Sunday, January 26, 2020

Debit Vs Credit Card Analysis

Debit Vs Credit Card Analysis Every time you use a credit card, you are actually borrowing money that is made available to you by a bank or other financial institution. The institution pays the debt to the vendor and, in turn, you pay the money back to the institution. By signing up for a credit card, you agree to pay back the money that you borrowed, in addition to any interest drawn on the amount you borrowed. Odds are, you have a debit card in your wallet or purse right now, since many ATM cards are programmed to have debit options. Issued by your bank, debit cards take funds directly from the money that you have in your bank account acting much like a check, just faster. With a debit card, you dont have to carry cash or checks, and it is very convenient to shop at a variety of places including gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and retail stores. They provide instant access to your money and are accepted worldwide. Debit cards are used much like credit cards, meaning that the store where you are shopping swipes them and you are normally given the option of signing your receipt instead of using a required PIN number (you can enter your PIN number if you prefer). You also typically do not have to show a picture ID. A few reasons why you should pay with credit: When you shop online. When you buy something from the internet you would like to use your credit card because the funds dont come immediately out of your checking. This way if you have any disputes with the online merchant you can call up your credit card company and get the charge removed. This also works to protect your cash balances because if someone somehow gets a hold of your credit card number they can only ring up a bill that you dont have to pay (because you didnt charge it), but if they get ahold of your debit card number they can cause you one major headache. When you buy a big-ticket item. You might not be aware of this but most credit card issuers offer an extended warranty on anything you buy with credit. Obviously youll want to review your credit cards terms but this can come in handy as some credit card issuers automatically double the manufacturers warranty. When you want to build your credit history. Using your debit card wont build you any credit but if you use your credit card and pay it off on a monthly basis youll start to build your credit up quickly. When you want to rent a car. Many credit cards offer damage protection coverage when you pay for a rental car with them. This offers the same coverage as the damage insurance that car rental companies will try to sell you. Pay with your card and save yourself some money. You want to earn points. Most credit cards nowadays offer reward points which can be redeemed for cash, gift cards and even airline tickets. A few reasons why you might want to pay with Debit: You want cash. If you want to get cash quick without paying any ATM fees then just use your debit card and ask for cash back at the merchant. Quick, free and easy. You want to avoid interest charges. Obviously if you use your credit card you will likely be charged interest for any purchases you put on your credit card. This is not the case when you use your debit card because the funds are transferred automatically out of your checking account. You dont want (yet another) bill to pay. Lets face it, were overrun with bills every single month. If you want to streamline your life and just dont want to have yet another bill to pay then use your debit card. If you dont have a balance on your credit card then you dont get a bill. Good stuff! Which Is Better? Maybe you still dont see much difference, besides where the money comes from and when you have to pay up. So which one is better to use? It depends upon how careful you are with your card and why you are using the card. The features that make debit cards convenient instant access to your money, lack of a required PIN number and not having to drag out your photo ID when you use it make fraud that much easier. Unless reported quickly, theft of your debit card can quickly devastate your bank account. This is where you begin to see the difference. Credit card companies are held to strict liability laws; the law limits consumer liability for credit card fraud to $50. For example, if you notice suspicious charges on your credit card statement such as double billing or an incorrect charge, the credit card company is obligated to investigate if you send in a written request within 60 days. For debit card fraud, your liability is $50 if you notify the bank within two days of noticing the fraudulent charges. After two days, your liability increases to $500, and up to your entire account balance after 60 days. So, if you report the theft after two days, you can be held responsible for paying for purchases or charges that you didnt make. Although many banks have started to implement voluntary plans to limit customer liability to $50, there is no federal law regarding this issue. One final advantage of credit cards is that they are helpful for consumers seeking to establish or reestablish an attractive credit history. Responsible credit card usage can improve ones credit rating, which will improve your chances of obtaining favorable credit terms (low interest rates, low fees, etc.) for automobile loans, mortgages and personal loans. Finally, a debit card is not just a card its ready access to your money. Be as careful with it as you would with your wallet if it contained the contents of your entire bank account. Thank you à ¯Ã‚ Ã…  

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Managing technological change

Managing technological change effectively in organizations, and even across entire industries, has always been a challenge for management, IT practitioners, and business development specialists. Technological change within companies and enterprises is not primarily a technology issue nor is it an area of interested limited to IT managers and specialists alone. Technological change should be a primary concern for business managers. The new generations of IT advancements can be applied to support advanced information management which in turns can enable business transformation within an organization.Managing automation-focused projects has become an outdated approach. Without a system on managing technological change effectively, the end results for organizations in applying new technologies usually result in unexpectedly high failure rates (BusinessWeek Online, 2006). A solution for business and IT managers is to make use of the Benefits Realization method. All organizations actually have a Benefits Realization process whether they are aware of it or not.For most companies, it is most likely not a formal process, and as such, the organization does not only know about it, but it also does not understand it. When an organization is not aware of the Benefits Realization in place, then it tends to be a passive process, not a managed one. What happens of course is that the process does not work very well. However, when the Benefits Realization process is designed and engineered systematically, it can actually lead to a tremendous improvement in the organization’s performance (BusinessWeek Online, 2006).In general, the Benefits Realization method provides for a new basis for using IT to deliver business results more consistently, predictably, and effectively. The approach makes use of two interconnected elements: mindsets on IT and on management methods. Taken these two fields together, Benefits Realization seeks to focus on integrating technology into an organ ization’s business system. It posits that the application of IT alone, regardless of how technically powerful, cannot deliver effective and successful business results without considering and combining IT with business methods (BusinessWeek Online, 2006).In other words, for an effective Benefits Realization process, the organization must seek to combine IT and management capabilities, and provide for a system that monitors the entire process from start to finish. F. Research Issue The ideal Benefits Realization design should start from the launch of the project, go beyond deliver, and actually measure the success and process improvement of the new design, process, software, or whatever technology was introduced to the organization.The problem is that not all companies have systems in place to really measure process improvement for Benefits Realization after completion of the project. This may happen when the organization is not aware that it has a Benefits Realization process in place to begin with, or when the organization’s Benefits Realization design simply does not have the tools to measure the end results of the process. G. Objectives of the Study The research study has the following objectives: ? To identify the reasons why the introduction of technology in benefits realization has often failed to bring about real change and benefits to the company.? To discuss how failure of most benefits realization programs are due to the lack of measurement tools in determining the benefits from its investments. ? To provide recommendations and solutions on how to establish effective benefits realization within an organization. H. Definition of Terms The following key terms, which will be used recurrently throughout the study, are defined as follows: ? Benefits realization – the discipline of ensuring that business initiatives deliver expected benefits (Aron, Tucker & Hunter, 2005).It is â€Å"an integrated set of processes, techniques, tools, d ocumentation standards and governance framework that cane be used to get the most value from technology investments† (Federal Aviation Administration, 1999, p. 1-2). ? Business benefit – a real source of value to the business, such as increased revenues, improved customer retention, lower costs, or quicker time-to-market (Aron, Tucker & Hunter, 2005). ? IT-intensive project/initiative – a business project with a significant IT component. It is increasingly common to consider all projects business projects.Projects involving significant IT activities and/or costs represent an opportunity for the Chief Operating Officer (CIO) and Information System (IS) organization to contribute strongly to benefits realization (Aron, Tucker & Hunter, 2005). I. Significance of the Study The study is significant since it will analyse the reasons why benefits realization programs fail in companies. It will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of benefits realization approaches used by companies. The recommendations that the study will provide can serve as useful tools for organization in setting up effective benefits realization programs.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Human Impact on the Environment – Problems caused by population growth

In about 1830 the human population reached one billion, there are now somewhere around six billion people on the planet today and that figure is growing at a very high and very rapid rate. Past populations were controlled by disease, war and famine but now because of technology and modern medicine. The environment around us has been built to support these growing numbers but this development is having a huge effect on the world's ecosystems. Human population's clear other space and habitats of other species to make way for their own. This ignorance has killed many species to extinction and polluted the environment; this has endangered our survival and the survival of other species at risk. Read this Ch. 22 Respiratory System However, in natural ecosystems factors are limiting whereas human ecosystems are different as we have the technology to maximise resources and find new ones when existing ones run out. The planet obviously can only hold a certain number of people, most species never reach their maximum numbers but they have a peak, then the numbers start to decline. Activities that have changed the landscape Industrial and domestic waste has to be disposed of, and as the population is increasing the waste is becoming more and more difficult to get rid of. There are a lot of things that cause pollution in varying rates on a big scale oil spill to a normal deodorant can which uses cfc's. Here is a table that shows the pollutant and its effects on humans and the environment. Pollutant Effects on humans and the environment. Air Smoke Makes breathing difficult. Sulphur Dioxide Causes acid rain. Ozone Damages leaves. CFC's Damages ozone layer. Carbon Dioxide Increases the ‘Greenhouse Effect'. Water Sewage Eutrophication. Fertilisers Eutrophication. Acid Rain Makes soils, lakes and rivers acidic. Oil Spills Kill fish. Toxic Chemicals e.g. mercury Kill fish and other aquatic life. Land Solid waste disposal at landfill sites Methane causes explosions and increases the ‘Greenhouse Effect'. Mining waste e.g. Lead Water run-off poisons plants and animals. Heavy metals kill most plants and animals. The Pollution of the Water There are a number of different ways and processes of water pollution the main ones are ‘waste disposal', ‘organic pollution' and ‘eutrophication'. Waste disposal is the domestic and industrial waste which is treated in sewage plants to remove impurities. The problem is that some of this waste is being disposed in many rivers and canals and polluting them heavily. This has destroyed many freshwater ecosystems like the ‘Great Lakes of North America' and parts of the ‘Norfolk Broads'. Organic pollution is where domestic sewage is disposed in rivers and canals and the organic content in the sewage is a food source for bacteria and fungi. These organisms also take the dissolved oxygen in the water so that fish and other aquatic animals die out. Eutrophication is when the nitrate and phosphate levels are high this encourages the growth of algae. These algae can cause a lot of damage to the water ecosystem. * Algae grow rapidly and give an ‘algal bloom' over the surface of the water. * Many blue-green algae produce toxins which kill some plants and animals. * Small animals that feed on algae do not multiply fast enough to check the increase in the algae. * Algae block out the light for the rooted plants growing on beds of lakes and they die. This reduces the amount of oxygen. * The algal population crashed due to competition for resources. The algae are then decomposed by bacteria which use the oxygen in the water. * This lack of oxygen kills many invertebrates and fish. All this is the process of eutrophication. The pollution of the atmosphere Pollution is a term used to describe the presence of an unwanted substance. Although air contains lots of microscopic particles, like volcanic dust and tiny sand grains from deserts, this pollution is natural in origin. Man-made pollution of the atmosphere however, is now causing a lot of concern. Most of this air pollution comes from the burning of coal, oil and gas – the fossil fuels – in power stations, factories and homes, and petrol and diesel in cars and other road vehicles. We need energy and electricity to keep us warm and to cook our food, but unfortunately we do not make enough from other non-polluting sources. Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the air. This may be changing the climate and causing global warming. Other pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are also given off. This can reduce the quality of air which we breathe, leading to health problems, and can cause acid rain. Global Warming Global air temperatures as measured by land-based weather stations show an increase of about 0.45 degrees Celsius over the past century. These may be mistakes in data or climatic variation. Satellite data indicate a slight cooling in the climate in the last 18 years. These satellites use advanced technology and are not subject to the â€Å"heat island† effect around major cities that alters ground-based thermometers. Projections of future climate changes are uncertain. Although some computer models predict warming in the next century, these models are very limited. The effects of cloud formations, precipitation, the role of the oceans, or the sun, are still not well known and often inadequately represented in the climate models although all play a major role in determining our climate. Scientists who work on these models are quick to point out that they are far from perfect representations of reality, and are probably not advanced enough for direct use in policy implementation. Interestingly, as the computer climate models have become more sophisticated in recent years, the predicted increase in temperature has been lowered. However, 98% of total global greenhouse gas emissions are natural (mostly water vapour) and only 2% are from man-made sources. Sustained Development Sustainable development is where a population can make developments and improvements to their area or their needs without causing harm to the environment. Sustainable development is all about a greener planet in both developed and developing countries by not polluting the environment and being more energy friendly. Sustainable development is * Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone * Effective protection of the environment * Prudent use of natural resources Sustained development can be achieved by using less fossil fuels and researching into environmentally friendly sources of energy like solar and geothermic sources. Be less wasteful so that we use fewer resources so that they are prolonged and regenerate, find more effective ways of disposing of waste and producing less waste in the first place.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

What Are John s Ethical Issues - 984 Words

Introduction In the business atmosphere today, many businessman are looking to make money, some of those are looking to make it the right way or wrong way. Often times businessmen let greed overcome them in the workplace and that is where unethical behaviors begin. A company or businessman who wants to be successful in the market today must maintain their integrity and always do what is right. Those who try to bypass the system do not live by ethical and moral behavior and in the end will learn that that is not the right way to go about business. Question One What are John’s ethical issues? Throughout much of John’s career, he has partaken in unethical behavior. John’s unethical behavior can be seen early on when we learn of some of the finance strategies he was taught by his former colleague, Skyler. One of the ethical issues that we see firsthand is the strategy of short selling. 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