Mobile Banking Technology and Innovation Management Essay

Mobile Banking Technology and Innovation Management - Essay Example Management has to face several challenges in the overall process of introducing the innovation in the market (Barton and Kraus, 1985). MOBILE BANKING TECHNOLOGY: There has been ongoing process of introduction of new technologies in the market every other day. However, all new technologies are not able to succeed and capture the considerable amount of market share. This requires proper and well thought planning and management. It should be ensured that the new technology which is introduced in the market is according to the needs and requirements of the customers (Souder and Sherman, 1994). Apart from this, the new technology should be user friendly and easy to use. All these factors increase the acceptance of the innovative technology. Mobile banking is one such technology, which have been introduced in order to provide customers with ease and comfort in the process of banking. In the start of banking facility, customers have to be physically present at the bank in order to make any kind of transaction. This requirement of physical presence gradually disappeared with the advent of different new technologies and facilities with passage of time. ... Mobile banking allows the customers to perform important transactions through their mobile phones and there is hardly any need of going to banks or being physically present there for the purpose of making transactions (Stair and Reynolds, 2009). There are several benefits of the mobile banking, not only for customers but also for the bank which is providing this facility. This facility of mobile banking can facilitates banks in reducing the charges associated with transactions, as low level of cost is associated with mobile banking. Along with this, the facility of mobile banking is easy and convenient for the consumers as it enables them to quickly access their bank account at any place and at any time (Krugel, 2007). INNOVATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT: The process of implementation of any change or innovation is always associated with several challenges and issue. These challenges and issues should be managed in an effective and efficient manner in order to ensure the successful impl ementation of the innovation. The process of innovation management is a complete change management process. Management has to conduct force field analysis in order to identify important restricting and supporting forces. Next step is to come up with effective strategies and tactics in order to minimize the restricting forces and maximizing the supporting forces (Tidd, 2001). The restricting forces can be both external and internal. Innovation or new technology not only faces resistance on part of the customers but sometime employees are also responsible for the failure of any new technology or innovation. It is important for the management to keep in consideration

The three phase model of Crisis

The three phase model of Crisis Prevention is better than cure is a saying around the globe. This saying applies very well in a crisis which occurs to the organisation from nowhere. The organisational environment is often described as more hostile, uncertain, changeable and complex then it has been in the past (Borman, Ilgen, Klimoski, 2003). The complexity and the capriciousness of the current business environments are liable to stimulate numerous crisis events for organisations and their subunits (Choi Kim, 1999) (Lampel, Shamsie, Shapira, 2009) (Moynihan, 2009). Recently, crises have become a regular or even normal event for many organisations. (Ashby Diacon, 2000). Therefore it is very important and appropriate that managers should focus not only on whether a crisis will happen but also when and how it will occur. Crisis by their nature are unexpected and brief with few managers possessing either firsthand knowledge or practical experience (Guth, 1995). A basic definition as said by Clark (1995) is A crisis , is defined as any unplanned event that can cause death or significant injuries to employees, customers, or the public; shut down the business; disrupt operations; cause physical or environmental damage; or threaten the facilitys financial standing or public image. It is also important to know the types and causes of crisis and the damage which can be caused to cope with the crisis and effective crisis management in the organisation (Drach-Zahavy Freund, 2007) (Mitroff, Shrivastava, Udwadia, 1987). In todays world organisations operate in an environment which is characterised by high uncertainty, risk, and turbulence due to different events such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals, and major product defects. These unforeseen crisis events, be they small or large scale, naturally occurred or humanly induced, have far-reaching and deep impact on organizations and individuals within (Mitroff, 1988)(Pearson Clair, 1998). To avoid or reduce such unanticipated impact requires effective crisis management practice. By that time, as the environment grows in complexity and uncertainty, it not only requires significant learning efforts on the part of organizations (Lagadec, 1997), but also makes the pace at which organisations learn a determining factor in its ability to survive or adapt (Schwandt Marquardt, 2000). With such difficult environment, constant and continuous learning has become a necessity for the survival of any organisation, adaptability, competitiveness and long term viability (Barnett Pratt, 2000). To cope with such environment and handle such events, crisis management is necessary for any organisation. Like crisis, crisis management is also defined differently by different people by their own perspective. One of the definition of crisis management as said by Darling et. al. (1996) Crisis management is defined as a series of functions or processes to identify, study and forecast crisis issues, and set forth specific ways tha t would enable an organization to prevent or cope with a crisis. The definition given above fills the purpose of this paper of describing crisis management. Many authors have developed different models or process to describe methods to deal with the crisis such as five phases model of crisis management (Mitroff I. I., 1993), some authors has taken different elements of the organisation to deal with to show crisis management such as Mitroff in (1989) used Hofstedes Onion diagram to show culture as a part of crisis management to show the different cultural profiles of organisations. Similarly Smith (1992) explained 7 Cs of crisis management which demonstrates the cultural web and other important elements of the organisation to be handle to prevent the crisis which is one of the crisis management model. Smith in (1990) also came up with another crisis model which is known as Three Phases of Crisis. This model describes about the different phases of the crisis event occurring in organis ation. This paper focuses on this model of Denis Smith describing the model in particular and focusing on which part of the model or which phase of the crisis is most challenging for an organisation to handle with the relevant examples from the organisation and other major events. The next section discusses about the three phase crisis model in brief particularly what does the model means. Followed by the discussion on most challenging phase of the model for an organisation to handle with relevant examples. Then summing up the whole model and describing the reason behind the challenging phase of the model to the organisation in conclusions. Three Phases of Crisis. Crisis management is relatively new field that has only received research attention in recent years (Pearson Mitroff, 1993). Denis smith in (1990) came after a proper research and study about the topic came up with a conclusion that in any crisis situation there are three distinct phases. He developed a model which is now known as three phases of crisis. Smith says that the crisis in any organisation is basically in three stages, the first stage is known as Crisis of Management, the second stage is Operational Crisis and the final stage of the model is Crisis of Legitimation. The Crisis of Management. This phase is the phase in which the situation appears to imperil the firms survival and places the firm under severe time pressure. (Ansoff, 1984). The first phase of this framework, the crisis of management represents that period in which the potential for a crisis becomes incubated. This phase addresses the strategic and system-level issues that can generate problems for organisations at the more functional and operational levels of activity. The first period is when the organisation fails to take account of imminent situation is about to occur which can be catastrophic for firms survival. The important elements here can be seen to be around communication, culture and decision-making processes and the ways in which these factors generate vulnerability. It is in this phase that the potential is developed that would allow an incident or an accident to escalate into a more serious event. This process has been termed tight coupling and interactive complexity by Perrow and reflects the speed of interaction between elements and the complex emergence of failure (Perrow, 1994). Perrow argues that such failures are designed into the system and often represents the normal way of working. Most of this potential for failure arises as a function of attempts at making the organisation more efficient or by the extended nature of its supply chains. In the same way, the failure of management to respond to incidents in an effective manner could allow an initial level to develop quickly into a crisis. This is the phase where decisions taken or not taken by the management or the shareholders or stakeholders in the organisation can proclaim the growth of the organisational culture. The processes through which this escalation can occur can occur are deal with at several points in this collection. The main issues for consideration within this initial phase of the process includes, role of management in the generation of errors lower down the organisation, weaknesses in the managem ent structure, constrained decision-making and communication, and the problems that arise as a result of the interaction between the organisation and its environment. In this culture and climate within which a relatively minor initiative event can intensify the whole system and can result in catastrophic failure. These issues will ultimately be reflected in the failure of contingency planning to address the scope and scale of the problems that face the organisation in the operational phase of crisis. The Operational Crisis. The Second Phase of the model is Operational Crisis it occurs when the event escalates to such a point that damage is caused or the reputation of the organisation becomes threatened. This phase comes when the organisation is in violent pangs of suffering from the operational crisis. David (1990) in Smiths research said This is the phase in which the human face of management is an important element in reducing the organizational impact of the event. In some larger organisations, this phase is often formally triggered when a senior manager determines that the event has the potential to damage the reputation of the group or the main parent company of the various business units (Smith D., 2004). This phase of a crisis is also unavoidably the most visible, due to the damage that it can cause. By the large, this damage requires that an additional level of resource is brought to bear in order to contain the demands of the events, and, eventually, to return them to normal. This phase is also defined by the role of external agencies usually acting in the role of rescuers who will often take short term control of the damaging event until such time as the demands return to a level that can be handled by more routine management processes. Nevertheless, where there is loss of life associated with the crisis then there will also be a requirement for the collection of evidence. This requirement may remain with external agencies for a considerable period of time after the operational phase. There is considerable potential for this process to escalate the crisis still further as media coverage of any investigation will have an impact upon reputation, share price and sometimes even to an extent of, legal status. Thus a crisis does not end at the point at which the minor problem is brought under control, but may escalate still further as the crisis moves to more of a reputational problem in the next phase which is legitimation phase. The Crisis of Legitimation. The final phase of this framework raises the issues of turnaround management, reputation recovery, and a range of processes aimed at securing the organisations legitimacy with its internal and external stakeholders. These are all issues that need to be considered by managers in the Crisis of Management phase rather than in the Operational and Legitimation phase. This final phase also includes the processes of organisational learning which is as generating many of the conditions necessary to deal with future problems of crisis incubation within the crisis of management (Elliott, Smith, McGuinness, 2000). In the ensuing post-crisis period there is often an attempt to search for scapegoat to blame on in an attempt to legitimise organisational operating procedures and different managerial styles. In this phase the organisation tries to restore external confidence in both its managerial structure and operating systems. Government normally tries to intervene in this phase of crisis as the y search for both to secure legitimacy and to take preventive measures. Many a times we see that the management responsible for the crisis is being transferred from one organisation to another or to dedicated crisis management unit or team. This usually occurs in the second phase of the model, as seen by the role of exigency services which comes into picture during the crisis situation in an attempt to resolve the crisis or reduce the damage which is being caused. We can also see such blame games or transfer in the third phase which is crisis of legitimation phase as in this phase attempts are made to apportion blame outside the organisation that played host to the crisis event. Normally, we see such transfers during transport accidents. Resulting in other organisations operating in same sector being affected may be due to close association with the crisis hit organisation or through more tight legislation coming into force during legitimation phase. We see here the impact of crisis being passed from one organisation to another which has to forcefully ch ange modify their pattern to meet the changes in regulation (Smith D. , Beyond contingency planning: towards a model of crisis management, 1990). From the model we can also see that there is a phase of Organisational Learning or what Smith said as Feedback Loop. Environmental factors such as a crisis can stimulate learning within an organisation (Dodgson, 1993) (Fiol Lyles, 1985). Learning has become an increasingly primary concern to many crisis management researchers (Elliott, Smith, McGuinness, 2000) (Stern, 1997). Smith in his model suggested that organisational learning is an integral part of the crisis. Organisations should learn the mistakes which they made during the crisis which let it occur, or the way they handled the crisis. Sundelis and Stern (2002) noted that members of organisation often use lesson from past crisis experiences as a guide for current action. In the same way, they may respond to positive or negative feedback on performances during a crisis experiences as a guide for current action (Sundelis Stern, 2002). The most challenging phase Looking at the whole model all the three phase of crisis are linked to each other. It is not easy to say which phase out of the model is most challenging phase for the organisation. But, if we compare all the three separately phase three which is Legitimation Phase can be the most challenging phase for the organisation. Many a times the post crisis phase runs along to the breeding of another crisis. A thought should be given to the structure and culture of the organisation in order to assure that learning occurs within the organisation. When putting this model in Smiths 7 C model we see that two major part of the organisation which is culture and configuration falls under this phase. Describing this by Smith and Sipika (1993) they showed five major points in this phase by saying to restructure for a responsive structure, the management style of the organisation to be reviewed to avoid such crisis again, sometimes even the personnel of the organisations is being changed or removed, pr oper marketing if the crisis is caused due to the product fault, sometimes it even results in the acquisition of the crisis struck organisation by other organisation. The impact of crisis after it has stricken is very lethal some organisations sometimes are not able to handle the blow of crisis depends upon the size and nature of organisation. The biggest example recently which can be given is the fall of Lehman Brothers Bank during financial crisis. In September 2008 one of the worlds biggest bank, Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy after hitting badly by the worst post world war financial crisis in 2008. Lehman Brothers which was once said as too big to fall was shut after the strong blow of sub-prime mortgage crisis (Baba Packer, 2009). Out here the working of the organisation in sub-prime mortgages pushed organisation to fall when the markets started to fall. This working was being incubated by the culture of the organisation. The fall of Lehman Brothers started one of the worst global financial crises. The effect here was passed to other organisations not only in the same sector but all over the world due to the size of the organisation. The involvement of government in this phase plays a very vital role as well, this can even save an organisation once the crisis is hit, structure or the working of an organisation can even change completely for example American International Group (AIG) was being rescued by the government of USA after hitting badly by recent financial crisis in2008. AIG was very much in the insurance of Credit Default Swaps(CDS) which turned to toxic assets later on during market crash. The nature of the organisation was very much in risk taking which caused a crisis for them as well. The government bailout given to the organisation helped them to stand back after the harsh blow of the financial crisis (Bernake, 2009). The first point discussed by Smith and Sipika proves the point out in the above given example which was restructuring for a responsive structure. Post Crisis phase or Legititmation Phase has always been proved challenging for the organisation in every way one more example of this phase was step down or change of CEO, Tony Hayward of the British Petroleum of USA branch due to worst oil spill in the history of USA (Bergin, 2010). The Chairman of BP Mr. Carl-Henric Svanberg said in one of the press release on 27th July 2010. The BP board is deeply saddened to lose a CEO whose success over some three years in driving the performance of the company was so widely and deservedly admired. The oil spill in Gulf of Mexico by BP was caused by deepwater horizon rig explosion, as of 9th August 2010 the cost to BP for the oil spill was $6.1bn (Â £3.8bn) which caused crisis to the organisation. Out here the fault was technical but the effect of the crisis (oil spill) not only changed the working of BP as in organisation, it affected in every way to the environment and also to the share prices of the company (Zangari, 2010) (BBC, 2010). The oil spill is almost shut now but the effect of the oil spill is still there to the environment and to the organisation, BP is being sued by the environmentalist and other people, along with BP even other companies involved in the oil spill are also being affected (Pael, 2010). Now-a-days due to globalisation there is always a chain effect of crisis from one organisation to another, as described by the Legitimation phase. Another recent due to faulty product was Cadbury Plc recall of its product made in China, Australia, Taiwan and India. The organisation has to recall its product after revealing tests which said may contain melamine-laced milk which killed four children in China and made many ill. Cadbury was under scrutiny after the revelation. It lost its major markets due to this event, the aftermath of this event caused Cadbury in major loses in the above mentioned region. The contamination was caused by leak of waste water. Around 1million bars of chocolate were recall which damaged the image of the organisation to the core and were almost unable to get back to their feet in one of the major markets around the globe (Hickley, 2008). It was after 2 years due their marketing practices they get back into the market of China and made profits. Similar was the case with Coca-Cola and Pepsi in Indian market which fell under a controversy of having pesticides in their product in 2006. It was then the CEO of PepsiCo. INC Indra Nooyi made a press release about the procedures followed in making of the product and safe to drink. This press release was also used as a marketing technique in Indian market to reduce the aftermath of the crisis. Many such crisis have spoiled the image of many organisations, the practices by organisation have also been changed. These examples show why Legitimation phase is one of the most challenging phase of the crisis model. The government intervention, impact of crisis, competition from the competitors, handling the image of the organisation, health safety and many such things makes the organisation difficult to comeback after the crisis has hit. Conclusion The paper has reviewed some of the issues relating to crisis management and detailed model which focuses on Smith (1990) the three main phases of Crisis and determining the effectiveness of management intervention in containing and preventing crisis escalation to see the various stages through which crises go. Most of the focus is shown on the post-crisis phase as organisations have attempted to manage the negative impact of the event. The phase also points out issues such as culture of the organisation that can increase or reduce the impact of the crisis. Paper also describes briefly about Legitimation phase, as the most challenging phase of the organisation in the crisis model with relevant live examples. Which focuses more on aftermath of crisis and Culture of the organisation, As culture is considered to be a soul of the organisation during the time of crises (Witoszek Tragardh, 2002).

What Came First Thought Or Lan :: essays research papers

Language came after Thought In order to be able to prove the statement 'Language came after thought', the words 'language' and 'thought' first will have to be defined. Language could be described as a system for formulating and communicating information, thoughts and feelings. There is, however, not one adequate definition of thinking, since most definitions do not cover all aspects of thought. It could be defined as a mental activity, but also as the way one's mind perceives one's senses. Having gathered this information, the concepts of language and thought will be looked at, and the relationship between the two concepts will be found. Firstly, a distinction has to be made between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. There are infinitely more thoughts in our mind than we can ever perceive. The German psychologist Fechner, who lived in the second half of the nineteenth century, compared the mind to an iceberg. This iceberg has only a fraction of all the information and thoughts stored in the mind above the water level, on the surface of consciousness, but by far the biggest part of it is hidden underwater, in the unconscious mind. Recent research has shown that only a very tiny proportion of our unconscious thinking is converted to conscious thinking. This conversion processes like the search engine in a computer: this 'search engine' unconsciously selects the thoughts we want to be available for our conscious mind. Then a small part of the thoughts from the unconscious component of the mind, the part that is aware of, and to a certain extent induces the person's choice of action, is consciously translated i nto language. This means that the meaning a person wishes to express provides the strategy for the proper word. In the conscious mind there are words, whereas in the unconscious mind there are only concepts. Creativity, for instance, can be found in the unconscious mind. Inspirations for paintings or for music compositions are found in the unconscious mind. Human beings, however, do not encounter them in the form of words. Musicians in general are much more likely to think in form of harmony instead of in a melody: they do not think in the form of chords, but in the form of harmony and melody. This harmony is in that musician's subconscious mind, and is expressed through his conscious mind in the form of a melody. Even scientists often do not think in language.

Blood Covenant Essay

This book, which is actually two books in one, has two main parts. Book one which covers from page 21 to page 200 is about Michael Franzese’s life before his conversion to Christianity. In the first paragraph of the book, which is in page 22 of the book, the author says â€Å"To understand me and the path I took in life, it is necessary to first understand my father, mob enforcer John Franzese†¦Ã¢â‚¬  then follows a long story of his father better known as Sonny and his exploits around about 1960s, this first book on franzese’s life as a Mafia leader sets the stage for the second part of the book titled book 2 which is carries the title The New Life in Christ. The book also has a brief photo insert between the two main parts of the book. After the epilogue of the book, there is a small section written by Camille Garcia, Franzese’s wife, which is thereafter followed by afterword then appendix. 2. Express ideas in your own words. Utilize book content, which will support your ideas and conclusions. While it remains a fact that there are some serious holes with the book in that some of the events cannot be pinpointed in a timeline map, there are still some considerations and positive points about he book. Part two of the book basically outlines the Christian life that Franzese lives and other motivational stuff like how to avoid the mafia and so on. 3. Do you as the reader accept or reject the author’s argument? Do they make sense? Do you feel they are accurate or valid? Are they logical? Does the author convey himself as being credible to the reader? I accept the author’s arguments. Even though some of the details are not clear and may need validation, there is a truth to the facts and feelings of Franzese. It has been said that this book, Franzese’s second, is the rendition of the first, called Quitting the Mob which was published in 1992, with some few addition of words. The various issues that raise the issue of credibility to the readers are that since he stole hundreds of millions of dollars. What happened to this money, did the mob get it? Why has the mob never come after him even after testifying to the grand jury? These are some of the questions that are left hanging leaving the reader thinking seriously about the credibility of the story. 4. Has the author included all the important variables or factors in his analysis? For example, are there any inconsistencies or contradictions in his arguments? If so, what are they? No. the author has failed in a number of ways. Some of the information that is provided by Franzese is either in the public domain or cannot be independently verified. His claim that he had met by his own admission, stole hundreds of millions of dollars don’t answer some primary questions like: what happened to the money? How come the mob never came after him after he testified in front of the grand jury? How did he break parole and many other questions? 5. To what extent if any is Franzese different from Sammy `the Bull` Gravano? What are their similarities? Did you find on individual more believable that the other? Why? While Franzese turned to a Christian and totally ignored the Colombo family to which he had swore an oath to, Sammy turned to be a CIA informer on the activities of the Gambinos. He had a plastic surgery to hide from the mob but continued to live a life of abandon and violence after leaving the US witness Protection Programme. While Franzese changed because of the girl he met, Sammy changed to be an informer because his then boss, John Gotti, wanted to alienate him so that Sammy could be seen as the mad one after their arrest. Franzese and Sammy are similar in that they have both written books on their lives with the mafia. Franzese has written two books, Quitting the Mob and Blood Covenant while Sammy wrote a book called Underboss. They are also recorded as the first top ranking members of the mafia who turned on their oath, Franzese to Christianity and Sammy to a Spy. Finally both of them have been invited for public lectures and motivational talks. Sammy’s story is believable and reliable since it can be backed by other sources like the CIA; this is not the case with Franzese’s story. 6. Given what you have learned about Organized crime were you convinced of the author’s contentions? If not, what evidence would need to be presented to be convinced? There need to be somebody who can verify the stories given Franzese. His public talks and lectures make it necessary for people to really understand what made him do the things he did. 7. What did you find most valuable and least valuable of the information presented by the author? This story gives a not-so-detailed account of the Franzese life with the Mafia. Some of the details provided are a little hazy and difficult to verify, if not outright absurd. When he claims for example that he says that he made a lot of money and that he had connections with other mafia bosses like Jon Gotti, , Don King, Reverand Al Sharpton and others but doesn’t reveal anything he public domain about them make a person somewhat disappointed. 8. The outcome for both Gravano and Franzese are very different. What factors and theoretical perspectives can account for this? While Franzese claims that it was due to the influence of his wife that he left the life of being a mafia, Sammy turned to be an informer when he realized that the then boss, john Gotti, was bent on portraying him as mad and a cold blood killer. This made him to turn into a state witness against the john Gotti. References Franzese Michael. Blood Covenant. Chicago: Whitaker House, 2003

Skills and Learning Statement

OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY Skills and Learning Statement for Topic 8: An analysis and evaluation of the business and financial performance of an organization over a three years period Being a Research and Analysis Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of: BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting Oxford Brookes University By: Name: Tao De ACCA Registration Number: 2171332 Submission Date: 24th May 2012 Words Count: 1881 Table of Contents Lessons Learned From Meetings With Project Mentor3Extent to Which Research Questions Have Been Answered5 Demonstration of Interpersonal and Communication Skills During Project Work7 Benefits Of Undertaking The RAP In Accountancy Studies and/or Current Employment Role8 Copy of Presentation Slides9 Lessons Learned From Meetings With Project Mentor During the project, I meet with my project mentor, Sonny Chan, for three times. In the three meetings with him, he gave me general guidance over my project progress, pointed out problems that I h ad made and took enquiries from me. First MeetingIn the first meeting, I came up with an idea of writing topic 8, and my mentor supported my idea. He gave me suggestions that potential problems that I may come up with, e. g. ratio explanation; and suggest me to review F7 (Financial Reporting) first to quickly pick up knowledge that I might forgotten, e. g. ratio analysis. After deciding the topic, I gave my mentor a list of companies that I want to analyze. The companies I selected are mainly operating in real estate industry, e. g. Frasers Centrepoint Trust, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Suntec Real Estate Trust.Mr. Chan suggested that I need to choose a company that can make comparison, which means they have to have same year ending, similar operating area and both in form of trust. Only in this way, the ratios that have been calculated are meaningful and can be compared between two companies. From the first meeting, I learnt that a good targeted company and a good comparable co mpany selection is critical for a report. And also after the first meeting, I went through all the financial ratios, which helped me refresh my memory of what I have learnt during the F7 study.Second Meeting In the second meeting, I had finished main parts (financial analysis and business analysis) in my RAP project. After reviewed those analysis, my mentor pointed out that my explanation of ratios are not sufficient, and he shows me with examples as what is a sufficient explanation of ratio. He also suggests that I should have a segmental analysis regarding to Suntec REIT’ revenue. Besides these, he thought I needed to improve my references, which can make the analysis more convincing and have academic support.The second meeting is very meaningful indeed. It helps me improved my research report and taught me to think â€Å"deep†. For example, further explanation of ratios according to case helps my financial analysis much more meaningful. And it also helps me to know how to apply what I learnt in F7 study. Third Meeting The third meeting is relatively smooth; and my mentor’s main focus is on the format and presentation of my RAP projects. He pointed out certain wrong format of my references and inappropriate presentations, e. g. paper size, font size and line spacing.When the analysis report is about to finish, I was asked to prepare a presentation to my mentor and other students. After the presentation my mentor thought that I should improve my tone of speech to make it more convincing and encouraged me by saying that the RAP project is well prepared and he is very satisfied with my work. The third meeting with my mentor helps me to finalize my research report by adjusting things like font size and reference list. It let me know how to produce a standard and formal report, which will definitely be useful in future.And from presentation session, I learnt how to give an effective presentation to present my works. Extent to Which Research Q uestions Have Been Answered The objective that I set is to analyze the operation of Suntec REIT from financial and business perspective and try to help potential investors form a decision over the company. I believe after the research has been finished I have met the objective that I set and answered all the research questions. Though the research process is tedious, I managed myself to meet the objective answer the questions that I have set.Financial Analysis Firstly, I collect relevant information, e. g. 3 consecutive years of Annual Report of Suntec REIT and CCT REIT. Then transfer the Statement of Financial Position and Statement of Comprehensive Income in the Annual Report into excel format. After the transfer, I used excel to compute basic ratios, e. g. net profit margin, current ratio and gearing; and form another tab to put these ratios in organized form (table). For explanation purposes, charts and tables were made based on those ratios and absolute numbers, e. . profit and revenue; and again being put into separate tab in the excel, ready to be used in the writing process. After the primary data being transformed into easily explainable table and charts, the financial analysis process begins. The financial analysis proceeds in the order of segmental analysis, profitability, liquidity, leverage and investment ratios. Under each heading, the relevant ratios are compared between two companies, underlying meaning of the ratio are explained and the reason for adverse/favorable are explained.For certain ratios, the potential impact is also discussed. Business Analysis At the start of this part, the business model to be used was quickly decided. At that time, I thought PESTEL analysis and SWOT analysis would be appropriate for the analysis, as PESTEL analysis gives an external picture of the business environment and SWOT analysis can provide general view of the business operation. However, during the business analysis, I found SWOT and PESTEL have certain p arts are overlapping, and this gives me a serious lesson of careful picking business analysis model.And to mitigate the problem, I try to more specifically differentiate the overlapping parts, e. g. PESTEL more focus on specific external factors while Opportunities and Threats are more general view of the environment that he company facing. Same as financial analysis, business analysis begins with information collection. During this period, I visited websites that relate to the real estate industry, e. g. Singapore REITs (http://sreit. reitdata. com), went to school library and review previous text books.During I reading the information, I took down the relevant information may useful as preparation for the business analysis. The writing process of the business analysis is mainly relying on the information being gathered. The information is written under the relevant headings of the models. Besides with this, the potential impacts are discussed. The two analysis can help potential i nvestors to have a general view of Suntec REIT’s operation both from the internal financial analysis and analysis based from business analysis model.And this can help them to make their decisions over the company. Therefore I confidently believe that I met the objective that I met. Demonstration of Interpersonal and Communication Skills During Project Work I believe that interpersonal and communication skills have been showed throughout the course of my RAP. Oral skills were required when I met up with my mentor and when making my presentation to my mentor and other students. And my writing communication skill is demonstrated through my writing of my research report.Effective communication is significantly important in have a productive interaction between my mentor and me. Every meeting with my mentor must be effective. As such, I will spend time to form my questions on the issues that I wanted to ask and diligently write down whatever suggestions that Mr. chan gave me durin g our meetings. As far as I can, I will play an active role in the oral discussion about the issues that I prepared before the meeting. Open-ended questions were asked when I needed more elaboration on certain issues.And I will also ask close-ended questions when I need a confirmation on specific issues. Besides face-to-face meeting, I discussed with my mentor through emails, text messages, Skype and MSN between meetings. In order to avoid misinterpretations, I tried to make sure that every message was well thought and organized before transmission. Writing research report requires me to have good written communication skills. This includes proper grammar and appropriate vocabulary. Except for that, I must be able to do good summaries.During the meetings and other methods of communication with my mentor, I have realized that conveying my message in a specific manner is crucial. I must not be too ‘wordy’ and always should present my points in an organized manner and try to progress into details. In the presentation of my research report, I found encouraging audience participation is an important aspect in the presentation. I have used my body language to emphasize important points. Besides that, I have also made regular eye contacts with the audience so that they can remain interested in my speech.Except for that, I also need to be sure that I am perfectly competent to take any questions during the Q&A after the presentation. And in order to do so, I predicted any areas that the audience may question about and prepare my answer for it, so that I won’t be brain go bland and come up with meaningless answers. Benefits Of Undertaking The RAP In Accountancy Studies and/or Current Employment Role The RAP is a completely new adventure for me and gives me significant challenge to finish such a big project, which takes almost 4 months. And I believe I benefit a lot during the project.In the project I reviewed the knowledge that I have learnt, e. g. F 7, F9 and P3; and applied them in the chosen companies, i. e. Suntec REIT and CCT REIT. This experience helps me to have further understanding of the knowledge I have learnt, e. g. actual meaning of those ratios instead of their computation and the application of PESTEL instead of theoretical concepts. Besides that, I also find certain areas that I need to enhance on. In the business analysis, I used an overlapping business model being introduced to analyze the chosen company.This shows my weak understanding over that area. Immediately after the project, I read up relevant material in P3 so that to enhance my better understanding over the subject and to apply it more proficiently in the future. After the project, I also find more about myself. I find my advantages, e. g. organizing random and complex information. These advantages can help me recognize which area I am good at and take advantage of in the future. And at the same time I also find some short comes that I need to avoid o r improve in the future e. g. ack of time control and weak at prioritizing tasks. And these can help me to know what need to be pre-considered to avoid same issue happen again. Besides these, the journey of completing the project can somehow help me to promote my career in the future. †¢ In the research report, it taught me how to form an official report with convincing tone and objective facts. And this experience may let me to form formal report in the future work place. †¢ From the presentation part, I learnt how to give a great presentation to fellow mates and pass information effectively.In the future, I can know how to give a much greater presentation based on the OBU project experience. †¢ The application of those ratios into real cases builds my confidence in using them to analyze financial performance of companies in practice. All these experiences can help me to better prepare for my future career and increase my opportunity to â€Å"shine† in the wor k place. In conclusion, I have to testify here that RAP provides me an experience that will definitely contribute to my further ACCA study and future employment.