution was mixed with 20ml of distilled water. To make 40mg, 10ml of stock solution was mixed with 15ml of distilled water and so on. 5ml of buffer at pH6.5 was added into each solution. A control solution of only distilled water was also prepared. Preparing the apple cubes A total of 30 freshly cut apple cubes of dimension 2.0-2.0 cm were prepared. Each five apple cubes were dipped into one of the solutions prepared. The apple cubes were then placed on separate Petri dishes and left at room temperature and conditions for 24 hours. Collecting data The apple cubes were examined with 3 different methods. Firstly, the intensity of the colour of the browned apple cubes was examined using a colour scale from 1 to 9. The percentage coverage of browned parts of the apple cubes was also examined using a 2-2cm quadrat. Lastly, the apple cubes are homogenised in a blender for 2 minutes, followed by centrifuging at 10000 rpm. After filtering the solution, the browning index of the clear fruit juice obtained was determined by measuring the absorbance at 420nm using a spectrophotometer.[7,5] Trial results From the results obtained, I learnt that increasing Vitamin C concentration does have an effect on the browning of apples and the most preferable method of quantification was measuring the browning index. The results obtained from measuring the percentage coverage and colour intensity were less significant and these observations were very subjective. Besides that, I realised that the trial results were inconsistent and did not show significant difference in all the quantification methods used. This may be either caused by errors and limitations occurred during the trial experiment or the concentration of Vitamin C used was not high enough. However, according to Linus Pauling Institute in Oregon State University, the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C for normal healthy adult above age 19 is around 75 to 95mg.[4,9] Thus, increasing the Vitamin C concentration was not advisable. Therefore, subsequent experiments were carried out by using the same Vitamin C concentrations but steps were taken to ensure the errors and limitations were minimised. Vitamin C stock solution was heated to ensure complete dissolving but the temperature of heating cannot be too high to prevent breakdown of Vitamin C. Procedures were repeated once to get more reliable results and the number of apple cubes used were increased from 5 to 10. This could help eliminate any browning happening due to chance. Besides that, all the apparatus used for the cutting and handling of the apple cubes were cleaned thoroughly and free from rust as rust can accelerate the browning of apples. Apparatus Petri dishes, measuring cylinder, glass rod, beaker, boiling tubes, filter funnel, normal laboratory spectrophotometer, cuvette, pestle and mortar, water bath, knife, dropper, volumetric flask, blender, centrifuge, knife, marker pen Materials Distilled water, apples, Vitamin C tablets, label stickers, filter paper Variables Manipulated: Concentration of Vitamin C (mg) Serial dilution technique was used to make the same volume of lime juices containing different Vitamin C concentration. The Vitamin C concentrations used were 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100mg. The control was distilled water to allow comparison to be made. Responding: Browning index (ABS) The browning index was determined by blending, centrifuging, filtering and measuring the percentage absorbance at 420nm of the oxidised apple cubes. Controlled: Types of apples, pH of Vitamin C solution, surrounding temperature All the apples used in the experiment were of the same type, same origin and were bought from the same supermarket at the same time. The pH of the solutions was kept constant using a buffer at pH6.5. The apple slices were placed in separate Petri dishes in the laboratory under normal room temperature. Real Experimental Procedure Six different concentrations of Vitamin C of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100mg were prepared. Sixty apple cubes were cut with 10 apple cubes dipped into each concentration. The apple cubes were placed in different Petri dish and left at room temperature and condition for 24 hours. The apple cubes were then homogenised in a normal blender for 2 minutes centrifuged at 10000rpm and filtered. The absorbance of the clear apple juice at 420nm was measured using a spectrophotometer and the reading of the spectrophotometer was recorded as the browning index. The experiment was repeated once. Safety Precautions Gloves were worn when dealing with Vitamin C tablets to prevent the tablet from being contaminated. Vitamin C solutions were prepared in situ and sealed after the preparation to prevent any loss of Vitamin C due to oxidation. Care was taken when cutting the apple into cubes with knife to avoid cutting the hand. Knife and all the apparatus involved in the handling of apple cubes were cleaned thoroughly before the experiment and were make sure to be free from rust as rust can accelerate enzymatic browning. Apples were made sure to be healthy and not bruised when they were purchased. All glassware and apparatus were clean and free from laboratory chemicals. Special glassware and equipment, stored away from all sources of laboratory chemical contamination, and reserved only for food experiments was used.[8] Data Collection in Main Study Statistical Analysis There is a quite clear negative correlation between Vitamin c concentration and the browning index. This relationship was further proven by using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient[10,11] to test the linear dependence between the two variables being investigated. The correlation coefficient, r ranges from -1 to 1. A value of 1 implies that a linear equation describes the relationship between X and Y perfectly, where as Y increases, X increases. A value of -1 implies that when Y decreases, X increases. A value of 0 implies that there is no linear correlation between the two variables. The negative value of r indicates a negative correlation between the two variables investigated. The critical value for 5% confidence level = 0.811, which is smaller than the value of r calculated from the data of the real experiment. Therefore, the PMCC analysis showed that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between the concentration of Vitamin C and the browning index. The null hypothesis can be rejected. Data Analysis The graph showed that the increasing Vitamin C concentration brings about an overall decrease in the browning index of the apple cubes by 69 %. From 0 mg to 80 mg of Vitamin C concentration, the browning index decreases almost linearly. Although there was a slight increase in browning index from 80 mg to 100 mg, the value of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, r = 0.942 re-affirmed that there is a strong negative correlation between Vitamin C concentration and browning index. The browning index is an indication of the proportion of oxidised phenols[7] during apple storage of 24 hours in the experiment. A lower browning index indicates a lower proportion of reacted phenolic compounds. In other words, the lower the browning index, the lesser the enzymatic browning taking place in the apple cubes. When the apples were cut into cubes, they were exposed to oxygen and enzymatic browning was initiated. By coating the apple cubes with a layer of Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid (AA) which is a very strong reducing agent, the process of enzymatic browning was inhibited as AA prevented O-quinone from being converted to its colored end product. Besides, AA competed with polyphenol oxidase (PPO) to react with oxygen. AA also formed a barrier to prevent oxygen from reacting with the substrate of the enzymatic browning process. The mode of AA action upon phenols can be summarized as follow: [6] O -diphenol +  ½ O2 O quinone + H2O O -Quinone + AA O- diphenol + dehydro AA A A +  ½ O2 dehydro AA + H2O With increasing Vitamin C concentration, more Vitamin C was made available to prevent the oxidation of phenols, thus the amount of oxidised phenols which contributed to the absorption at 420 nm was reduced and the browning index decrease. From the graph, the Vitamin C concentration that gave the lowest browning index was 80 mg. The browning index at this concentration was 86% lower than that of 0 mg. This showed that 80 mg was the ideal concentration which inhibits enzymatic browning happening in the apple cubes most effectively. Vitamin C concentration of 0 mg was used as a control in this experiment to show that Vitamin C did play a role in inhibiting enzymatic browning. The browning index at 100 mg was higher than that at 80 mg when it was expected to be lower. This may be due to another type of browning, known as non-enzymatic browning taking place in the apple cubes in which ascorbic acid was found out to play a role in some non-enzymatic browning. The non-enzymatic browning may have produced end products which also caused absorption at 420nm. As ascorbic acid affects non-enzymatic browning, the higher ascorbic acid concentration at 100 mg contributes to more non-enzymatic browning than that at 80 mg, contributing to a slightly higher browning index. [1] Evaluation In food processing industries, the average effective level of Vitamin C used for apple halves is 660mg/kg[2], which is also equivalent to 0.66mg/g. The total mass of all the apple cubes used in the experiment for each concentration was 45 g, so the ideal concentration of Vitamin C should be 29.7mg which almost three times lower than the ideal concentration obtained in the experiment. This may be due to errors and limitations which had arisen during the experiment. Apples are very porous and thus very difficult to treat. It is difficult to get ascorbic acid solution into sufficiently intimate contact with the fruit, which is important to maintain the quality of the fruit.[2] In this experiment, the apple cubes were only dipped into the Vitamin C solution and the solution did not have time to diffuse completely and reach every cell in the apple cubes. Besides that, this experiment was carried out under normal room temperature in which enzymatic browning occurs at a faster rate. The apple cubes were left at normal room conditions and constantly exposed to air, thus more ascorbic acid was needed to inhibit enzymatic browning as compared to vacuum packed processed apples. Moreover, a delay in adding ascorbic acid after the cutting of apples will cause permanent browning as the enzyme was not inactivated rapidly enough to prevent any appreciable oxidation to occur before ascorbic acid was added. [2] 3074 words The apples may be subjected to mechanical injuries during handling which may contribute to browning of the apples. Therefore, the apple cubes were handled as carefully as possible. A stainless steel knife was used to make sure there was no rust which could accelerate browning of the apple cubes. Different types of apples have different amount and types of phenolic compounds, substrates of enzymatic browning, which would affect the rate and amount of browning happening.[1,2] Apples of the same origin and type were bought at the same time at the supermarket to minimise this limitation. Further enzymatic browning may occur during the blending of apple cubes which may affect the final browning index. To prevent this, during blending, 50cm ³ of Vitamin C solution of that particular concentration which the apple cubes where dipped into was added. The quantification method used in this experiment has been simplified as the materials and apparatus available in my college laboratory was limited. The experiment can be improved using a more accurate and advanced method, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) assays [6,7] which measures the effect of Vitamin C on the activity of PPO directly so that the results obtained would be more reliable. Other improvements of this experiment include soaking the apple cubes longer in the Vitamin C solution and cutting the apples into smaller pieces to increase their total surface area to volume ratio for rapid diffusion of Vitamin C solution into the apples. Further studies on the type of food additives that affect the enzymatic browning of apples could have been investigated and their effectiveness compared. [6] Conclusion There is a negative correlation between Vitamin C concentration and enzymatic browning with 80 mg as the ideal concentration of Vitamin C which significantly reduced enzymatic browning by 86%. This was determined by the decreasing browning index as the Vitamin C concentration increases. Sources Evaluation Sources 1 to 4 are published books by food experts and also accredited universities. Moreover, books which are published are usually reviewed by other experts from that particular field prior to publication. Therefore, the information from these sources is reliable and factual. Sources 5 to 7 are online journals about Vitamin C and its effect on enzymatic browning, the quantification method of browning and the factors affecting enzymatic browning. These journals are peer-reviewed and so should contain sound scientific information. Furthermore, the information in these journals has been found to correlate each other, implying that they are highly regarded as reliable sources. Cumulative word count: 3349 words Sources 8 to 12 are websites which are well established and have many viewers. Therefore, the information they provide must have been screened and reviewed by experts to ensure they are sound and correct.