Internet Use Policy at Fairleigh Dickinson University

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Internet use Policy As is the case in other educational institutions, Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) has developed comprehensive Internet use policy with regard to intellectual property rights, monitoring and filtering systems, as well as end user training program related to internet use/abuse.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Internet Use Policy at Fairleigh Dickinson University specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In intellectual property rights, FDU has developed an elaborate policy against copyright infringements and plagiarism, not mentioning that it runs all of its programs on genuine and copyrighted software. FDU notes that the rights to ownership of online course content, along with patentable innovations, are governed by the copyright law and thus cannot be dispensed using a policy document (Fairleigh Dickinson University). Course developers (e.g., professors, tut ors, administrators) should take into account that as per the copyright law, copyrightable educational and/or instructional content developed as part of a person’s normal work obligations is deemed to be â€Å"work for hire†, and hence entirely owned by the employing institution. Nonetheless, if the course developer expects that the course material will be used for profitable gain, he or she is encouraged to sign a contract with FDU to minimize the likelihood that ownership disagreements will arise in the future (Fairleigh Dickinson University). Moving on, FDU has installed filtering and monitoring systems against some peer-to-peer applications (e.g., Aimster, Audiogalaxy, DirectConnect, and Napster), not only to minimize the impact of their interference with the institution’s core educational mission, but also to spur network performance by freeing up internet bandwidth, reduce internet costs, and minimize legal complaints generated by the misuse of online appl ications. FDU’s Acceptable Use Policy disallows Internet users from running software programs (e.g., Napster and DirectConnect) containing server components that permit external users to connect to the university’s system and retrieve documents off the system. In its policy document, FDU argues that file sharing software must be prohibited not only because of the legal ramifications involved in sharing copyrighted material, but also due to high exposure to security vulnerabilities (Fairleigh Dickinson University).Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Lastly, FDU does not offer an end-user training plan related to Internet use and/or abuse; however, it has developed an explicit set of rules for acceptable use that should govern those who make use of its computing environment to act in a way consistent with written conventions of conduct. For instance, users must: be responsib le for any computer account given, ensure that their passwords are not easily guessed or shared with other people, not deliberately seek out information about, copy, or amend password files, not endeavor to decrypt material to which they are not entitled, or endeavor to gain rights that have not been exclusively granted by the owner, refrain from any activity or process that interferes with a computer’s operating system or its logging and security features, be sensitive to the public nature of the university’s computer systems and agree not to transmit, post or otherwise exhibit material that is intimidating, obscene, irritating or derogatory (Fairleigh Dickinson University). Issues in Personal use of Computers during Working Hours With personal computers and the Internet now embedded into nearly every aspect of the organizational environment, businesses and institutions are increasingly conscious of the Internet abuse issues raised by workers utilizing the omnipresen t technology to perform personal online dealings during work hours (Siau et al 75). However, it has dawned on employers that regulating the use of internet in the workplace is a challenging endeavor, both in law and practice (Lugaresi 163). This section assesses some issues related to the personal use of the internet by employees during office hours. Personal exploitation of the Internet and other online resources during work hours raises grave ethical/moral as well as legal concerns. In discussing the ethical issues, it is imperative to note that personal use of the Internet broadens the ideological divergence between the employer and the worker, which is further polarized by the contrast between economic freedoms of the employer and primary personal rights of the worker (Lugaresi 163). Ethically speaking, however, various regulatory bodies acknowledge that â€Å"†¦the public consciousness sees the Internet as a vital, inescapable means of communication, information and expre ssion, and a place where one can interact with others, do business, establish relationships and, in other words, live† (Lugaresi 164).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Internet Use Policy at Fairleigh Dickinson University specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Using this lens of assessment, it seems neither reasonable, nor correct, to deprive workers of personal use of the Internet. But it is also not morally correct for employees to continue drawing salaries from the employer if they spend considerable work hours surfing the internet for personal gain. These paradoxical standpoints call for moderation of personal use of the Internet during work hours by allowing the employer’ surveillance in order to minimize abuses (Lugaresi 165). In terms of legal issues, it is important to note that personal use of the Internet during work hours can expose employers to potential lawsuits by virtue of the fact that some employees engage in illegal activities using the employer’s web resources (Lugaresi 164). A sizeable number of employers in the United States have been held liable by the criminal justice system for engaging in illegal activities, such as defamation, sexual harassment, and copyright infringements (Young 35). The employers did not individually engage in these violations in law; rather their employees did using organizational resources at their disposal. The legal violations arising from the personal use of the Internet by employees during work hours are often a costly affair for the organization, with available literature demonstrating that copyright infringements have caused many businesses to go under (Lugaresi 169). In quality of work, it has been noted in the literature that â€Å"†¦computers have undoubtedly changed the way people work, but they have also changed the way people avoid and sabotage work† (Mastrangelo et al 730). Employees are distracted from th eir core work when they visit gambling and pornographic sites, implying that the quality of work is compromised because they are slow to respond to customer demands, unable to meet set timelines, and fail to complete tasks (Young 34)Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In terms of productivity, it is obvious that workers are paid by their respective organizations under the expectations of being productive, but they certainly deviate from the work norms and become unproductive when they start using employer resources, including the Internet, for personal gain and/or non-work purposes (Mastrangelo et al 731). It is imperative to note that personal use of the internet during work hour not only occasion organizational inefficiency due to constricted bandwidth and poor network performance, but can also result in legal liability due to illegal access to copyrighted material (Lugaresi 169). Uninhibited access to the Internet by employees not only leads to a drain on time and budgetary allocations within organizations, but it also hurts their reputation for quality and service, thus the need for regulation and monitoring (Young 34). Websites visited for Non-Work related Purposes The websites mostly visited for non-work-related study include  https://www .chess.com/ (for playing chess online) and  https://finance.yahoo.com/ (to monitor stocks). Works Cited Fairleigh Dickinson University 2012. Web. Lugaresi, Nicola. â€Å"Electronic Privacy in the Workplace: Transparency and Responsibility.† International Review of Law, Computers Technology. 24.2 (2010): 163-173. Business Source Premier. Web. Mastrangelo, Paul M., Windi Everton and Jeffery A. Jolton. â€Å"Personal use of Computers: Distrctaction versus Destruction.† CyberPsychology Behavior. 9.6 (2006): 730-741. Business Source Premier. Web. Siau, Keng, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah and Limei Teng. â€Å"Acceptable Internet use Policy.† Communications of the ACM. 45.1 (2002): 75-79. Business Source Premier. Web. Young, Kimberly. â€Å"Killer Surf Issues: Crafting an Organizational Model to Combat Employee Internet Abuse.† Information Management Journal. 44.1 (2010): 34-38. Academic Search Premier. Web. This essay on Internet Use Policy at Fairleigh Dickinson University was written and submitted by user Jorge Winters to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Italian Prepositions, Preposizioni in Italiano

Italian Prepositions, Preposizioni in Italiano Prepositions are invariable words that serve to link and connect parts of a sentence or clause: vado a casa di Maria; or to join two or more clauses: vado a casa di Maria per studiare. The example illustrates the funzione subordinante (subordinate function) of prepositions that introduce a complement of the verb, either of the noun or the entire sentence. In particular: the prepositional group a casa depends on the verb vado, of which it is a complement; the prepositional group di Maria depends on the noun casa, of which it is a complement; the prepositional group per studiare is the final implicit clause (corresponding to an ending clause: per studiare), which depends on the primary clause vado a casa di Maria. In the transition from the single clause vado a casa di Maria to the two-clause sentence vado a casa di Maria per studiare, a functional analogy can be defined between the preposizioni and congiunzioni subordinative. The first introduce an implicit subject (that is, with a verb in an indefinite mood): digli di tornare; the latter introduces an explicit subject (that is, with a verb in a definite mood): digli che torni. The statistically most frequent prepositions are: di (can be elided before another vowel, especially before an i: dimpeto, dItalia, dOriente, destate)a (the term ad is used, with la d eufonica, before another vowel, in particular before an a: ad Andrea, ad aspettare, ad esempio) Simple Prepositions The following prepositions are listed by frequency of use: da, , con, su, per, tra (fra). Di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra (fra) are called simple prepositions (preposizioni semplici); these prepositions (except tra and fra), when combined with a definite article, give rise to the so-called prepositional articles (preposizioni articolate). The high frequency of these prepositions corresponds to the variety of meanings they express, as well as the wide range of connections that can be made between the parts of the phrase. The specific value that a preposition such as di or a takes in diverse contexts is understood only in relation to the words with which the preposition is grouped, and changes according to the nature of them. In other words, the only way for a non-native Italian to understand how Italian prepositions are used is to practice and become familiar with the many different patterns. This multiplicity of functions at the semantic and syntactic level is manifested, in fact, with a particular emphasis in ambiguous contexts. Consider, for example, the preposition di. The prepositional phrase lamore del padre, depending on the context, can be labeled either a complemento di specificazione soggettiva or a complemento di specificazione oggettiva. The term is equivalent to either il padre ama qualcuno (the father loves someone) or qualcuno ama il padre (someone loves his father). Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Study Prepositions A historical example of ambiguity occurs in Dantes famous expression perdere il ben dellintelletto (Inferno, III, 18), which has become proverbial in the sense of lose the good that is the intellect, lose reasoning. Dante was referring instead to the souls of Hell, and intended ben dellintelletto in the sense of the good of their own intellect, that which is good for the intellect, that is, the contemplation of God, excluding the damned. A different interpretation of the prepositional article dell profoundly changes the overall meaning of the phrase.

How to Use Dialogues in Class

How to Use Dialogues in Class Its easy to get stuck in a rut when using dialogues in class, but these teaching tools are full of potential. Here are some activities that use dialogue beyond just rote reading and parroting.   Use Dialogues to Practice Stress and Intonation Dialogues can come in handy when working on stress and intonation. Students move beyond focusing on single phonemic pronunciation issues and concentrate instead on bringing the right intonation and stress to larger structures. Students can play with meaning through stress by creating dialogues that focus on stressing individual words to clarify meaning. Use dialogues that students are familiar with so that they can focus on pronunciation rather than vocabulary, new forms, etc.Introduce students to the concept of using stress and intonation to highlight content words while brushing over function words.Ask students to highlight their dialogues by marking the content words in each of their lines.Students practice the dialogues together focusing on improving their pronunciation through stress and intonation. Base Impromptu Skits on Dialogues One of my favorite uses of shorter language function dialogues (i.e. shopping, ordering in a restaurant, etc.) for lower levels is to extend the activity by first practicing dialogues, and then asking students to act out dialogues without any help. If you are practicing a number of dialogues, you can add an element of chance by having students pick their target situation out of a hat. Provide numerous short situational dialogues for a target linguistic function. For example, for shopping students can practice exchanges of trying on clothing, asking for help, asking for a different size, paying for items, asking for a friends advice, etc.Have students practice each situation multiple times.Write each situation on a small piece of paper.Students choose a situation randomly and act it out on the spot without any dialogue cues. Extend Dialogues to full Blown Productions Some situational dialogues just call out for full blown productional values. For example, when practicing modal verbs of deduction using a dialogue to make suppositions about what might have happened makes a perfect scenario for practice. Students can begin with a dialogue to get the gist of a scenario, and then let their imaginations take over. Introduce target structure in class. Good structures for longer skits include: conditional forms, reported speech, modal verbs of deduction, speculating about the future, imagining a different past (past modal verbs of deduction).Provide a dialogue with targeted structure as inspiration.Divide the class up into smaller groups, each in the group should have a role.Using the dialogue as a model, students should create their own longer multiple person skit.Students practice and then perform for the rest of the class. Paraphrase Dialogues Paraphrasing dialogues can help students focus on related structures. Begin slowly by asking students to substitute or paraphrase shorter forms. End with more extended dialogues. Provide short dialogues to students and ask them paraphrase shorter phrases. For example, if the dialogue asks for suggestions with a phrase such as Lets go out tonight, students should be able to come up with Why dont we go out tonight, How about going out for a night on the town, etc.Hand out a few different dialogues, ask students to read the dialogue and then create another dialogue on the fly without using the same exact words. Students can take a look at the original lines, but must use other words and phrases.Ask students to read a dialogue to another pair. This pair in turn attempts to repeat the dialogue through paraphrase. As a variation to this exercises for lower level classes, students can expand their use of a wider variety of vocabulary and expressions by using gap fill dialogues. Students still have the structure of the dialogues to hold on to, but must fill in the gaps for the dialogues to make sense.

Moral Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Moral Management - Research Paper Example This paper discuses the concept of moral management in the current business world. Vogel (2005: 51) argues that the objective of management â€Å"is to offer direction, develop commitment, facilitate change and achieve results through creative, effective and responsible use of people and other resources†. Morals on the other hand deal with personal or organizational behavior or a belief regarding what is acceptable or not suitable to do or engage in. In this case, moral management in business organizations and in the society entails the deliberate engagement of people to perform particular tasks that are morally acceptable in the organization. Morals and ethical standing of an organization determines how the public perceives it (Vogel, 2005). For long period, the public gauges the moral standards of an organization using honesty and ethical elements of its management. In this regard, businesspersons are ranked differently depending of there area of specialization or engagement . Aguilar (1994) lists several business professionals that have consistently been ranked low by the public in the last four decades. These include stockbrokers, contractors, car salespersons, advertisement practitioners, insurance agents in addition to real estate agents. The moral and ethical standings of the practitioners who engage in these lines of business in the public view have lower ethical standings compared with other professions including teaching or medicine. Irrespective of the line of the business, that a person or an organization is engaged in, it is important to entrench pragmatic moral practices in order to gain public confidence in the organization that would in turn enhance its performance. In the current competitive and challenging business environment, Baron (2001) notes that customers are more aware of their rights and loyalty to a particular brand or an organization is not enough to maintain them. In view of the current highly globalized world, the issue of bu siness ethics and morality is no longer confined in a particular geographical region. The widespread application of information technology, World Wide Web, electronic commerce, in addition to social networking sites have suddenly exposed small and large enterprises to global scrutiny and this trend underlies the importance of moral management. Similarly, the emerging technology in other aspects of human existence, such as medicine and biotechnology continues to elicit many ethical and moral issues in respect to their application, regardless of the benefits that they offer to humanity. To address these issues in view of globalization and developing technologies, it is important to look at the enduring management practices, their challenges in the business environment and how they need to change to address the merging business moral management issues. In this regard, it is important to investigate moral, immoral and amoral management in order to make a clear distinction among them. Ba ron (2001) argues that immoral management established the foundation of the business ethics discipline. According to Brekke and Karine (2003), unethical and immoral practices in an organization are identical. In this regard, they define immoral management as an organizational practice that not only lacks ethical principles but also in opposition to what is just or right. Therefore, immoral management

Amy Cuddy, TedTalk Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Amy Cuddy, TedTalk - Assignment Example Can you really fake it till you make it? This is true to some extent as it depends on the person and their motivation to achieve what they want. Actually what our body experiences can change what we think in our minds resulting in a change in our behaviors. The moment our behaviors change, the outcome is likely to be the ones we desire. There is so much faking that takes place in the business field. Most of the time people say some things about themselves that would be viewed as pure fiction. This practice is common among the entrepreneurs. People tend to exaggerate their experience, knowledge, compensation and accomplishments. They associate themselves with success in every area of their lives. They go to the extent of posting some of these online for the general public to read. These are made up allegations since they never have hard evidence to support whatever it is they write about. Some of these people actually end up achieving some of the things they fake if they focus very well. Fake it till you make it worked for my brother. When we were young he used to make toy cars and drive them around the neighborhood. He used to imitate the engine using his mouth. He would say that he had a real car that could take him where he wanted to go. The moment he got employed, he bought a car with the same model as the toys he used to

The Nature And Role Of The Financial System Finance Essay

The Nature And Role Of The Financial System Finance Essay Financial system is a mechanism where economic exchange activities can be done. The economic activities can be done through the interaction between financial institutions and the financial market. The purposes of this interaction are to mobilize fund and providing payment facilities for the financing of commercial activities. With the emergence of Islamic finance, the dual financial systems being introduce. In dual financial system the conventional financial systems operating side by side with the Islamic financial systems. The Islamic Financial system consists of the role of four essential mechanisms: The Islamic banking institutions, Takaful, Islamic Capital Market and Islamic Money market. The structure of this financial system may consist of specialized and non-specialized financial institutions, of organized and unorganized financial markets, of financial instruments and services which facilitate transfer of funds. It also comprises of procedures and practices adopted in the Islamic financial markets. The operation and mechanism of the financial system is scrutinized by Bank Negara Malaysia advisory board and Securities Commission Syariah Advisory Board to ensure compliance of Islamic rules and regulations. The Islamic financial institutions which are govern and control under Bank Negara Malaysia are the organizations that mobilize the depositors savings, and provide financing, acting as creditor or in the form of capital venture or financing in the form of profit and loss sharing (PLS). They also provide various financial services to the community, particularly business organizations. The activities will be dealing in financial assets such as deposits, loans, securities or dealing in real assets such as machinery, equipment, stocks of goods and real estate. The activities of different financial institutions may be either specialized or their function may be overlap. They may be classified base on the basis of their primary activity or the degree of their specialization with relation to savers or borrowers with whom they customarily deal or scope of activity or the type of ownership are some of the criteria which are often used to classify a large number and variety of financial institu tions which exist in the economy. Financial institutions are divided into banking and non-banking institutions. The banking institutions traditionally participate in the economys payments mechanism, i.e., they provide transactions services, their deposit liabilities constitute a major part of the national money supply, and they can, as a whole, create deposits or credit, which is money and Banks, subject to legal reserve requirements, can advance credit by creating claims against themselves. Financial institutions are also classified as intermediaries and non-intermediaries. As the term indicates, intermediaries intermediate between savers and investors; they lend money as well as mobilize savings; their liabilities are towards the ultimate savers, while their assets are from the investors or borrowers. Non-intermediary institutions do the loan business but their resources are not directly obtained from the savers. All banking institutions are intermediaries. Many non-banking institutions also act as intermediaries) and when they do so they are known as Non-Banking Financial Intermediaries. The Evolution of Financial Intermediaries in Malaysia In this section, our task is to survey the landscape and identify the institutional players. By describing what financial intermediaries look like today, it is also revealing to see how financial intermediaries have evolved over the last century. Institutional Players The banking system in Malaysia, which is the major component of the financial sector, consists of Bank Negara Malaysia, commercial banks, Islamic banks, International Islamic banks, Investment bank, other non bank institutions and money brokers. Which are all regulated and supervised by Bank Negara Malaysia.  Ã‚  Ã‚  The other non-bank institutions are supervised by other government agencies. These institutions can be divided into four major groups, consisting of the development finance institutions, the saving institutions, the provident and pension funds, and a group of other financial intermediaries, comprising of building societies, unit trusts and property trusts, leasing companies, factoring companies, credit token companies, venture capital companies, special investment agencies and several financial institutions such as the National Mortgage Corporation (Cagamas) and Credit Guarantee Corporation. The traditional banking system role has been to make long-term loans and fund them by issuing short-term deposits.  [1]  But banking systems are prohibited from engaging in securities market activities such as securities underwriting or the sale of trust funds. Therefore, the current design of non-bank financial institution are allowed to deal in the securities market a part of providing services which are similar to the banking system. The contribution of each non-bank financial institutions: insurance companies and pension funds; they receive investment funds from their customers, both of these institutions place their money in a variety of money-earning investments. Leasing companies; they purchase equipment/asset and then lease to businesses for a set number of years. Factoring companies; provide specialized forms of credit to businesses by making loans and purchasing accounts receivable at a discount, usually assumes responsibility for collecting the debt, specialize in bill processing and collections and to take advantage of economies of scale. Market makers; as an agent that offer to buy or sell security (trading in securities),  [2]  storage the securities and insured the securities against loss, provide margin credit,  [3]  cash management account services.  [4]   Trust funds; pool the funds of many small investors and purchase large quantities of securities, offer a wide variety of funds designed to appeal to most investment strategies, allow the small investors to obtain the benefits of lower transaction costs in purchasing securities and reduce the risk by diversifying the portfolio. The National Mortgage Corporation; is to promote the secondary mortgage market in Malaysia, with the issuance of secondary mortgage securities, Cagamas Berhad performs the function of an intermediary to bring together the primary lenders of housing loans and investors of long-term funds. Evolution The evolution of financial intermediation in Malaysia is reflected in Table 1. Table 1 shows the major financial intermediaries by assets and also by percentage share (in parentheses) from 1960 to 2000. To the extent that we can view the pace of financial intermediation as a horse race, there seem to be a clear winners and losers. For example, in terms of relative importance the winners are unit trust, Cagamas Berhad, leasing companies, factoring companies and venture capital companies. Commercial banks and finance companies are losers. These findings raise some interesting questions. First, what caused the change in the mix of financial intermediaries? In this section, we will examine this evolutionary process via three factors. Deregulation of Interest Rate Interest rate deregulation that affects loan pricing takes its earliest form.  [5]  Canada, in 1960, was the first to deregulate its interest rate. Other countries deregulated in the 1980s or thereafter.  [6]  This deregulation allows more freedom and activity to the banks and other institutions to issue new depository products as well as diversified short and long term credit instruments.  [7]  Leightner and Lovell (1998) state that some relaxation to the banks portfolio were part of the liberalization that enables bank to diversify investment to private as well as the foreign equity.  [8]  This made possible with the establishment of the foreign exchange market and the expansion of the underwriting activities of the financial intermediaries. Liberalization in Japan and Germany for instance, brings new paradigm to the roles of the banking institutions. The bank in Germany and Japan is no longer to be a creditor, but can also be the equity holder and in the board of d irectors and management. Liberalization of the banking industry, for example in Malaysia and some other countries, take banking institution into a new dimension that is the establishment of Islamic banking.  [9]  The increasing demand on the interest free banking offer by the Islamic financial institutions leads many conventional banks to offer Islamic counter or rather known as dual banking. This development happens to Muslim and non-Muslim countries. The results show that the individuals prefer to diversify their investment other than deposits. In particular, they invest in securities such as stocks, bonds and unit trusts. Therefore, new investment in unit trust for the small saver altered permanently the financial landscape. The Institutionalization of Financial Markets Institutionalization refers to the fact that more and more funds in Malaysia have been flowing indirectly into the financial markets through financial intermediaries, particularly pension funds, trust funds and insurance companies rather than directly from savers. As a result, these institutional players have become much more important in the financial markets relative to individual investors. What caused institutionalization? Quite simply, it was driven by the growth of these financial intermediaries, particularly pension and unit trust.  [10]  Pension fund growth was encouraged by government policy. Tax laws, for instance, encourage employers to help their employees by substituting pension benefits for wages. This is good for employees because they do not pay taxes on their pension benefits until they are received after retirement. Unit trusts gained considerably from these changes in pension plan laws. Defined contribution plans were allowed to include unit trust on the menu of assets for which plan members could choose. In addition, the increasing attractiveness of specialized funds such as bond funds and index funds has also fueled unit trust fund growth. The Transformation of Traditional Banking The fact that banks are exposed to the non-performing loans that stood at 9.1% for the periods of 1997 to 1999 and it seems to us that banking is a declining industry. However, first, the so-called decline of commercial banking is limited to a decline in the relative importance of commercial banking. As shown in Table 1, the decline of commercial banks assets as a fraction of total intermediated assets from 43.4% in 1980 to 41.3% in 2001. Table 1 also shows that banking industry assets actually increased between 1960 and 2000. In other words, bank assets have actually increased just not as fast as the assets of other financial intermediaries. Second, many of the new innovative activities in which banks engage are not reflected on bank balance sheets as assets even though they add significantly to bank revenue.  [11]  These include, for example, trading in interest rate and currency swaps, selling derivative instruments and issuing credit guarantees. Third, banks have a strong comparative advantage in lending to individuals and small businesses.  [12]  Finally, banks have joined forces with a number of other types of financial intermediaries.  [13]  For example, banks have combined with unit trust funds, merchant banks, insurance companies and finance companies. Bank acquisitions of non-bank financial intermediaries are part of broader consolidation of the entire financial services industry. Diagram 1: Structure of Regulatory Framework Minister of Land and Co-operative Development Licensing of : Brokers Representatives Trading Adviser Representatives Fund Managers Representatives Minister of Finance Minister of Domestic Trade Consumer Affairs Securities Commission Act 1993 Securities Industry Act 1983 Registrar of Companies Securities Commission Future Industry Act 1993 Companies Act 1965 Cooperative Act 1993 Kuala Lumpur Stock exchange (KLSE) BNM Islamic Banking Act 1983 Licensing of Dealers Representatives Investment Adviser Representatives Fund Managers Representatives Securities Clearing Automated Network Sdn Bhd (SCANS) Malaysian Central Depository Sdn Bhd (MCD) Kuala Lumpur Commodity Exchange (KLCE) Malaysian Futures Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd (MFCC) Kuala Lumpur Options Financial Futures Exchange (KLOFFE) Malaysian Monetary Exchange (MME) Malaysian Derivative Clearing House Sdn Bhd (MDCH) Table 1: Malaysia: Assets of the Financial System, 1960-2000 As at end of (RM million) 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Banking System 2,356 (66.3) 7,455 (64.1) 54,346 (73.3) 223,500 (69.8) 829,900 (66.8) Central Bank 1,114 (31.4) 2,422 (20.8) 12,994 (17.5) 37,500 (11.7) 148,900 (12.0) Commercial Banks 1,232 (34.7) 4,460 (38.4) 32,186 (43.4) 130,600 (40.8) 513,600 (41.3) Finance Companies 10 (0.3) 531 (4.6) 5,635 (7.6) 39,400 (12.3) 109,400 (8.8) Merchant Banks 2,229 (3.0) 11,100 (3.5) 36,900 (3.0) Discount Houses 42 (0.4) 1,292 (1.7) 4,900 (1.5) 21,100 (1.7) Non-Bank Financial Intermediries 1,197 (33.7) 4,167 (35.9) 19,807 (26.7) 96,900 (30.2) 413,100 (33.2) Provident and Pension Funds 733 (20.6) 2,717 (23.4) 11,370 (15.3) 51,800 (16.2) 217,600 (17.5) Life and General Insurance Funds 103 (2.9) 439 (3.8) 2,476 (3.3) 10,300 (3.2) 52,200 (4.2) Development Financial Institutions 113 (1.0) 2,193 (3.0) 6,000 (1.9) 25,100 (2.0) Savings Institutions 267 (7.5) 645 (5.5) 2,463 (3.3) 10,000 (3.1) 32,300 (2.6) Other Intermediaries 93 (2.6) 233 (2.0) 1,305 (1.8) 19,800 (6.2) 85,900 (6.9) Total 3,553 11,622 74,153 320,400 1243,000 Source: Bank Negara Malaysia, Annual Reports (various issues) Financial Markets Financial markets are the centers or an arrangement that provide facilities for buying and selling of financial claims and services the corporations, financial institutions, individuals and governments trade in financial products in these markets either directly or through brokers and dealers on organized exchanges or off-exchanges. The participants on the demand and supply sides of these markets are financial institutions, agents, brokers, dealers, borrowers, lenders, savers, and others who are interlinked by the laws, contracts, covenants and communication networks. Financial markets are sometimes classified as primary (direct) and secondary (indirect) markets. The primary markets deal in the new financial claims or new securities and, therefore, they are also known as new issue markets. On the other hand, secondary markets deal in securities already issued or existing or outstanding. The primary markets mobilize savings and supply fresh or additional capital to business units. Alt hough secondary markets do not contribute directly to the supply of additional capital, they do so indirectly by rendering securities issued on the primary markets liquid. Stock markets have both primary and secondary market segments. Very often financial markets are classified as money markets and capital markets, although there is no essential difference between the two as both perform the same function of transferring resources to the producers. This conventional distinction is based on the differences in the period of maturity of financial assets issued in these markets. While money markets deal in the short-term claims (with a period of maturity of one year or less), capital markets do so in the long-term (maturity period above one year) claims. Contrary to popular usage, the capital market is not only co-extensive with the stock market; but it is also much wider than the stock market. Similarly, it is not always possible to include a given participant in either of the two (money and capital) markets alone. Commercial banks, for example, belong to both. While treasury bills market, call money market, and commercial bills market are examples of money market, stock market and government bonds market are example s of capital market. Keeping in view different purposes, financial markets have also been classified into the following categories: (a) organized and unorganized, (b) formal and informal, (c) official and parallel, and (d) domestic and foreign. There is no precise connotation with which the words unorganized and informal are used in this context. They are quite often used interchangeably. The financial transactions which take place outside the well-established exchanges or without systematic and orderly structure or arrangements constitute the unorganized markets. They generally refer to the markets in villages or rural areas, but they exist in urban areas also. Interbank money markets and most foreign exchange markets do not have organized exchanges. But they are not unorganized markets in the same way the rural markets are. The informal markets are said to usually involve families and small groups of individuals lending and borrowing from each other. This description cannot be str ictly applied to the foreign exchange markets, but they are also mostly informal markets. The nature, meaning, and scope of activities of these types of markets will be discussed later in the book. As mentioned earlier, financial systems deal in financial services and claims or financial assets or securities or financial instruments. These services and claims are many and varied in character. This is so because of the diversity of motives behind borrowing and lending. The stage of development of the financial system can often be judged from the diversity of financial instruments that exist in the system. It is not possible here to discuss individually the nature of various financial claims that exist in the financial system. The financial assets represent a claim to the payment of a sum of money sometime in the future (repayment of principal) and/or a periodic (regular or not so regular) payment in the form of interest or dividend. With regard to bank deposit or government bond or industrial debenture, the holder receives both the regular periodic payments and the repayment of the principal at a fixed date. Whereas with regard to ordinary share or perpetual bond, only periodic payments are received (which are regular in the case of perpetual bond but may be irregular in the case of ordinary share). Financial securities are classified as primary (direct) and secondary (indirect) securities. The primary securities are issued by the ultimate investors directly to the ultimate savers as ordinary shares and debentures, while the secondary securities are issued by the financial intermediaries to the ultimate savers as bank deposits, units, insurance policies, and so on. For the purpose of certain types of anal ysis, it is also useful to talk about ownership securities (viz., shares) and debt securities (viz., debentures, deposits). Financial instruments differ from each other in respect of their investment characteristics which, of course, are interdependent and interrelated. Among the investment characteristics of financial assets or financial products, the following are important: (i)liquidity, (ii) marketability, (iii) reversibility, (iv) transferability, (v) transactions costs, (vi) risk of default or the degree of capital and income uncertainty, and a wide array of other risks, (vii) maturity period, (viii) tax status, (ix) options such as call-back or buy-back option, (x) volatility of prices, and (xi) the rate of return-nominal, effective, and real. DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF A CAPITAL MARKET (THE ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS) The previous section gave a brief overview of the major types of financial institu ­tions. To understand why financial institutions exist and the economic services that they provide, it is important to understand the different ways in which funds are transferred within an economy between businesses, government, and households (economic entities) that need to borrow funds (borrowers) and those that have sur ­plus funds to lend (investors). In a very simple economy without financial institutions, transactions between, different borrowers and lenders are difficult to arrange. Borrowers and savers incur significant search and information costs trying to find each other. Transactions be ­tween borrowers and savers may also be limited, because few financial contracts in ­volve only two parties. Similarly, risks are great, since individual entities have little or no knowledge of each other and little ability to monitor each others actions. Also, the transactions costs may be so high that small entities may be unwilling to supply funds. Investors also have little ability to diversify their risk, due to the high cost of many financial contracts. Supplier of funds: surplus (savings) units Lenders: Housesolders, companies, governments, rest of the worlds Demand of funds: deficit unit Borrowers: Housesolders, companies, governments, rest of the worlds Financial Markets Financial institutions help to reduce transactions, search, monitoring, and infor ­mation costs. They provide risk management services and allow investors to diversify their risk and hold portfolios of financial assets by creating ways of indirect financing. Financial institutions also play important roles in an efficient payment system be ­tween entities and in managing pure risk (insurance). The upper panel of Figure 1 shows the role of financial institutions as intermedi ­aries between borrowers and lenders. The term primary securities refers to direct financial claims against individuals, governments, and non-financial firms. A simple economy without any financial insti ­tutions would accommodate only direct financial claims or financial contracts. In ef ­fect, a borrower gives an investor a financial contract or direct financial claim or se ­curity that promises a stake in the borrowers company (i.e., shares of stock) or future payments returning the amount invested plus interest (i.e., a bond, or some other sort of IOU). These are examples of direct or primary securities. As an economy develops, markets emerge for trading direct securities. Some function as auction markets, where trading is carried out in one physical location, as occurs on the New York Stock Exchange; others function as over-the-counter mar ­kets, where trading is carried out by distant contacts, perhaps over the phone and computer, as on the National Association of Security Dealers Automated Quotation (NASDA Q) system. Loans made directly with borrowers are another example of a primary or direct security, where a direct contract is made between a borrower and a bank or other individual lender. Table 1.2 provides examples of primary securities in the first column. The financial assets owned by banks, insurance companies, and mu ­tual funds, such as loans, bonds, and common stock, are all direct securities, where the lenders give funds to the borrowers, and the lenders receive financial contracts guaranteeing repayment of funds plus interest or shares of ownership in the bor ­rower companies. Investors lend funds in return for a direct or primary security. Secondary securities, in contrast, are financial liabilities of financial institu ­tions-that is, claim against financial institutions. In Table 1.2, financial institu ­tions liabilities-deposits, policyholder reserve obligations, and mutual fund shares-are secondary securities or claims against financial institutions. In effect, fi ­nancial institutions created secondary securities that offer advantages over primary securities or direct financial claims. EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SECURITIES Primary Securities Secondary Securities Commercial loans Savings deposits Mortgage loans Transaction deposits Consumer loans Certificates of deposit Government bonds Insurance policyholders reserves Corporate bonds Mutual fund shares Corporate common stock Pension fund reserves Table 1.2 shows this type of indirect financing. Unfortunately, like most fields, finance sometimes uses confusing terminology. Readers should carefully avoid confusing the use of the words primary and secondary in this dis ­cussion with their use in other contexts. For example, students who have previously stud ­ied corporate finance or investments may have encountered the terms primary and sec ­ondary markets; primary markets are those for originally issued securities, and secondary markets handle resale of securities. In the context of this chapter, primary and secondary distinguish between issuers of securities and not between changes in securities ownership. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY MARKET In a market economy the existence of financial markets can greatly ease the process of exchanging loanable funds for financial claims. A firm that wants to borrow money can go to the market in the knowledge that those with funds to lend will be there. The process is made easier still if specialist traders are known to be actively participating in the markets, buying and selling financial claims on their own account, thereby smoothing over days on which trading is thin or when there is an excess of potential borrowers or lenders. Further economies are achieved if agents or brokers can be employed to enter the market representing the customer to buy and sell securities. The existence of the market serves borrowers and lenders alike by reducing the search costs which each has to incur to get in touch with the other, and also maintains confidence in market prices. Markets do not always have a physical location. A market for loanable funds might consist of nothing more than a list of know n dealers who can be contacted by letter or telephone. The International Stock Exchange is the centre of the securities market. It has both a physical trading site which is used for a very small number of securities, and a highly developed system of trading which takes place in a number of locations via computer linkages. The discount market is another traditional financial market, but one which operates without a physical site at all. This market operates by representatives of the discount houses maintaining close daily contact with the leading banks, either by telephone or personal visits, to determine where trading opportunities are. Two types of financial markets exist for real and financial assets, and it is important to distinguish between them. A primary market for financial assets deals in new issues of all types of loanable funds. Transactions in primary markets result either in the creation or in the extinction of financial claims. The creation of a new loan causes the transfer of cash from a lender to a borrower in exchange for a financial claim on the latter. The claim is extinguished when the cash, usually interest and principal, has been repaid to the lender. A secondary market is a market in old issues. Transactions in secondary markets do not create or extinguish financial claims. Cash does not pass between borrowers and lenders, but existing issues simply change hands. The borrower remains unaffect ed by the transaction while the lender transfers the right of repayment to another. The main economic function of the secondary markets is to support the operations of the associated primary markets for new issues by providing liquidity to lenders. In the absence of a developed secondary market an individual saver might be very unwilling to lend out money for long periods of time, except at rates of high interest too high to be attractive to borrowers. If the chances of making a sale when necessary are unacceptably low, no lender would commit funds. Therefore an active secondary market is essential for an active primary one. However, there is no guarantee that the lender will receive back in sale proceeds the full amount at the time they are sold, since markets fluctuate all the time, and prices are not constant. Secondary markets also contribute to the efficiency of the primary market by providing pricing information. In the share market, for example, the current prices of traded securities significantly reduce the problem of setting a price on new issues with similar risk profiles, and information from the secondary market will also influence the attitude of potential participants in primary markets. Figure 3.2 illustrates the connections between primary and secondary markets. Not all primary markets have secondary markets associated with them and some securities are issued for which there are no secondary markets

Information Lifecycle Management Essay

Industries and organizations thrive on â€Å"Information†. The effective use of information so that it is aligned to meet the business demands is therefore a very crucial essential. The millions of bytes of data, requires not only effective storage but processes which handle the data right from creation and disposal after it is no longer needed. Maintenance of data in a cost effective manner is therefore a very significant activity in any organization. The answer to all the above is Information Lifecycle Management (ILM). What is ILM? Technology in combination with processes and policies to effectively manage data to suit the requirements of the organization is what is the basis of Information Lifecycle Management. ILM manages the lifespan of data required by organizations. Storage medium, security, access rights and the way data will be accessed are all part of ILM activities. ILM through its dynamic process of reassessment of data, discards data which is no longer used. A tiered architecture is often used for ILM where in data which is redundant is often moved to storage media which is more cost effective. ILM is involved in the evolution of data, changes in the data over a period of time, its importance and finally disposal of obsolete data. Most organization use business applications which are data centric. Since voluminous amount data is involved many times it so happens there is not track of the amount if information available and the way it is stored. Often time is wasted in gathering the information as it is not stored in a structured manner. It ensures that data is stored in a way that is compliant with the organization policies and can be retrieved with ease. ILM also facilitates classification of data depending upon its sensitiveness and requirements by the business users. This can be done in two ways. The first is to segregate the data depending on its business use and relevance. The second is to prevent security breaches, access rights are decided keeping in mind the policies of organizations. Archiving of data is done depending on certain criteria so that it is much easier to access the next time a requirement comes up. Value of data determines the type of storage media to be used. If the data requires regular access and is the focal point of applications then such data is better stored on media which provides faster access and has effective backup and recovery mechanism. Data which is not accessed on a regular basis can be stored in less expensive storage medium. ILM alleviates the use of tools to automate routine tasks thereby reducing time and errors. ILM also focuses on reliability and relevance of data. A good example for the need of ILM would be email archiving. Communication heavily depends on email some of which are extremely important from business point of view. Old emails are stored in individual machines or network servers. A need may arise to access information from the previous email which may not be found or be available at the time it is required. Apart from this email needs to be organized in terms of its date of creation and importance of data. IT Managers in organizations are primarily concerned about cost effectiveness of the voluminous data and also security issues. Apart from this IT managers need to classify data according to organization policies and also optimize disk storage. Massive budget is allocated by organization for purchase of storage media unaware of the fact that nearly half of the existing remains un-utilized. Operation managers are always seeking high end results and want faster , reliable data access at the right time. ILM incorporates most of the features wanted by them and makes it easier to achieve an effective data storage management. It not only stresses on effective storage of information but also ensures that it is reliable and retrieval time is minimized for data that is critical and used frequently. ILM provided by Oracle is a good example of data management tool. The Oracle 11g is compatible with ILM. It uses basic steps such as definition of the data classes, tiered storage architecture, migrating policies along with compliance details. It has interactive GUI tool known as the ILM assistant. The ILM assistant informs the user when the data has become obsolete and whether the data needs to be archived or deleted. IT also provides a preview about the cost involved in executing the above said activities along with storage requirement specifications. The security measures in the ILM assistant ensure that only authenticated users are given access to the data stores. It is a definitely a cost effective tool that can be sued to manage the lifecycle of data. ILM assistant is short allows huge amount of data to be stored and available easily while keeping the cost of storage low. Conclusion Information Lifecycle management is an important aspect of data-centric organization. Depending on the requirement of the business should appropriately select the various solutions available. Large companies such as Oracle and IBM have come with ILM tools that provide them with effective data management and risk management. ILM prevents underutilization of disk space . Disorganized data can lead to huge losses and there an effective strategic approach is required.