Statutory interpretation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Statutory interpretation - Essay Example nction of the judiciary is to justify whether a statute contains any such provisions that is violating or can possibly violate the fundamental rights of a common person as it has been enshrined by the constitution of that nation. If judiciary feels that any such provision is present in the statute then it sends it back for required rectification or it may cancel such statute. Additionally, it is the onus of judiciary to see what actually a statute tries to convey and to which extent scope of the statute is expansive so that it can be applied in interpreting the scope of law, while coming up with any judicial decision making process. Due to such capacity of judiciary, in the context of interpreting a statute, statutory interpretation is also referred as â€Å"judicial interpretation.† (Maxwell, 1991, p. 1) â€Å"Statute law is the will of the Legislature; and the object of all judicial interpretation of it is to determine what intention is either expressly or by implication co nveyed by language used, so far as it is necessary for the purpose of determining whether a particular case or state of facts which is presented to the interpreter falls within it. When the intention is expressed, the task is one simply of verbal construction; but when, as occasionally happens, the statute expresses no intention on a question to which it gives rise, and on which some intention must necessarily be imputed to the Legislature, the interpreter has to determine it by inference grounded on legal principles.† (Maxwell, 1991, p. 1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Looking at the history of statutory interpretation we find that since the 6th century onwards in the context determining and interpreting application of the law in the society, with the purpose of solving different disputes, the method of statutory interpretation was considered as the most effective way. Roman legal system of the late medieval that has influenced modern system of legal jurisprudence to a great extent also depended over the process

Efficiency tests Essay Example for Free

Efficiency tests Essay Day of the week test The day of the week efficiency test is the investigation of a particular stock market to see whether it reveals day of the week effect in volatility of returns, that is, whether stock returns in that particular stock market follow a certain pattern which is associated with what day of the week it is. Investing in the stock market is a wonderful way to make money, but it has a risk attached to it in the form of uncertainty. Stock market returns do not operate independently of the economic, political and technological environment of a country. In fact the stock market of a country is completely driven by the aforementioned environmental stimuli. However the relationship is indirect. Changes in these environmental stimuli do not directly affect the stock market. What they do directly affect is the investor mindset. The investor mindset in turn directly affects whether the stock market returns are likely to be good or bad. A bleak economic prospect for example will make the average investor wary of investing in assets. As a result he/she will stay away from investing in the stock market and as everyone, unsettled by the bleak economic prospect, follows suit, share prices, due to lack of demand, will drop drastically and, as returns hit the bottom, it will not make sense any more to invest in the stock market. In this manner, the stock market can behave very erratically as it is held hostage by hundreds of environmental stimuli the behavior of which few can predict to a certainly. This is why the day of the week test is important, because by applying it, the stock market investor can predict whether stock market returns on a particular day will be high or low. He can tweak his investment pattern accordingly. The stock market is highly volatile and it has been explained above what accounts for this volatility. As mentioned before, this volatility gives rise to substantial risks which give the investor second thoughts about investing in the stock market. However, this means that if the element of risk were to be eliminated to some extent, then that would make the stock market the original Aladin’s lamp as far as making money is concerned. Therefore every investor is always looking for ways to eliminate risk. The way the investor tries to eliminate risk to some extent, or to minimize it, is to find a way to predict what the return of a particular stock is likely to be at a certain point of time. That is why we, as the investors, use the day of the week. If we are investing in the US equity market for example, then we apply the test to find out whether the market has a presence of the day of the week effect in it. If so, we invest only on those days on which the return of the stock we are investing in is likely to be high. In other words, we use the day of the week test to maximize the returns and minimize the risks of our portfolio. The question as to whether we benefit from this test has already been answered. We most certainly do as otherwise we wouldn’t be able to predict how the market is going to behave on certain days and as a result our investment decisions would be very risky indeed. So we do benefit from applying the day of the week test. But how do we benefit from it? We benefit from it because the day of the week test allows us to detect whether there is an element of seasonality in stock returns of our portfolio. As soon as we have detected seasonality, that is, returns are high or low depending what time period it is, we have immediately minimized the investment risk. An equity market for example which boasts the presence of the day of the week effect in it will tell us that returns on Mondays will be significantly lower than they are on other days of the week. Under the circumstances, the decision as when to buy stock and when to sell is not so difficult any more. In the aforementioned equity market, we should obviously stay away from making any stock purchases on any other day than Monday because the day of the week test that we have applied to the market tells us that prices will be lowest on Mondays. Therefore, to minimize expenses, we should buy stock on Mondays. By the same reasoning, when the time comes to unload the portfolio, we should obviously do the selling on any day of the week other than Monday, because in the six days other than Monday, prices will be higher, which translate into higher returns for us investors. So clearly the benefits from applying the day of the week test are substantial. They all center around the ability of the day of the week test to introduce an element of regularity into the midst of what on first sight seems unconquerable chaos. This test tells us there is a day of the week regularity functioning in the equity market and that if we invest accordingly, we shall have maximized our returns and minimized the associated risks. End of month test This is a test that seeks to establish the presence of a calendar anomaly in the behavior of stock market returns whereby returns are higher over a time period beginning with the last trading day of the current month and continuing over the first five days of the next month. The importance of this test is in taking advantage of the fact that stock returns are not completely volatile, that they do have a certain pattern hidden deep under the apparently wildly fluctuating numbers. This directly contradicts the efficient market hypothesis which states that any information, whether public and private, that is available to the investors, has already been taken into account in stock pricing, therefore no single investor is in a position to take advantage of the market. According to the efficient market hypothesis, risk is the same for all investors. However it has been recently discovered that there is a end-of-month or turn-of-the-month effect when stock returns are shown to be consistently higher on the last trading day of a month and over the first five days of the following month. This probably happens because during this time period the general level of liquidity goes up as a result of settling liabilities so that the investor has more cash with which to play around in the stock market. As has been mentioned before, the performance of the stock market is a direct function of the general mindset of the investing public. If the investing public are in a good mood, then the market will perform well. If they are in a bad mood, the market will perform badly. These mood swings on the part of the general investor are a direct function of the macroeconomic news items which they are exposed to though the different media. Therefore the timing of the release of these macroeconomic news items is an important factor in determining how the stock market will perform afterwards. Usually these news items are released during the first few days of a particular month. Stock market returns have been shown to maintain an upbeat trend as time approaches the scheduled release of macroeconomic news. That is why end-of-month testing is important because it shows the existence of calendar anomalies in stock returns brought about by scheduled release of macroeconomic news items. That is also the reason why we use this test. By using this test, we can detect the presence of calendar anomalies in the stock in which we are investing and take advantage of it to make capital gains. By using this test, we prove that the efficient market hypothesis is by no means the last word in the world of finance, that the risk inherent in investing in a particular stock is by no means the same and a test that gives us the ability to predict risk is a worthwhile exercise by any standards. As can be seen from above, we can benefit from the day of the month effect. The benefit to be gained from this test is inarguable inasmuch as we have the ability to minimize systematic risk inherent in any investment decision. According to the risk-return relationship, the risk in investing in a particular stock has two components. One is the unsystematic risk and the other is the systematic risk. Investors do not worry about the unsystematic part as it can be eliminated by means of diversification. Investors put their money in a wide variety of financial instruments so that even if one company is performing not so well thus dragging down its share performance as well, there are other companies in which the same investor holds shares and which is performing well thus canceling the negative effect of the under-performing company. It is highly improbable that all the companies will be underperforming at the same time. What is more probable is that one will outperform the other thus eliminating the unsystematic risk. However it is well nigh impossible to eliminate or to even reduce the systematic risk which affects entire market to the same extent so that no amount of diversification will cushion the effect of a high systematic risk. However that is according to the traditional finance theory. According to the new theory whereby there is a end of the month effect in every stock market, systematic risk is definitely lower in the last trading day of the month and in the first few days of the next month. So the benefit we get from this test is that we can predict a little better how the systematic risk is likely to be at what point in time in the month. Moving average As has been mentioned before, stock prices can fluctuate significantly over a certain period of time. If these prices are charted on a graph, then the trend line will zigzag substantially, making it difficult for us to evaluate whether a particular stock is underperforming or otherwise. Moving average is a technical analysis tool which allows us to smooth out these fluctuations, so that there is a consistent trend line which can serve as benchmark for the evaluation of stock performance. Moving average is a very important technical analysis tool. Inasmuch as it enables us to impose order upon chaos by creating a consistent trend of the performance of a particular stock, its importance can hardly be overemphasized. If the returns of a particular stock were to be presented in the form of a scatter plot, then on first sight it would appear as white noise. It would be impossible to make head or tail of this extremely chaotic scatter plot. However if one were to apply the moving average technical analysis tool, the widely scattered points would give in to a rising or declining trend line which could then indicate whether a particular stock is performing below that trend line or above. In this respect, moving average is a very important indicator of stock market returns. Before we make any investment decisions in respect of the stock market, it is obviously important for us to find out which stocks are performing above expectations and which stocks are performing below. Moving average allows us to make that determination and that is why we use this tool. The problem that every stock market investor faces is that the returns on the face of it seem to be impossible to predict. Charted on a scatter plot, as mentioned before, the returns are all over the place. That would not be the case however once we apply the moving average tool to these returns. Once the moving average technical analysis has been applied, it would appear that the returns conform to a predictably progressing trend line. And that is why we use the moving average technical analysis, to introduce an element of predictability into an area which would otherwise seem impossible to predict in any way. We certainly benefit from using the moving average analysis as it allows us to determine whether a stock at a particular point of time is performing below the trend line or above. This would enable us to determine when to buy and sell. When to buy and sell is the toughest decision that a stock market investor faces. Obviously an investor would like to buy a stock when the price is at its lowest and would like to sell when the price at its highest. But how does an investor know when the price has bottomed out so that he should buy and when it has topped out so that she should sell? These points the investor must determine and the benefit of using the moving average technical analysis lies in the fact that it allows the investor to determine those points. An additional benefit of the moving average analysis is that it can be calculated both short-term and long-term. A short term moving average can be defined as a 15-day moving average while a long-term moving average can be defined as a 50-day moving average. Thus there are two trend lines and when the short-term trend line moves below the long-term, the stock is on a downward momentum and it is time to sell. Conversely, when the short-term trend line is passing above the long-term, the stock is on an upward momentum and it is time to buy. In this way the moving average technical analysis allows the investor to decide when to buy and when to sell a particular stock. Correlation Correlation allows us to test whether there is any relationship between two variables and if there is a relationship, whether the relationship is positive or it is negative. For example, a correlation of +1 indicates a positive relationship exists between two variables. A correlation of -1 indicates that the relationship between two variables is negative. When the relationship is positive, it indicates that the two variables move in the same direction and when the relationship is negative, it indicates that the two variables move in opposite directions. Correlation is an important indicator of the future behavior of a particular variable in relation to another variable. It allows us to determine what other variables affect the performance of the variable of interest and to what extent. Once we have correlation figures quantifying the relationship between the variable of interest and other variables, we can predict how the variable of interest will change when the other related variables change. Inasmuch as correlation allows us to reduce uncertainty by enabling us to enhance predictability, it is an important indicator. We use it for example when we are trying to decide whether or not to invest in a particular stock market. As has been mentioned before, the performance of a stock market is affected by a wide variety of factors. The most prominent environmental stimuli are the economic, sociological, political and technological changes taking place both nationally and internationally. It is important to know therefore to what extent these stimuli affect the performance of a particular stock market. Correlation allows us to determine that extent. By applying correlation, we can find out how a certain change in the economy is likely to affect the stock market performance of that country. We come to know about these changes in the form of microeconomic news items which can be categorized based on their content. If we already have the correlation figures for these categories of news items, then as soon as they are announced, we can reasonably expect to be able to apply the correlation statistics to assess how the news items are likely to affect the performance of the stock market we are interested in. This reduces risk to a substantial extent. Risk reduction is the most important consideration in the mind of an investor. For this reason, we use the correlation statistic. We do benefit from the use of correlation inasmuch as it gives us a window into the future regarding the performance of particular stock market. An example of a benefit would be an US investor considering investing in one of the Arab stock markets. In assessing whether it would be a good idea or not to go ahead with the investment, the investor would find use of correlation of immense value. The investor would have to collect a great deal of knowledge connected to the economic, sociological, political and technological scenarios of the Arab country and determine by means of correlation how the different environmental factors are correlated to the portfolio performance in that stock market. Once that is done, he or she would be in a position to foresee how the different changes in the Arab country would affect the performance of the stock market in that country. This would enable the investor to buy and sell at the right time. As has been mentioned before, there are also international forces at work which will affect stock market performance in the Arab country. In this respect, what the investor can do is to run correlation tests between the Arab stock market and the US stock market to see how the two markets are related. In this respect, the two markets would be two variables which the correlation test will examine to find out whether any relationship exists between the two variables and if so, if the relationship is positive or whether it is negative. If the relationship is a positive one, then whenever the US market is performing well, the Arab market can also be expected to perform well and vice versa. Clearly this is of immense value to the investor as it allows him to pick the time as to when he should invest in the Arab stock market. That is the benefit. Descriptive Statistics So far the discussion has focused on predicting the future performance of the stock market. Now it’s time to focus on assessing the current performance of the stock market. That is what the descriptive statistics are for. Descriptive statistics such as the mean and the standard deviation and the normal distribution help us evaluate the existing performance of a particular stock market. Descriptive statistics are very important because they quantify the performance of the stock market. The most widely used descriptive statistic is the mean. We can calculate the mean stock return by calculating the average of several stock returns from past time periods. This tells us the return we are likely to get if we invest in that stock. However the mean does not take into account the risk that comes associated with investing in stock. As has been mentioned before, the stock market is a wonderful way to make money but every rose has it thorn and that thorn in this case is the risk. Stock returns are affected by so many variables both internal and external to the company that it is impossible to take into account all of them. This is where risk springs from. Because there are so many forces at work playing sixes and sevens with stock market returns, wild fluctuations are a necessary evil for the stock market investor. However even here, descriptive statistics can help by introducing order into chaos. The descriptive statistic in question is the standard deviation. Because stock returns fluctuate extensively, they are scarcely at the mean. Sometimes they are above the mean and sometimes they are below. Standard deviation tells us the percentage of returns which will deviate from the mean to a certain extent. Most stock returns conform to the normal distribution, that is, most of the returns are clustered around the mean return. 66% of the observations fall within one standard deviation away from the mean. 95% of the observations fall within two standard deviations away from the mean. And 99% of the observations fall within three standard deviations away from the mean. Inasmuch as stock market returns, given a sufficiently large sample size, follow the normal distribution, descriptive statistics are very important as they enable the formation of the normal distribution. This facilitates investment decisions. Descriptive statistics also come into play when determining the risk-return relationship. Risk is a prime consideration in any investor’s mindset. Investment in the stock market is meaningless unless a way can be found to minimize the influence of risk. To complicate matters further, there are two categories of risk: systematic risk and unsystematic risk. There is hardly anything the investor can do about the systematic risk. It affects all the stocks present to an equal extent. An example of a systematic risk is when there is a sudden political eruption. The political turmoil will have a negative effect in all areas of the business sector. Therefore even if the investor is holding a portfolio of stocks, it will be of little avail. The other element of risk however, the unsystematic risk, is more manageable. It means not putting all eggs in one basket. Managing a portfolio of stocks is key to eliminating or reducing unsystematic risk. An investor who has invested in a portfolio of stocks will reap more than an investor who has invested in only one stock. This is for the simple reason that external environmental stimuli do not hit all industries of the business sector to the same extent. If there is a technological change for example, some industries will benefit more and some less. Therefore the wise investor will invest in those industries which benefit more as a result of the technological change. Alongside the technological change, there will be other changes, economic or political or sociological, which will have a negative impact on some of the industries. As a result the stock returns in those industries will take a nosedive. However an investor who is maintaining a portfolio of a wide variety of stocks will not be hit adversely as he will have stocks in that portfolio of his which were immune to the economic or political or sociological change in question. In this manner the unsystematic part of the risk has been eliminated. The stocks present in a portfolio will be negatively correlated. That is, if one stock goes down in terms of returns, then another will go up. Thus the investor is well protected. However he is by no means protected from the systematic risk which no amount of diversification can eliminate. However all is not lost because descriptive statistics are there to help the investor. He already knows from the central limit theorem that most stock returns conform to the normal distribution. Once that is known, the investor can make an accurate prediction as to where the stock returns are likely to fall. This substantially reduces systematic risk. As mentioned before, there are some exceptions in terms of stock market returns which do not strictly follow the normal distribution pattern. These returns follow a different probability distribution. The use of kurtosis and skewness can help to identify that particular category of probability distribution. Determining which probability distribution a particular stock market conforms to, in which the use of descriptive statistics is key, is vital for picking the optimum portfolio. An investor would obviously want to invest in only those stocks the returns of which stick most closely to the mean. What the investor can do is to collect the percentage returns of a stock for a number of time periods and calculate the mean and standard deviation of these percentages to find out whether that stock shows a high volatility or a low volatility. The intelligent investor will obviously want to pick those stocks which have low volatility because their returns will be more predictable. So what descriptive statistics are very good at making sense of historical information to the immense benefit to the investor. As has been discussed so far, the historical returns examined without the benefit of descriptive statistics will not generate a lot of information. To the naked eye, stock returns on a historical basis reveal no pattern. There is no discernible trend. Viewed through the lens of descriptive statistics however, stock market returns suddenly become very orderly and systematic. Now the investor knows which stocks to embrace and which stocks to keep away from. Now the investor knows what the optimum portfolio will be which will take into account both systematic risk and unsystematic risk and generate the highest returns.

HSBC Formerly Named The Hong Kong Banking Marketing Essay

HSBC Formerly Named The Hong Kong Banking Marketing Essay 1. Introduction HSBC formerly named the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited was established 1865. With assets of US $1,502 billion, HSBCs international network comprises over 9,500 offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the America, the Middle East and Africa. This paper examines HSBCs International Business Strategy with particular emphasis on North America and the US. Firstly, the relevant literature on International Business is reviewed and a comparison between the literature and HSBC is presented. Secondly, HSBCs business environment is looked at; analysing such factors as industry competitiveness. Next, HSBCs International business strategy is critically evaluated and finally, a conclusion along with recommendations is provided. 2. Literature Review The rapid globalization of business in the last two decades has prompted an increasing number of firms to develop strategies to enter and expand into markets outside their locations (Osland et al. 2001:153). Reliability on solely domestic markets is therefore a reliable source for competitive advantage (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Firms must therefore develop strategies of Internationalisation in overseas markets. According to Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul (1975:306) the term international refers to the activities implemented abroad or attitude of the firm towards foreign activities. Relevant studies on the banking industry and HSBC will be examined below. According to Hoskisson et al., 2000; strategies are moderated by the characteristics of the particular context in which firms operate. In particular, institutions-the rules of the game-in the host economy also shape firm strategies such as foreign market entry (Peng, 2003; Wright et al., 2005). In a broad sense, macro-level institutions affect transaction costs (North, 1990). However, traditional transaction costs research (exemplified by Williamson, 1985) focuses on micro-analytical aspects such as opportunism and bounded rationality. This consequently raises questions on macro-level institutions, such as country-level legal and regulatory frameworks, influence transaction costs have been relatively unexplored, remaining largely as background. However, a new movement in research posits that institutions are far more than ancillary elements, and that institutions directly influence what resources a firm has at its disposal as it strives to develop and launch strategy. An analysis of theory developed specifically out of changes to global markets shows little development of the standard theories of market segmentation, differentiated pricing and appropriate distribution channels which underpinned local and domestic marketing theory. However, the literature over the past five years has shown a particular set of theoretical models specific to global marketing. Hollensen (2007) discusses the Uppsala International Model demonstrating a sequential pattern of entry into international markets with an increasing commitment to overseas markets as the international experience of the firm grows (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977). Hollensen (2007) contrasts this with a traditional approach of what is termed as the Penrosian tradition which is based on economy of scale and a cost-led approach working from the firms core competencies. Dunning (1998) suggests a similar Ownership-Location-internalisation (OLI) framework identifying an ownership advantage of establishing overseas production facilities, a locational advantage which builds a logistics network around the overseas production and, finally, an internalisation advantage where it must be economical for a firm to utilise the previous two advantages rather than sell them to a foreign firm (Hollensen 2007). Similarly, the standardisation-localisation model focuses on specific choices related to internatio nal market entry and the identification of risk mitigation factors salient to international marketing. Baker, M (1993) recognises the risk mitigation inherent in internationalisation, protecting the firm from adverse fluctuations in the national economic cycle. Hollensen (2007) concurs, outlining the ownership, operating and transfer risk in being attached purely to domestic markets. All of the literature is strong on identifying the risks of domestic-based marketing; however there is scant coverage of the specific risks of internationalisation. 2.1 The Strategy of International Business Firms operating in the global marketplace are required to balance concerns for globalisation (economic integration) with national responsiveness (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Globalisation is defined by Rugman Collinson (2006:454) as the production and distribution of products and services of a homogenous type and quality on a worldwide basis. National responsiveness is defined by Rugman Collinson (2006) as the ability to understand different customer requirements in different countries and responding to those local demands by providing the required products and services. Globalisation strategy advocates claim that human needs are homogeneous in every country supporting product standardisation within world markets (Levitt 1983 cited in Schlie and Yip, 2000). Some authors however argue that the globalisation strategy fails to address customer needs in national markets (Rugman Collinson, 2006). In order to analyse the distinction between integration and national responsiveness Figure 1 (Adapted from Bartlett and Ghoshal) will be used. Fig. 1 Source: Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, in Rugman and Hodgetts, 2001, p.335. As highlighted above, quadrant 1 represents high economic integration and low national responsiveness. This is a global strategy used by firms to achieve economies of scale (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Quadrant 4 represents high national responsiveness but low economic integration. This is a national responsiveness strategy used to customize products/services to local demand(Rugman Hodgetts, 2001). Quadrant 3 meanwhile, represents both high economic integration and national responsiveness. Quadrant 3 is the most demanding of all and is also where many successful transnational firms operate (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Finally, quadrant 2 is where the need for national responsiveness and economic integration is low. The banking industry uses a combination of mergers, acquisitions, subsidy and Greenfield strategies. However, economic integration is counterbalanced by national responsiveness in terms of how each strategy is designed and implemented (Rugman Collinson, 2006) given that consumer needs may differ from region to region indicates that a product or service introduced in one part of the world is usually rejected by consumers in other parts of the world (Rugman Hodgetts, 2001). HSBC provides a good example in relation to the notions mentioned above. Although, HSBCs international network comprises over 9,500 offices in 76 countries, its entry into the US began as a weak and poor performer. Peek et al. (1999) found that US subsidiaries of foreign banks generally perform poorly due to acquisition of unsuccessful US banks in conjunction with the inability to improve performance sufficiently. Taking this into consideration, HSBC pursued a localisation strategy in different regions of the worl d which is similar to Barclays use of integration in tandem with national responsiveness. 3. The International Business Environment of HSBC In order to understand HSBCs International Strategy, the companys business environment is going to be examined using Porters five Forces because as Sandler (2007:3) points out many of the problems and opportunities affecting a single firm may be associated with broader based systemic issues impacting an entire industry. Secondly, HSBCs business environment is going to be studied using pestle analysis. 3.1 Porters Five Forces Theory Porters 5 Forces theory demonstrates the influences of the five competitive forces which are used to define the characteristics of the target market (Crum 1998, p.307). The main competitive forcers include Porters 5 Forces theory demonstrates the influences of the industry competitiveness (Rugman Collinson, 2006) (See Appendix 1). 3.1.1 Level of Competition (Rivalry) Competition in the banking industry is extremely fierce and HSBC is in strong competition with other major banks, such as Barclays and Lloyds TSB. In an environment of strong competition, banks will find themselves involved in intense price competition. HSBC can avoid price competition by differentiating themselves from the competition as expressed by Porter (1985). HSBC also has competition online debit, insurance and mortgage companies that offer competitive prices. 3.1.2 Threat of Substitutes The threat of substitutes for HSBC is low because money cannot be replaced. However HSBC do have enormous competition from other banks and mortgage lenders and if customers are not happy with the prices and services they are receiving from their bank, they can easily move to a competitor. 3.1.3 Threat of New Entrants The threat of new entrants is extremely high, and not only from banks. Companies such as Sainsburys and Virgin also sell financial products. Ind Bjerke (2007) believe that brand loyalty is an important marketing factor, and HSBC certainly has this advantage. Customers may want a personal service, so the threat of small bank operators whom offer an intimate experience may be favoured over a large bank, such as HSBC (McDonald 2007). HSBC have been operating for many years and therefore has a lot of knowledge and customers can trust them. A new entrant would not have this advantage; especially in many of the countries that HSBC operates such as China, where trust is imperative to the culture (Brett et al 2006). Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining power of buyers is extremely high as customers can switch to a rival company with lower rates and offers such as free mobile phone insurance. The customer has the choice of going to a wide array of high street branches and therefore has great power which can affect the market share of HSBC. HSBC need to ensure that they offer something more than the other competing banks, such as holiday insurance. 3.1.5 Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining power of suppliers with regards to HSBC is twofold. Firstly HSBC rely on its customers (suppliers) to bring in its product (money), therefore the bargaining power of suppliers is very high. Secondly, the suppliers are not a threat to HSBC because it is unlikely that they will open their own bank, so the bargaining power of suppliers here is very low. Table 1. Summary of Porters Five Forces Analysis Force Intensity Level of Competition High Threat of substitutes High Threats of New Entrants Low Bargaining power of buyers Very High Bargaining power of suppliers High Pestle Analysis Political Obtaining funding from the money markets has become more costly for HSBC as a result of uncertainty in financial markets and shortage of funds caused by the global credit crisis (BBC 2008). Because HSBC has branches all over the world, they must comply with changes in legislation with regards to their countries of ownership. An example of this was in 2006 when Vietnamese regulations proposed to increase the foreign ownership cap from 10 per cent. As a result of this new regulation, HSBCs FDI rose by 55 per cent (HSBC 2007). HSBC are also affected by political instability. This occurred in Thailand in 2006 when the political crisis had a negative impact on consumption patterns and the number of people taking out loans dropped, oil prices and interest rates increased. Due to all these issues, HSBC only reported a 4% growth in the Thai economy, far less than the other Asian banks (HSBC 2006). Other wars and conflicts in HSBC operating countries will have a direct negative impact on the company. 3.2.2 Economic The credit crunch has seen many major banks tighten their lending criteria in order to reduce the number of credit write-offs. Barclays recently wrote off  £1.67billion, Lloyds TSB  £1.26billion and HSBC  £943million (Hosking 2008). HSBCs profit before tax in 2007 was  £4,081million, and the bank reported a strong start to 2008 despite the global financial crisis. In the first quarter of 2008, HSBCs profit was ahead of the equivalent period last year (HSBC 2008). Compared to other major banks, including Barclays and Lloyds TSB, HSBC is doing well in the face of the crisis. Changes in foreign exchange rates affect HSBC and new frameworks, similar to one introduced in 2007 by the International Monetary Fund causes instability for HSBC (BBC 2007). Consumer perceptions at the emerging economic downturn has people concerned about their spending patterns and less likely to take out loans and spend what they have. Many banks have been withdrawing mortgage offers, however HSBC are now offering competitive rates (Budworth 2008). Due to their differentiation strategy, consumers are attracted to their mortgages. Social A report published in the Independent newspaper highlighted the fact that the number of people going to University increases each year, hence people are becoming better educated (Hilpern 2008). The range of services that HSBC offers to university students has increased over the years, however there have been recent campaigns against HSBC from Student Unions with regards to interest free overdrafts students receive upon leaving University (Coughlan 2007). Housing trends greatly affect HSBC and the current economic crisis has meant that major banks, including Barclays and Lloyds TSB have been urged to cut interest rates (Murchie 2008). Technological The Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way businesses operate (Pieter 2007). People now have access to their finances easily, in any location and for 24 hours. There is vast room for improvement of M-Banking (mobile banking). People are so dependent upon mobile phones and have easier access to their mobile than a computer. The GLT (Global Technology Centre) within HSBC are responsible for new technological advances and operate throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. Environmental With growing environmental pressures, HSBC has become the worlds first major bank to become carbon neutral. HSBCs commitment to change ensures that they provide environmentally responsible advice to lenders and have become involved in a variety of initiatives, including the introduction of renewable energy technology, water and waste reduction programmes and employee engagement (HSBC 2007). Consumers have the option to go green with HSBC and reduce the impact on the environment by saving paper and energy. Customers will receive email statements instead of paper statements, there are no cheque or paying-in books and the customer will be contacted by telephone instead of post (HSBC 2008). Legal HSBC must comply with a wide array of laws and regulations, including consumer protection. Consumer complaints have been paramount in the media lately regarding high bank charges for overdraft limits. The High Court has now ruled that bank charges are to be assessed under consumer protection law. It is now up to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to decide the fairness of bank charges. Because of this new legislation, consumers have received millions of pounds back from these charges (Pollock 2008). HSBC has to comply with data security measures set by the Financial Services Authority after HSBC admitted to losing a disk that contained the personal details of 370,000 customers in March 2008 (Booth et al 2008). 4. EVALUATION OF HSBCS INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STRATEGY 4.1 HSBCs Entry into North America HSBC began its growth in North America by acquiring failed and weak banks. In effect, shareholders lacking a comparative advantage relative to HSBC, with respect to owning and governing given banks or branches (Lichtenberg and Siegel, 1987), sold them to HSBC. Generally, growth through acquisition is difficult to execute as it is vulnerable to problems of over-reach due to managerial hubris (Roll, 1986; Baradwaj et al., 1992 Seth et al., 2000). One cannot arrive at strong conclusions from studies of the profitability of subsidiaries. Banks transfer profit across borders (Demirgà ¼Ãƒ §-Kunt Huizinga, 2001), and foreign banks may prefer to book some business from their headquarters (Peek Rosengren, 2000). One may surmise that HSBC initially chose to acquire weak banks as much out of necessity as design. For any given size, a profitable bank will cost more than an unprofitable one, so in order to achieve diversification goals, HSBC needed to acquire large banks. Now that HSBC is one of the worlds largest banks, whether one measures by market capitalization or total assets, it has more flexibility. Banking concentration is apparent in many developed countries (Marquez Molyneux, 2002). In response, policymakers within these countries have restricted banks from further domestic mergers and acquisitions. Some recent failed attempts in Canada are a case in point (Tickell, 2000). Growth opportunities therefore arise through cross border growth. Interestingly, each of the owners of the largest subsidiaries of foreign banks in the US is disproportionately often the largest bank in its home country (Tschoegl, 2002 2004). Strategy viability assessment is the classic area of determining how a foreign firm competes against local facing lower cultural issues (Zaheer, 1995). One issue then is whether having operations in contiguous countries represents a competitive advantage. Tschoegl (1987) Dufey Yeung (1993) have argued that, where markets are well developed and competitive, there is no reason to expect foreign banks to be better than local banks at retail banking. At the same time th ere is evidence for the existence of a liability of foreignness vis-à  -vis the foreign banks host-country competitors (Parkhe Miller, 2002). Of course, there is also evidence that suggests that, the liability is minimal (Nachum, 2003) or wanes over time (Zaheer Moskowitz, 1996). However, these last two studies examine the liability in the context of corporate and wholesale banking markets. The liability may be more salient in the retail markets, where national differences between the home and host market are likely to be more profound. Claessens et al. (2001), Demirgà ¼Ãƒ §-Kunt Huizinga (1999) found that foreign banks tend to have higher margins and profits than domestic banks in developing countries, but that the opposite holds in industrial countries. Similarly, Dopico Wilcox (2002) found that foreign banks have a greater share in under-banked markets and a smaller presence in mature markets. This implies there must not be a high expectancy for coss-border mergers in commercial banking within developed regions. One can specu late that on the production side, differences in products across markets and privacy laws appear to be limiting parents ability to consolidate processing. As far as depositors are concerned, there seems to be little value to having an account with a bank that operates in other countries, especially now that travelers can draw cash from networked ATMs. HSBC has a service for wealthy individuals-HSBC Premier-that provides cross border advantages as transfer of an individuals credit rating when they relocate, and some other services. However, these facilities are not available to ordinary accounts. The literature on trade flows is instructive here; the evidence on NAFTA has shown that borders have a substantial damping effect on trade flows (McCallum, 1995). In North America, HSBC is even poorly positioned to take advantage of cross-border retail banking that is currently drawing attention: remittance flows from Mexican workers in the US. Although HSBC now has a strong presence in Mexi co, it has almost no offices in California or other US states with large populations of Mexican immigrants. By contrast, Bank of America, the largest bank in California and in many other US states in 2002, bought a 25 percent stake in Santander-Serfin, Santanders subsidiary, which has amalgamated Mexicos oldest and third largest bank. If there is reason to believe that, HSBC benefits from cross-border demand or production effects, what is left as a source of advantage? One candidate is what Kindleberger (1969) called surplus managerial resources. When a bank such as HSBC can no longer grow at home, it may find itself with a management team that is underemployed in terms of the demands on its time. The bank may then choose to grow abroad when it can combine these surplus resources with what Berger et al. (2000) call a global advantage. As Nachum et al. (2001) point out, the competitiveness of firms depends on the kind of assets that firms can transfer internally from country to country, but are difficult to transfer from one firm to another, even within a country. Still, it is, extremely difficult to measure an intangible asset as subtle and hard to define as better management (Denrell, 2004), especially when, recent events have shown, stock market performance or accounting measures are of doubtful reliability. 5. HSBCs International Business Strategy HSBC, a growth oriented company from earliest days decided to launch concrete strategies to attain market leadership in all sectors operated in. Though the company was amongst the leading players in areas such as consumer finance, personal financial services, commercial and corporate banking, it also wanted to establish its presence in areas such as investment banking, mortgage, insurance and credit card business. To strengthen its product portfolio and geographical reach, HSBC embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy. The focus was on areas where it was either weak or did not have a presence. Simultaneously, the company launched an aggressive branding exercise to complement its growth strategy. The geographical reach of the bank could be estimated by its presence in the form of the subsidiaries and franchises. It can be said that HSBC uses the multinational strategy since it operates in a range of markets. According to Prahalad and Doz (1987), the prime consideration here is t he extent of pressures for global integration and extent of pressures for local responsiveness. In addition, Schlie and Yip (2000:343) argue, the key in global strategy is to find the best balance between local adaptation and global standardisation. In order to achieve the benefits of globalisation, businesses need to recognise when industry conditions provide the opportunity to use global strategy levers (Yip, 1992). Authors Morrison and Roth, Rugman Verbeke (see Schlie Yip, 2000) maintain that Regional Strategies offer such an optimal balance. In order to analyse the globalisation drivers of HSBC, the Yip Framework drivers for internationalisation was adapted from Yip, 1992. According to Campbell (2002), Yip identified four drivers (See Appendix 2) which determines the nature and extent of globalisation in an industry. Table 2. Globalisation drivers of HSBC Market Globalisation Drivers Global customers Global distribution channels Presence in lead countries Common customer needs Cost Globalisation Drivers Global scale economies Difference in exchange rates High product development costs Rapid change in Technology Government Globalisation Drivers Common marketing regulations Government owned customers (Subsidies) Host government concerns (Policies) Competitive Globalisation Drivers Competitors globalised Competitors from different continents 6. Strategies and Performances of Principal competitors 6.1 Branding and Diversification Brand development creates an identity for businesses which creates a competitive edge depending on its effectiveness (Montoya, 2002). The groups chairman stated commitment to making HSBC one of the worlds leading brands for customer experience (HSBC, 2007). In 1998, the Group adopted the HSBC brand and the hexagon symbol as a unified brand in all the markets where it operated which emphasized its global reach. HSBC adopted taglines such as Your world of financial services in 1999 to enable customer awareness on the range of financial services available for each customer. HSBC ensures that its understanding of varied markets and cultures are integrated into its brand through the tagline The worlds local bank developed in 2002. Similarly its competitors, Barclays uses a branding strategy which promises to deliver value through financial expertise the fluent in finance strapline (Brand republic, 2004) and Lloyds TSB on the other hand, develops a global strategy through the development of a strong brand image by reducing local customization and selectively satisfying common customer demands across markets (Osono et al., 2008:28). Diversification Strategy is the launching of new, retail-focused services, Link with enabling competitive advantage (Hitt, et. al., 2006), Although HSBCs core brand is strong, customer recognition may have saturated, therefore integrating both fresh brands into subsidiaries in tandem enables its growth through Merger and acquisitions providing a competitive advantage, enabling HSBC to play a central role in two of Europes biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals i.e. Mittal Steels hostile bid for Frances Arcelor and German utility company Eons offering for Spanish rival Endesa (Digital look.com 2009). 6.2 Technology use and strategy Through advances in technology, HSBC presents customers with a broad spectrum of financial services including personal financial services and investment banking, amongst others, to create competitive advantage through strategic alignment (competitive potential) (Venkatraman et. al., 1993). Similarly, Barclays and Lloyds TSB use strategic alignment (Service level) to ensure the effective use of IT resources and be responsive to the growing and fast-changing demands of the end-user population (Cio.co.uk, 2010). 6.3 Performance Evaluation It is argued that positive relationships between marketing spend, market share and marketing activities have an incremental impact on market share however this does not apply to the big four banks (Digital look.com, 2009). The graph below demonstrates decline of share prices for RBS and Lloyds in the last two years. Both banks have lost between 75% and 85% of its values in comparison to the past 2 years. Fig2: Market Shares Trends of the Top Major Banks In summary, the results demonstrate varied results for UK banks in 2009. HSBC for example, report significant improvements whereas others such as Barclays and Lloyds TSB demonstrate decline due to the impact of the global financial crisis. In addition, according to Digital look.com (2009), HSBCs success attaining the top of investors is as a result of the following: Largest bank in the UK with a well-capitalised balance sheet. Solid defensive stock with a stable and resilient earnings track record. Well-placed to benefit from the continued economic growth in emerging markets. Currently trading on attractive valuations with a forward P/E of 11.6 times and a dividend yield of 3.4%. HSBC demonstrates a lack of focus and development with regards to investment banking which has prevented HSBC becoming a major player in investment banking. Focus and development is essential for performance improvement due to continuous sub-prime mortgage fallout and credit tightness influences on the retail banking sector (Digital look.com, 2009). The last three years demonstrate the emergence of HSBC as an investment banking brand. 7. CONCLUSION The findings indicate that HSBC dominates the banking industry with record profits, however the bank has reported increasing debts and this will not be helped by the current credit crisis in the US and the UK. As consumers become increasingly aware of the rising cost of living they are likely to shop around for the best interest rates and they are likely to find this on the internet with online mortgage and debt companies. Although the introduction of online banking has proved popular among HSBC customers, the company should ensure that extra security measures are in place that will guarantee maximum security of consumer data. As HSBC is a multinational company and therefore people trust the brand and confidence that their finances are being well maintained, there are development opportunities for the future in destinations, such as Afghanistan and Brazil. 8. RECOMMENDATIONS In order to rectify the shortcomings in its international strategy, the author of this report recommends that consideration be given to the following: HSBC should seek to identify optimal investment packages and strategies HSBC should expand its products and services to suit the various markets and the times. HSBC should focus on driving growth of brands and improving performance by ensuring that their strategies create value and growth. HSBC can stay ahead in competition by offering better services for its customers such as exceptional customer service, environmentally friendly policies including the HSBC Communities Policy which aids developing countries. BIBLIOGRAPHY Amel, D., Barnes, C., Panetta, F., Salleo, C. (2004). Consolidation and efficiency in the financial sector: A review of the international evidence, Journal of Banking and Finance, Vol. 28, No. 10, pp. 2493-2519. Anand J, Delios A. 2002. Absolute and relative resources as determinants of international acquisitions. Strategic Management Journal 23(2): 119-134. Barney JB. 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management 17: 99-120 Baradwaj, B.G., Dubofsky, D., Fraser, D.R. (1992). Bidder Returns in Interstate and Intrastate Bank Acquisitions, Journal of Financial Services Research, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 261-73 Berger, A., DeYoung, R., Genay, H.Udell, G. (2000). Globalization of financial institutions: Evidence from cross-border banking performance, Brookings-Wharton Papers on Financial Service, Vol. 3 Brand Republic, 2004. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/214994/sutherland-plays-wise-man-cynic-oldman-barclays/ [Accessed 4 April 2010]. Buckley PJ, Casson MC. 1976. The Future of the Multinational Enterprise. Macmillan: London, UK. Buckley PJ, Casson MC. 1998. Analyzing foreign market entry strategies: extending the internalization approach. Journal of International Business Studies 29: 539-562 Campbell, D., Stonehouse, G., Houston, B. 2002. Business strategy: an introduction CIO.CO.UK, 2010. HSBC: CIO 100. The UKs largest users of IT. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.cio.co.uk/cio100/hsbc/4141/ [Accessed 4 April 2010]. Demirgà ¼Ãƒ §-Kunt, A.,Huizinga, H. (1999). Determinants of Commercial Bank Interest Margins and Profitability: Some International Evide

Abilities vs. Disabilities :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Further Inside "The Center" - Abilities vs. Disabilities The Center for the Work in Barstow, CA, conceived and run by Byron Katie, was a place where people from all over the world could come and learn how to view life differently from before. Through the process of inquiry, also known as The Work, everyday folks could turn normally unpleasant experiences into opportunities, and painful ideas into insights. The result was a small culture, full of people who moved peacefully and joyously through their lives no matter what was going on around them. Tremendous flexibility to change with changing circumstances was a natural outcropping of this new way of thinking and viewing adversity. People well versed in The Work could quickly ascertain what their circumstances were, and move in accordance with the reality of their situation. As the situation changed, their movements would change with it. From the outside it appeared that there was little continuity in what these people were doing, for plans would change at a moment's notice. Katie would move faster than anyone I know. This process had the appearance of "Katie is not consistent." But in truth she was staying absolutely consistent, consistent with doing what was best at the given time with the changing circumstances. She "changed her mind" as fast as circumstances changed. She would make plans and share them with the staff. Then it was the staff's job to bring them to fruition. But as a situation changed, Katie's plan would change with it, and the staff's actions would change accordingly. An example that comes to mind, which illustrates this point, was when we had a mailing to get out. We had a list of hundreds of names of people interested in the Work, and Katie was to make an appearance somewhere. We were to send out the announcement of her date, time and location. We worked up the postcard style announcement, printed up hundreds of copies, printed out the address labels of recipients, and got the labels on the postcards and had nearly all of them stamped. This process took a few days with many volunteers helping out. When we were nearly all done with the project, word came down that her plans had changed. She was not going there after all. We had about five people working on the project when we got the news. We were to throw away those postcards and start on something similar reflecting her new plans.

Consensus Ad Idem

EROSION OF CONSENSUS AD IDEM This work is to discuss about the erosion of â€Å"consensus ad idem† or called as â€Å"meeting of the minds†, to get to know about this we have to know about â€Å"Contract† where in which the â€Å"consensus ad idem† plays a very important role. Meaning and Definition of Contract: The word contract is derived from the Latin â€Å"contractum†, meaning â€Å"drawn together†. It, therefore, denotes a drawing together of two or more minds to form a common intention giving rise to an agreement which is intended to be enforceable by law and which may have elements in writing, though contracts can be made orally.Section 2(h) of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 defines a contract as an agreement enforceable by law. Section 2(e) defines agreement as â€Å"every promise and every set of promises forming consideration for each other. † Section 2(b) defines promise in these words: â€Å"When the person to whom the pro posal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted. Essentials of Contract: Every contract is said to have the following elements:- ? Offer ? Acceptance ? Consideration ? Meeting of the minds [consensus ad idem] ? Competency of parties & Legality or Lawful Object These six elements are said to be the essentials of a valid contract, absence of even one of these would result in non-enforceability or a contract which is not legally enforceable. Two or more persons can enter into a contract and there should be offer or proposal from any of the party to the other and the offer can be of any form i. e. , express, implied or general offer, also the offer should be certain and definite. An offer is synonymous with proposal. The offeror or proposer expresses his willingness â€Å"to do† or â€Å"not to do† (i. . , abstain from doing) something with a view to obtain acceptance of the other party to such act or abstinence. Thus, there may be â€Å"po sitive† or â€Å"negative† acts which the proposer is willing to do. When an agreement is placed and which is said to be legally enforceable, consideration on both sides is a must. Each party to the agreement must give or promise something and receive something or a promise in return. Consideration is the price for which the promise of the other is sought. However, this price need not be in terms of money.In case the promise is not supported by consideration, the promise will be nudum pactum (a bare promise) and is not enforceable at law. Moreover, the consideration must be real and lawful. ? Meeting of Minds [consensus ad idem]: â€Å"Consensus ad idem [Latin: agreement on the same thing / Meeting of the minds]. The agreement by contracting parties to identical terms that is necessary for the formation for the formation of a legally binding contract. In particular it refers to the situation where there is a common understanding in the formation of the contract.This co ndition or element is often considered a necessary requirement to the formation of contract. It is understood that a contract cannot be formed or may not be considered as legally enforceable when there is no common understanding between the parties to the contact. They may not be expressly implied in a contract but the conduct of the parties and their understanding towards performing an act is enough to show that there is consent between both the parties. ? Competency of parties: The parties to a contract should be competent to enter into a contract.According to Section 11, every person is competent to contract if he (i) is of the age of majority, (ii) is of sound mind, and (iii) is not disqualified from contracting by any law to which he is subject. Thus, there may be a flaw in capacity of parties to the contract. The flaw in capacity may be due to minority, lunacy, idiocy, drunkenness or status. If a party to a contract suffers from any of these flaws, the contract is unenforceabl e except in certain exceptional circumstances. ? Legality or lawful object:The object of the agreement which was entered between the parties must be lawful and not one which the law disapproves. If in case, the said object is to be unlawful then the agreement would become void. All these above elements combined together forms a contract which is legally enforceable. ? Erosion of â€Å"Consensus ad idem† : The idea of expounding a contract based on meeting of minds at early stages was made by Sir Frederick Pollock. There were also persons like Oliver Wendell Holmes who criticized the concept of meeting of minds as ‘fiction’.This concept has been accepted and had been put into use even until now, but there had been some leaps and bounds in early stages of evolution of contract. In  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Household Fire and Carriage Accident Insurance Co Ltd v Grant  Ã¢â‚¬Å"(1879) 4 Ex D 216, Thesiger LJ said, â€Å"Now, whatever in abstract discussion may be said as to the le gal notion of its being necessary, in order to the effecting of a valid and binding contract, that the minds of the parties should be brought together at one and the same moment, that notion is practically the foundation of  English law  upon the subject of the formation of contracts†. In â€Å"Carlill v.Carbolic Smoke Ball Company†Ã‚  [1893] 1 QB 256, Bowen LJ said, â€Å"One cannot doubt that, as an ordinary rule of law, an acceptance of an offer made ought to be notified to the person who makes the offer, in order that the two minds may come together. Unless this is done the two minds may be apart, and there is not that consensus which is necessary according to the English law – I say nothing about the laws of other countries – to make a contract. † Here in our country, Section 2(e) of Indian contract Act 1872 defines agreement as â€Å"every promise and every set of promises, forming the consideration for each other,† i. e. there shou ld be meeting of minds to constitute a contract. There are also several case laws in which the importance of â€Å"consensus ad idem† has been upheld. In â€Å"M/S Richa Industries Ltd & Ors vs. ICICI Bank Limited & Another†, on 14 October, 2011 Delhi High Court upheld that, â€Å"Contract Act, 1872 being contracts which are beyond the law and this court can draw inference by looking into the illegality in the said contracts and their purpose. The plaintiff states that the agreement or the transactions are not valid that the defendant was never authorized to do the derivative transactions on behalf of the plaintiff.It is submitted on behalf of the plaintiff that the defendant has got some template contracts signed from the plaintiff whereof entered into the transactions on its behalf without proper information and guidance. It is argued that there was no consensus  ad  idem  to enter into any such contract of authorizing the defendant to enter into derivative tr ansaction and the same is vitiated by the  consensus  ad  idem  and consent of the plaintiff. The said consent must be taken from the plaintiff by way of informed consent and not by just getting the documents signed without informing the purpose for which they are taken from the plaintiff.The plaintiff is also aggrieved by the fact that the defendant is seeking to declare the plaintiff as willful defaulter. The plaintiff challenges the defendant's letter dated 28. 02. 2011, whereby show cause was issued†. In this context, all the countries dealing with contracts has accepted the usage of â€Å"consensus ad idem† as it is said to be the key element of contract and also according to the Indian Contract Act 1872. Erosion of this concept was only at early stage of it and now it has been a clear view of that without consent of both parties to the contract it cannot be considered legally acceptable.The basic principles of contract have been substantially abrogated due to privatization and liberalization. Even then, â€Å"consensus ad idem† i. e. , meeting of minds or mutual agreement is a hard nut to crack as without this element there can be no existence of agreement, and it would result in void agreements or at times it becomes voidable. Reference: †¢ Halsbury’s Law on India – Volume II, Butterworths – Lexis Nexis – New Delhi, 2002 †¢ M. Krishna Nair- The Law of Contracts – 5th Edition- Orient Longman Publication – Chennai, 1997, Reprint 1998. Pollock & Mulla- Indian Contract Act & Specific Relief Act – 13th Edition – By Dr. RG – Padia – Lexis Nexis – Butterworth’s Publication, New Delhi, 2006. †¢ Anson – Law of Contract – 28th Edition – Revised by J. Beakson – Oxford University Press Publication – London, 2010. †¢ Cheshire, Fifoot & Frumston – Law of Contract – 13th Edition – M. P. Furmston – Butterworth’s Publication, London, 1996. †¢ Contract – www. wikipedia. org/wiki/Contract †¢ www. indiankanoon. org †¢ www. wisegeek. com †¢ Blog. SilverDane. com

Ball State Universitys Online MBA Degree Essays

Ball State Universitys Online MBA Degree Essays Ball State Universitys Online MBA Degree Essay Ball State Universitys Online MBA Degree Essay Ball State University set its grounds back in 1918 and since then it’s ranked as one of the best universities located in the Midwest area. This university had only few degrees at first. As years were passing by the Ball State University grew and now students can enroll to variety of degrees in many fields. It offers a master, bachelor, doctoral and associate degree in the field you would like to study. For all those students who want to study at an accredited university, the Ball State University has been AACSB accredited. Its online MBA program is also included under this accreditation. Additional accreditations this university received from NCACS and HLC. Ball State University started with its Online MBA Programs more than a decade ago. Now it offers degrees in: Sales Management of MBA Entrepreneurship MBA Finance MBA Operations MBA Health Economics and Administration Policy MBA All of these programs have been made to serve the students. All accepted students will have the opportunity to get the proper education, real world instructions and practical experience. There are many courses which have been made especially for this purpose. There is Global Strategic Management, Leadership courses, Marketing Management, Economic Analysis for all managers, Managerial Finance, Decision Making and Accounting, Quantitative Methods and Statistics and Information System courses. All of these have the perfect curriculum to show you the right direction in the real world. Ball State University requires a completed online application that needs to be sent within deadlines. There are 2 semesters you can choose for enrolling to this university: the summer semester with April 1 set as a deadline and December 1 is the deadline for the spring semester. All students need to have high GRE and GMAT scores in order to be accepted. When it comes to financial aid, Ball State University offers grants, scholarships and loans for all students. The cost for enrolling to this program is up to $24,940 for all students who don’t live around the state of Indiana. The students who want to file an application to this university can include the FAFSA application for receiving financial aid. According to the official website of this university more than 75% are receiving some sort of financial aid every year. As you can see you have great chances for getting financial help and avoid paying a lot of money.