Channels of Distribution available to a Financial Service Organization Assignment

Essays on Channels of Distribution available to a Financial Service Organization Assignment ï » ¿ The Financial Service Organizations like Banks generate a lot of financial products and services which in turn are beneficial to a large number of customers. The banks in order to create enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty must focus on maintaining a strong and efficient distribution system through which the banking products and services can be effectively distributed. The two main channels of distribution available to the banks for effective distribution of goods and services are ‘personal selling’ and ‘electronic and telecommunication’ networks. Out of these the channel of distribution based on ‘personal selling’ works on a conventional note while ‘electronic and telecommunication’ on a modern note. The process of ‘personal selling’ conducted by banks is executed through the activities of banking and financial executives working within the bank. Thus, banks in order to reach to a wide range of customers must l ocate their offices in accessible regions so that the process of personal selling gets executed on a happy note. Proximity to the customers helps the banks to render convenience to customers and thus gains a loyal base of potential customers on which the bank can easily depend for profitable business. The second set of distribution channels based on modern approaches is found to go beyond the existing nature of banking operations depending on an office. Modern channels of distribution of banking services and products depend on a wider array of ‘electronic and telecommunication’ networks which can help the customers to avail such services in a lightning speed. Host of electronic and telecommunication devices, products and processes like telephones, Automated Teller Machines, Internet and Plastic Money have transformed the face of the banking industry and made it stand the test of times. (Pezzullo American Bankers Association, 1998, p. 196, 201) Challenges faced by a Bank in distributing financial products through Personal Selling The banks distribute the host of financial products through the process of Personal Selling, which is made possible through the set up of banks in the vicinity of localities. Banks and other commercial institutions in order to occupy a place for setting up of branches and thus catering to business expansion have to depend on the laws of the land. However, in later periods the government of different countries has allowed banks to set up branches in different states, which have helped them to enter newer and different localities quite easily. The realm of distributing banking products through the process of personal selling excites many competitors in the banking cycle. Thus, banks in order to enhance their market base to counter growing competition must go on expanding their branches to acquire newer areas and thereby newer customers. Personal Selling channels are also made lucrative to draw customers from competitive banks. Moreover, the growth of the urban sphere also demands the growth of banking units. Thus, banks in order to set up newer branches must first endeavor to evaluate the general features of the zone and secondly must divulge to conduct a more refined analysis of the particular site concerned where the branch would be located. The banks need to procure first hand information about the income scenario of the several household groups present in the area. Further, the banks must also endeavor to assess the number of owned and rented property in the newer zones and also the employment status of the different household groups. The above assessment helps a bank to rightly estimate the deposit potential of the different householders in the particular region. It would also help to understand the amount of loan on an approximate basis that would be demanded by the households to build residences. In addition, to the above facts the banking institutions must also take into consideration the range of activities carried out by the commercial and industrial z ones in the area and revenue generated thereof to understand the level of current deposits and loans. Specific consideration would also include the right assessment of property costs in the region to conduct a feasible analysis. The bank should also be properly visible and accessible to the people in that zone. (Pezzullo American Bankers Association, 1998. pp. 197-198). Challenges faced by a Bank in distributing financial products through Electronic and Telecommunication The effectiveness of the banking system in distributing financial products through electronic and telecommunication modes depends on various factors, which imply to be the challenges in such activities. Firstly, the bank must identify all possible banking services that can be rendered through the modern channels. Secondly, the technology in use must be reliable enough to carry the load of different activities. Thirdly, the human factor related to the distribution channels, the Customer Service Representatives must be adequately trained to impart trust and efficiency to the customers. Fourthly, the banks must set a proper feedback system to rightly acquire effective feedbacks, which can help modernize their service delivery systems. Fifthly, banks must cater to generate provisions, which would help them to address regulatory changes in such telecommunication modes. (S.C.N. Education B.V., 2001, p. 94) In addition to the stated challenges the banks need to identify the potential servi ce provider, which would render uninterrupted service in Internet communications. The banks must also focus in rightly training their staffs to cater effectively to customer queries and problems while conducting service via Internet. Further, the banks must also lend an eye to the training of customers to rightly adapt to the changing banking service systems. Customers must be made acquainted by the banks about the facilities of Internet and mobile banking so as to eliminate fear from their minds. This would henceforth increase the level of interaction with the banks. However, in the modern Internet age the banks must also focus in creating a safer Internet environment where the customers can easily function. Banks need to be alert about hacking activities, which would continually endeavor to derive passwords and other essential information of the customers. Finally, banks need to be open to understand the level of operations of potential competitors and their way of countering problems. This would help the bank to make their services more effective. (Milutinovic Patricelli, 2002. pp. 104-107). References 1. Milutinovic, V. F.Patricelli. (2002). E-business and e-challenges. IOS Press. 2. Pezzullo, M. American Bankers Association. (1998). Marketing financial services. Kogan Page Publishers. 3. SCN. Education B.V. (2001). Electronic banking:  the ultimate guide to business and technology of online banking. Birkhà ¤user.

To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist Free Essays

Within the Gothic genre, features of the Gothic protagonist include sharply contrasting character traits, some degree of tragic stature, a striking physical presence, an element of the sexual, and an association with the bestial. Stoker presents Dracula with greatly contrasting traits, from the impeccably polite and courteous host who greets Harker at the door, to a raging psychopathic monster. The aristocratic and noble nature of Dracula’s heritage gives him charisma and credibility, on first encounter he seems strange but eccentric, however this lulls Harker, and obviously his female victims, into a false sense of security: â€Å"The light and warmth of the Count’s courteous welcome seemed to have dissipated all my doubts and fears. We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist? or any similar topic only for you Order Now † Stoker reveals Dracula’s true self slowly and subtly, so as to build tension, such as when Dracula touches Harker and he feels: â€Å"a horrible feeling of nausea. This imagery hints at the horror of Dracula’s true character, which is finally revealed when he encounters the Brides: â€Å"But the count! Never did I imagine such wraths of fury, even in the demons of the pit! † Stoker presents the count as being: â€Å"lapped in a storm of fury,† foreshadowing the terrible storm at Whitby when Dracula arrives on English soil. Stoker’s uses the imagery of hell to describe Dracula’s rage, writing: â€Å"his eyes were positively blazing†¦ as if the flames of hell-fire blazed in them. This imagery of a fiery furnace is similar to Milton’s description of Satan in Paradise Lost’ as â€Å"the infernal serpent,† dwelling in a â€Å"penal fire. † However despite Satan’s high status and charisma, he does not have the extreme contrast in personality, and the genteel almost awkward persona that Dracula has. Stoker presents Dracula as having tragic stature through his loneliness and sa dness that his once noble family have been destroyed. Dracula tells Harker that he longs: â€Å"to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is. But alas! † This desire demonstrates how isolated Dracula feels, as he has been left behind, an unwanted remnant of the ancient world. His immortality means he cannot relate to modernity, and the fast pace of life, and he is stuck in an endless cycle, a pseudo-purgatory for the Un-dead. Stoker presents Dracula as talking with great pride of his heritage, which he is determined to reinstate in England: â€Å"We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought†¦ for lordship. Milton also presents Satan as a tragic character, because of his doomed destiny to live forever in the fiery pits of Hell, but also that he has an overwhelming hubris that ultimately makes his downfall so much more difficult to accept: â€Å"for this infernal spirit shall never hold celestial spirits in bondage. † When Dracula is finally killed, Mina writes that: â€Å"even in that moment of final dissolution there was in the face a look of peac e. † Reflecting Dracula’s release from his eternal suffering, showing that despite Vampire’s intrinsic evil, they did not relish their life of pain and death. Another aspect of the conventional protagonist is their striking physical presence, and Stoker presents Dracula as conforming strongly to this, with his strong jaw, aquiline nose and extreme paleness. He has thick eyebrows, wild hair, a â€Å"heavy moustache† and â€Å"remarkably ruddy† lips. Almost immediately Harker notices aspects of Dracula’s character which are not quite normal, describing Dracula as â€Å"cruel-looking,† with his moustache hiding his â€Å"cruel mouth. † This underlying unease demonstrates how Dracula’s physicality reflects and warns of his internal evil. Stoker presents Dracula’s specific appearance as very typical of the genre, as in The Monk, Matthew Lewis describes Ambrosia in an almost identical way to Dracula: â€Å"He was a man of noble port and commanding presence. His stature was lofty, and his features uncommonly handsome. His nose was aquiline, his eyes large black and sparkling, and his dark brows almost joined together. His complexion was of a deep but clear brown; study and watching had entirely deprived his cheek of colour. † This similarity shows how conventional Dracula’s physical presence is, his stature reflecting his high status and aristocracy like Ambrosias. Stoker presents Dracula as having an element of the sexual, through his attacking of women, and his uncontrollable desire to overpower and control others. Harker’s interaction with the Bride’s of Dracula demonstrate the confusing relationship between pleasure and pain that the Vampire embodies: that we somehow desire what we know may or will hurt us. This connection is seen in one of Dracula’s weaknesses: that he cannot enter a house without being invited first, which could be a metaphor for his role as a sexual predator, as a woman has to somehow desire or want Dracula to feed from them in order for him to suck their blood. When Mina discovers Lucy after Dracula’s attack, Stoker describes her using post-coital imagery: â€Å"her lips were parted, and she was breathing- not softly, but in, long heavy gasps† demonstrating how Lucy possibly enjoyed her attack by the handsome stranger. In The Monk Ambrosia is undone by his carnal lust for Matilda, and then his rape of Antonia, as he is transformed from a pious monk into a sexual predator: â€Å"With every moment of the Friar’s passion became more ardent, and Antonia’s terror more intense. However Lewis presents Ambrosia as being full of self-loathing and disgust once he had â€Å"dishonoured† Antonia: â€Å"The very excess of his former eagerness to possess Antonia now contributed to inspire him with disgust. † Stoker presents no such sense of repentance from Dracula, whose uses his sexuality primarily to further his control over England. Finally, Stoker presents Dracula as associating with the bestial, through his control over animals and nature, his connection with the ‘other,’ and his animalistic consciousness. When Harker arrives at the castle, Stoker immediately connects animals with the Count through the images of wolves: â€Å"All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had some peculiar effect on them. † Dracula’s control over animals is one aspect of his foreign and unknown nature, reflecting Victorian fear of the barbarianism of the supposedly unrefined central Europeans. Dracula can transform himself into a giant bat, which appears as a menacing presence throughout the novel: â€Å"there was a sort of scratching or flapping at the window. Dracula’s strange social behaviour and physical presence demonstrates how he is not quite human, and it seems that he certainly relates to animals more than he does to other people: â€Å"Ah, sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the hunter. † Ultimately it is Stoker’s portrayal of Dracula as a character completely driven by primal desires that associates him with the an imal, and any feelings he represses ultimately become apparent. This characteristic along with the others demonstrate how Dracula is primarily a conventional protagonist in his looks and character traits, his doom and his desires. How to cite To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist?, Papers

Photography And Art Essay Example For Students

Photography And Art Essay For many years photography has been used to document the most significant of events, whether they affect an entire society, like a war, or a specific persons life, such as a wedding. The reason that photography is used for such occasions instead of painting, drawing or sculpting is quite simple. It is because photography is the most remarkable of the fine arts. Other forms of art, are aesthetically pleasing and important in their own rite, but photography is so monumental because of the power that only it possesses. This is the power to depict fact. One aspect that makes photography so creditable is that it can show feeling and emotion so much more vividly and doubtlessly than a drawing can. For instance, during the Great Depression the harsh realities were recorded thanks to the initiative of the Farm Security Administration Daval, 186. At this time, Dorothea Lange documented the bitter poverty of migrant workers and their families 20th Century Photography, 1. These images, such as Migrant Mother and Cotton Picker near Firebrough, show, so clearly and almost effortlessly, the pain and despair that was occurring too frequently at this time. There is a loss of hope that is so clear and evident in these photographs from the longing in the eyes of the images shown. Such raw emotion is hard to come by in any other art form. Another reason photography is more trustworthy than other forms of art, is because the image that appears in a photograph, whether it is of a person or an event, has at one point existed or happened. This statement does not always hold true for paintings, sculptures, and drawings. It is simple and usual for an artist to conjure up an image of a person that has never existed and turn them into a work of art. For example, there has been a great deal of speculation about whether or not Leonardo Da Vincis Mona Lisa is a portrait of a real person. Before the relatively recent technological advances, it was not possible to have a picture of a person or an incident that was fictitious. A further example that photography is perceived as more realistic than other methods of art, is that it is possible for an artist to elaborate, emphasize, erase, or even completely change an image that they are trying to capture. Once again, preceding modern advances, this was not possible for a photographer to do. Based on this, and the preceding statement, throughout history viewers have been able to trust that the images they were seeing were genuine, and therefore were able to trust the realism of photographs. Over the years, photography came to be depended on for its ability to show factual images for the reasons stated earlier. Proof of this statement, is the great demand for photographs in magazines and newspapers. The newspaper and newsmagazine depended on his a professional photo-reporters pictures, even more than on the written word. They were an international language of communication, the  one language needing no translation Daval, 190. The rise of photojournalism made the public even more believing of photography and the status of the photograph: from a document before, it now became evidence, irrefutable proof Daval, 173.