Human resource management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human resource management - Coursework Example This would include human resource planning, recruitment, selection and training in organizations. The recruitment and selection process would depend on the kind of establishment that is set up. This must be accompanied with the right kind of training and development programs to equip candidates with the requisite skills and expertise. However, training programs must b customized to meet the individual training needs of employees. Training might be internally conducted by the organizations catering to their own needs and skill requirements. However, there are a large number of training institutes in the region offering wide variety of training for organizations. Off the job training is most widely used by the private sector firms in UAE. In UAE, organizations are encouraged to practice group activities and team work. Thus training might be imparted on group problem solving activities. Organizations can also undertake high level skill training for their workforce. The key role of HRM is ensuring employee performance and productivity. This includes identifying the key components of candidates’ performance. It is important that the performances of employees are monitored by their immediate supervisors, peers, colleagues, subordinates and themselves. This is useful in making a complete review of their performance in the organization. A crucial component of performance management system is performance appraisal system. The appraisal system is considered to be most crucial for encouraging individual performance and raising their level of satisfaction too. The competitive structure of the UAE labour market and the cut throat competition existing between organizations calls for strict performance appraisal system. Under the system employees would be compensated or rewarded according to the evaluation of their performance. Employee performance must be aligned and rated against organizational goals and

Alzheimers Disease Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Alzheimers Disease - Research Paper Example Alzheimer’s disease, also known as Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (SDAT), is a progressive and irreversible neurological disease of the brain that results in loss of memory. It is known to impede intellectual and reasoning skills and cause changes in personality and behavior thereby affecting daily life and activities (Nordqvist, 2009). Dementia is not a disease but rather a group of symptoms that may accompany certain disease and conditions. It therefore affects ones social and occupational functioning. It is estimated that nearly 35 million people worldwide from all racial, economic, and educational backgrounds suffer from Alzheimer’s (Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, n.d.a). Out of these nearly 5.3 million people live in the United States of America (Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, n.d.a). This disease is mostly known to affect people over the age of 60 years but it may also affect people who are in their 50s and rarely those younger than that.This disease has been named after a German neuropathologist and psychiatrist called Alois Alzheimer who first identified ‘presenile dementia’ in 1906. Emil Kraeplin, who was one of the foremost German psychiatrists of that era, later coined the term ‘Alzheimer’s disease’ – naming it after his colleague (Maurer, Volk, & Gerbaldo, 1997). Alzheimer’s is a term that is still used to refer to the most common cause of senile dementia.   It is believed that plaques and tangles develop within the structure of the brain. during the course of this disease which causes the brain cells to die (Nordqvist, 2009). These abnormal changes in the brain worsen over time, eventually affecting many functions of the brain. The disease is known to advance in stages, progressing from mild forgetfulness and cognitive impairment to extensive loss of mental abilities (Nordqvist, 2009). In the advanced stages, people tend to be come fully dependent on others for every area of their daily needs. The most common cause of death among those affected by this disease is infection like pneumonia and pressure ulcers ((Nordqvist, 2009). People suffering from Alzhiemer’

Transformation & Tessellation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Transformation & Tessellation - Essay Example Reflection involves flipping the object on the plane, creating a mirror image of the object on the same plane. Translation involves moving, or "sliding" the object within the plane, with the points moving on the same direction or with the same distance. Transformation can be applied in the real world in creating 3D images and models of objects, like houses, buildings, or even human beings. In order to capture the real essence of the object being imitated (or transformed), the same dimensions should be used, however, on a smaller scale. Tessellation, on the other hand, occurs when objects in a plane create a pattern without overlapping with each other, and without leaving gaps in between the object (Seymour and Britton, 1989). These patterns are often a subject of artworks, and one can see a lot of these kinds of patterns on books and on the Internet, in pages where one is asked to count the number of polygons in a page. One of the most common examples of this kind of patterns can be found on floor tiles, which follow the same principle: each tile should fit a given space, without overlapping with another tile, and without any gaps in between. The objects can be regularly shaped polygons, like squares, triangles, octagons, etc., with each side touching another objects side (Seymour and Britton, 1989). Irregularly shaped objects can also be used, which proves to be more complicated than using regular polygons. Common objects such as soccer balls, jigsaw puzzles and honeycombs also have a tessellated

Discussion of the North Rock Company Coursework

Discussion of the North Rock Company - Coursework Example Since the last 20 years, the uncertainties in the global financial system have affected a large number of financial institutions among which the Northern Rock is also included. The institution has been bearing the losses since the last 4 years, where another reason for that could be the global recession that has veiled the whole Europe. Also, the debacle of the home mortgage industry since the 1990s is another factor for the debacle of the business of Northern Rock. The purpose of this report is to establish an authentic critique of the case study of Northern Rock retail bank. The key aims adopted in the critique will deal with those indicators that have made NR a victim of a debacle in the financial system. The report will critically analyze those aspects that have led NR to keep losing in the financial business race. The role of the credit crunch and its direct effect on NR financial performance will be discussed. The effects of the modern models of banking will be explained in the light of which an analysis about NR will be made that will explain the outcomes of the institutions in case of adopting new business banking models. The role of the credit rating agencies has also been critical in terms of the financial collapse of the NR and that will also be discussed. Another important dimension of NR consistent failure of bringing back its old legacy will be presented in this critique in which the role key policies and regulations adopted by UK financial system and more importantly Northern Rock will be explained and their spillover effects would also be explained. The current crisis inside the business of the NR will best be understood by the consultation of the liberalization of financial markets in the UK in 1986. The financial institutions and production markets then were allowed to compete with each in a free market as well as to offer as many services or products as they  wanted. The decision made by NR officials was to follow this policy and hence they started expanding their business by offering more services to the clients to catch more number of consumers to get subscribed to their services.  

Extra Sensory Perception Essay Example for Free

Extra Sensory Perception Essay The term Extra Sensory Perception, or ESP, denotes the ability to gather information by means not related either to common five sences or to person’s previous experience. The most common abilities classified as ESP are telepathy, precognition and clairvoyance. Studies of ESP, together with vast number of other unexplained psychic abilities attributed to human brain – such as, but not limited to, pyro- and psychokinesis, astral projection, bioenergetic healing and so on – are grouped under the term of parapsychology. Abilities grouped under the term of ESP were rumoured to exist from times of old, but conventional science started to examine them only in late XIX century. Since 1884, British Society for Psychical Research began to experiment with card-guessing, the ESP definition method bordering between clairvoyance and telepathy (the subject was to tell the card in sealed opaque envelopes, to tell the card at certain place on the table in other room and so forth). At 1930s, they were joined by American experiments (by J. B. Rhine and L. Rhine), and the results were thoroughly analysed in order to find any deviations from statistical norm. Though not all experiments were equally conclusive, some methods of guessing were found to produce results unexplained by statistics. Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1990), English mathematician who was assisting the Society for Psychical Research in analysis of its experiments, wrote: In any case the frequencies differ much more than they would in 748 cards drawn independently and truly at random. The 12 degrees of freedom score 50. 5267 and of this the preference component contributes 24. 1360, a very marked preference, nearly five times its standard error. †¦ in Table E you certainly have â€Å"got a phenomenon†. In British Society for Psychical Research Ina Jephson and S. G. Soal did their experiments with playing cards; after it was found that people choose some cards more often than others based on numerical value, set, or color, J. B. Rhine in Duke Univercity, North Carolina, decided to find a more emotionally neutral media for experiments. A set of special cards with simple symbols on them was developed, called Zener cards after the name of Karl Zener, their inventor. There were 25 cards total in the pack, with 5 each of circle, cross, star, wavy lines and square. With only 5 types of cards it was easier to analyse the results – first by manual accounting, then by computers. Now, Zener cards are the common practice used in ESP experiments. Later, J. B. Rhine (1940) and his Duke Univercity colleagues collected information about their own studies and previous experiments in ESP from XIX century to present time. Considering Duke Univercity experiments, they reported some most unusual results, differing from statistical expectations: In one set of experiments, 2400 total guesses were made and an excess of 489 hits were noted†¦ The statistical probability of this outcome is equivalent to odds of 1,000,000 to 1†¦ †¦ 27 of the 33 [sets of experiments] produced statistically significant results. In Soviet Russia, independent researches in ESP were made with significant successes. Ostrander and Schroeder (1970) in their review Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain cite the results of experiments by some Karl Nikolayev and Yuri Kamensky. Not only they have sent and received telepathic pulses from each other being in different cities 400 miles apart, but their brains were scanned while performing acts of ESP. It was reported that different areas of the brain were becoming active depending on what kinds of information – visual or sound – was being telepathically received. More, the telepathic pulses Nikolayev claimed to be receiving were also indicated by EEG machine connected to his brain, and the distinction between long and short pulses was definite. Soviet parapsychologists’ studies were later put to some use by Western inventors. Ostrander and Schroeder (1997) in their second book tell about some experimental military devices based on ESP principles: Highly reliable sources tell us the Western military saw possibilities in Sergeyevs remote sensors and did some inventing of their own. They created a special helmet to help pilots handle the split second moment of maximum danger when an enemy plane carrying a rocket approaches. The unconscious percieves an event an instant before it becomes conscious to us. The sensors in the helmet pick up a shift in the brains fields in advance and automatically trigger firing a missile before the pilot could do it consciously. Still, there is a wide field of questions that lies before the parapsychological studies. For example, the fact is noted that people who believe in ESP show better results in parapsychology tests than those who do not. This itself is one of the best arguments in favour of accepting ESP as science-proven. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research (2007) tells about one case of such studies: Seventy-four participants were recruited through media advertisements. The experimenters employed blind coding and recoding procedures, and let the participants touch the objects to obtain impressions. Six trials were completed. Participants were categorised as either psychic, ‘ESP skilled’ (N = 44), or non-psychic, ‘ESP experients’ (N = 30). The ESP skilled group scored higher psi-hitting than the ESP experients group, who scored at the level of mean chance expectation. The difference between groups was significant. So, the question of whether the ESP can be classified as scientific fact is still open, but there are very definite arguments for it to be considered as such. References Fisher R. A. (1990). Statistical Inference and Analysis: selected correspondence of R. A. Fisher, edited by J. H. Bennett. London: Oxford University Press J. B. Rhine, J.G. Pratt, Charles E. Stuart, Burke M. Smith Joseph A. Greenwood. (1940). Extra-Sensory Perception after Sixty Years. A Critical Appraisal of the Research in Extra-Sensory Perception. New York: Henry Holt Co. , Inc. Ostrander, S. Schroeder, L. (1970). Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Ostrander, S. Schroeder, L. (1997). Psychic Discoveries: The Iron Curtain Lifted. New York: Marlowe and Company. Parra A. Argibay J. C. (2007, July). Comparing psychics and non-psychics through a ‘token-object’ forced-choice ESP test. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, pp. 80-90.

Implications of Oklahoma House Bill 1341 of 2015

Implications of Oklahoma House Bill 1341 of 2015 Kesha Abbananto In looking over the multitude of bills being presented to the 2015 Regular Session of the Oklahoma State Legislature, many could be related to health. Health is affected by so many issues; one could ponder how an agricultural food labeling bill or a burn ban could potentially have negative consequence to one’s health. The amount of legislature presented in the 2015 session was a little daunting but quite educational. At this time, there is no shortage of health related bills in this state. One such piece of legislation introduced deals with an issue affecting children nationwide: smoking while a child is passenger in a motor vehicle. Second-hand smoke causes numerous complications to the health of non-smokers; most of which are completely preventable. Children are vulnerable to the dangers of second-hand smoke, such as: asthma, bronchitis and lung infections (Rees Connolly, 2006). Jarvie Malone (2008) state effects of second hand smoke on children are sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory issues, lung cancer, and heart disease, to name a few. The authors go on to say, although, the issue of an adult’s right to smoke threatens autonomy, the children’s health and well-being should be the primary focus (Jarvie Malone, 2008). Desapriya, Turcotte, Subzwari, Pike (2009) explain that toxin concentrations within a motor vehicle containing cigarette smoke is twenty-three times greater than that of a bar and they further point out that many public areas alr eady discourage or prohibit smoking due to the negative health effects of cigarette smoke. Murphy-Hoefer, Madden, Maines, Coles (2014) report the prevalence smoking in car and home were significantly decreased after Maine passed its smoke-free vehicle law. This result is supportive of the implementation of laws such as Oklahoma H.B. 1341 (2015). Issue Oklahoma House Bill No. 1341 was introduced to the Oklahoma House of Representatives on February 2, 2015, where it was read for the first time in the House. The second reading occurred on February 3, 2015 and it was then then forwarded to the House Alcohol, Tobacco, and Controlled Substances Committee, where it remains. The bill was authored and sponsored by Oklahoma Representative Jason Dunnington. It would act as a new law under Crimes and Punishments within Title 21 and under Public Health and Safety within Title 63 (Oklahoma H.B. 1341, 2015 The Oklahoma State Courts Network, 2014). Bill Summary Oklahoma House Bill 1341 (2015) deals with the subject of an act relating to tobacco use that makes smoking in a vehicle while a minor child is present, unlawful. Violation penalty, defining terms, and effects on driving record are disclosed as well. H.B. 1341 (2015) proposes that no person may smoke in a motor vehicle where a child is present. The result of this violation would be a fine of one hundred dollars. The bill defines a child as a person sixteen years old or younger and defines smoke as â€Å"the burning of, inhaling from, exhaling the smoke from or the possession of a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco or any other matter that can be smoked† (Oklahoma H.B. 1341, 2015). The bill additionally states that the Department of Public Safety will not record points toward the driving record of a person when convicted of a violation of this law. The projected effective date of this bill is November 1, 2015. Policy Initiation The model design that would most effectively produce the desired results is the Kingdon model of agenda setting and policy formation. This model was developed in 1984 by Professor John Kingdon. He established three streams; problem, policy, and political that can facilitate government policy changes. When these three streams come together, a window of opportunity opens (Furlong, 2016). The identified problem is the harmful effect secondhand smoke has on children in motor vehicles. Children usually do not have a choice of who they ride with and whether someone in the car smokes, yet they are at a greater risk of second-hand smoke damage due to a faster breathing rate and immune systems that are less developed (Clinical Digest, 2012). Even when windows are roll down the car window, the levels of toxic matter exceed maximum limits set for safety. The policy stream is the proposed law of Oklahoma House Bill 1341 (2015). Research in the area of negative health effects of secondhand smoke to children support the need for mandates created for accountability of persons who smoke around children in the confines of a vehicle. Violation of this mandate should result in a fine. The political stream is supported by non-smoking laws already passed by legislatures such as: Oklahoma Statutes on Smoking in Public Places and Indoor Workplaces which includes childcare facilities, the focus on preventive health measures in Obamacare, and for growing concern for the health rights of those that do not have a say in their exposure. With the converging of these three streams, the window of opportunity for H.B. 1341 (2015) is open and it is likely public opinion on this subject will support change. Implementation This bill could potentially change and/or improve the health of children in Oklahoma. The long term effects of healthier children will be healthier adults, thus projecting a future decrease in health care cost would be acceptable. Passing this legislation will be a step forward in protecting the rights of those who do not have a say. H.B. 1341 (2015) is currently in the House Alcohol, Tobacco, and Controlled Substances Committee. At this stage in the process, there is still time for nurses to become politically involved in support of this bill. Lanier (2016) suggests strategies individuals can participate in advocacy of legislative change. Lobbying legislators by mail, social media, or personally are examples of advocacy. Since the bill has remained in the House Alcohol, Tobacco, and Controlled Substances Committee from February 3, 2015 to present, contact with this committee would be reasonable, followed by contact with your area Representatives. Tips for communication in writing to a legislator, if a nurse chooses, include professionally worded personal letters with professional credentials and contact information added. Research articles that support your position on the bill are encouraged attachments. Phone calls or email can be used when making initial contact or follow up (Lanier, 2016). Social media is an additional method of communication (Lanier, 2016). Organization online platforms, networking sites, blogs, and online media are great ways to draw support or attention to a topic and an efficient way to disperse information. Additionally, in-person meetings are effective and can make a lasting impact on legislators, staff, and professional and layperson alike. If an in-person meeting is scheduled, remember to include credentials when identifying one self, structure your time well, and do not assume the legislator understands technical medical jargon (Lanier, 2016). Lanier further recommends to providing a one page summary of key points and to send a thank you note or email after the meeting (Lanier, 2016). Education can and should be used in all of the above venues. Nurses can offer unique perspectives and insight to various topics due to the nature of their profession and all that nursing addresses when it comes to patient, community, and global issues. Nurses can also join professional peer committees and groups so one voice becomes many. The American Nurses Association is one such professional group that is politically active. The uniting of nurses to focus on specific issues is an effective way to support positive legislative change in healthcare. Implications Stakeholders in H.B. 1341 (2015) are in one of two groups; pro-tobacco stakeholders or anti-tobacco stakeholders. Both sides have interest in the outcome of this bill and those groups are listed below as identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2008): Pro-tobacco stakeholders: Tobacco growers Tobacco processing companies Tobacco manufacturers Cigarette manufacturers Advertisers Smokers or right-to-smoke supporters Anti-tobacco stakeholders: Government agencies like public health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention State tobacco control programs Health care insurance providers Local smoke-free programs and laws Smoke-free associations and supporters Healthcare professionals Child health protection groups and supporters Oklahoma H.B. 1341 (2015) would include anyone who smokes in a motor vehicle while a child is present, children that are in vehicles while someone smokes, the healthcare system, and any of the above listed groups. Excluded from this bill would be non-smokers, those that do not smoke while children are in the vehicle, children who do not ride in vehicles with a smoker, and those that do not care to get involved. Evaluation The evaluation of policy is a normal event in the political arena. Government funded programs, non-profit organizations, and many private foundations require regular evaluation of programs or policies to ensure programs are conducted properly, that set goals are being met, and that the outcomes are desirable (Sudduth, 2016). Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and nurses are accustomed to evaluation and have used this method to measure things such as programs, goals, self, clinical-based outcomes, and effectiveness of treatments. The evaluation of policy is a natural extension of this skill and one that comes in handy in politics. The evaluation of the bill presented in this paper, is listed below in five responses: The problem that needs to be addressed is children being exposed to second-hand smoke in motor vehicles, where they cannot get away from it. Although there aren’t effective tools for stopping this from happening at this time, laws have been made to limit or outlaw smoking in some public areas and facilities. Advantages of this bill are that it will not cost the state any additional funds to initiate and enforce this law and much of the public should accept this law due to the health risks to the child. Other positive outcomes are that fines from violations of the law should increase state funds and health risks from second-hand smoke should decrease as a result of this bill being signed into law. Disadvantages of H.B. 1341 (2015) are that some of the public may not support the law due to feelings of rights infringement and fines may prove too costly for some violators. The effectiveness of this law is only as good as the enforcement of said law, enforcement of not smoking in a vehicle with a child may be difficult to enforce. Also, police may be tied up ticketing this population, instead of fulfilling other lawful duties. Fines for smoking while a child is in the motor vehicle can be an effective tool in reducing this issue. However, law enforcement officer time directed toward upholding this law could leave other, more pressing matters unattended. Additionally, enforcement of this law may prove to be difficult, as smoking can be easily concealed. Conclusion During the course of this class and in writing this paper, I have realized how little I knew about politics and the amount of advocacy available for nurses to partake in. I have learned much but have volumes remaining to learn. The need for nurses to be advocates beyond the bedside is dire and educating nurses beyond nursing school of these opportunities are a must for effective healthcare changes to culminate from support and efforts of the profession. Participation in local or work-related political oriented events would be one way to increase knowledge, awareness, and empowerment of nurses. Issues like H.B. 1341 (2015) are easy to understand, easy to support, and the benefits to a child’s health is evident in research. These points make exposure to this piece of legislation the perfect starter for nurses that are new to politics. The issue of smoking in a motor vehicle while a child is present is an international issue. Although this bill will only be an enforceable law in the state of Oklahoma, similar laws have already been passed in other cities, states, and countries. With the educational information available concerning this subject, I’m hopeful the importance of this issue is noted so this law will find support by legislators. The confinement of a car combined with smoking produces increased health risks for children. With all of the potential dangers out there, passing H.B. 1341 (2015) can help in controlling preventable health issues children face when subjected to second-hand smoke in a motor vehicle. References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Evaluation toolkit for smoke-free policies. Retrieved May 16, 2015, from www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/secondhand_smoke/evaluation_toolkit/pdfs/evaluation_toolkit.pdf Clinical digest . (2012). Smoking in cars likely to be harmful to child passengers’ health. Nursing Standard, 27(11), 14. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.okbu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=c8hAN=2011758286site=ehost-livescope=site Desapriya, E., Turcotte, K., Subzwari, S., Pike, I. (2009). Smoking inside vehicles should be banned globally. American Journal Of Public Health, 99(7), 1158-1159. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2009.160127 Furlong, E. A. (2016). The Impact of Social Media and the Internet on Healthcare Decisions. In J. Milstead (Ed.), Health policy and politics: A nurses guide (pp. 50-54). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. Jarvie, J., Malone, R. (2008). Childrens secondhand smoke exposure in private homes and cars: an ethical analysis. American Journal Of Public Health, 98(12), 2140-2145. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2007.130856 Lanier, J. K. (2016). The Impact of Social Media and the Internet on Healthcare Decisions. In J. Milstead (Ed.), Health policy and politics: A nurses guide (pp. 87-90). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. Murphy-Hoefer, R., Madden, P., Maines, D., Coles, C. (2014). Prevalence of smoke-free car and home rules in Maine before and after passage of a smoke-free vehicle law, 2007- 2010. Prevention of Chronic Disease, 11. 130-132. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2014/pdf/13_0132.pdf Oklahoma H.B. 1341. (2015). Retrieved April 25, 2015 from http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HB%201341 Rees, V.W., Connolly, G. (2006). Measuring air quality to protect children from secondhand smoke in cars. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 31(5), 363-368. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17046406?dopt=AbstractPlus Sudduth, A. (2016). The Impact of Social Media and the Internet on Healthcare Decisions. In J. Milstead (Ed.), Health policy and politics: A nurses guide (pp. 196-207). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. The Oklahoma State Courts Network. (2014). Oklahoma Statutes Citationized. Retrieved May 16, 2015, from http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/index.asp?ftdb=STOKSTlevel=1

Impact of IT on Bank Performance

Impact of IT on Bank Performance IMPACT OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGY ON BANKS PERFORMANCE AND CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION ABSTRACT Internet technology is very popular and has many benefits for the users; however it does has some elements of security risks to the bank and its customers at large. In this research work, I intend to look at impact of internet technology on Bank, its employees and the customers. More importantly, efforts were also made to research into various risks associated with this technology such as hacking, spam-email, phishing, identity theft or frauds and many others. After critical look at this technology and its associated risks especially the identity theft, two sets of solutions were recommended. The first set solutions addressed physical access control while the second aspect deal with authentication through the process of fingerprint and voice recognition. 1.0 INTRODUCTION This project is trying to evaluate the impact of Internet technology on banks performance and customers satisfaction. Banking industry is the bedrock of economy, the state of Banks will dictate the state of economy. If it stables, so will the economy. The present global economy recession attests to this statement. Technology innovation like Internet is groundbreaking in banking system. Transactions worth of billions of dollars take place in seconds in the electronic circuit throughout the globe (Castells, 2001). The banking and financial industry is transforming itself in unpredictable ways (Crane and Bodies 1996). Prior to the rocket of technology in banking sector, the function of the branch was very unlike the function of present branch. Earlier before the 1970s, the structure of the branch and functions were similar to one and other. Product offerings were equally the same and branches were only avenue for customers to make bank transactions. Majority of these banks were only rel ying on one or two branches but with many staff and cashiers. Customers were subjected to long distant travelling before they could carry out banking transactions. Face to face traditional banking was only means to process bank loan, make lodgements and withdrawals and customers were subjected to long queue in the banking hall. But the increase in the level of banking technology made the banks started a process of metamorphose that proceed till the end of the 20th century. As part of process, many channels of distributions were introduced. Among these channels are Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Internet banking, Telephone banking, call-centre, electronic funds transfer, wireless banking, and voice messaging systems, videoconferencing and many others. Rapid growth and development in internet technology over the last four decades have great impact on organisations. The impact was highly noticeable in area of services, products offering and business processes. Banks have use internet technology to cut operations costs, increase qualities, efficiencies and improve value-added services to the customers. Also, investment in technology gives competitive advantages to some Banks leading to some banks have opportunities to perform better than their rivals. Banks through the innovation of internet technology were able to provide better and cheaper services than traditional system of branch banking. Apart from these, level of banking transactions were equally increased, Convenience and twenty four hours banking services were also witnessed in banking system. More importantly, the level of communication within and outside the banking environment were equally improved, access to the right information and high quality of services were not comp romised. The banking environment became more friendly and flexible. Information that can only available through the means of technology became an important aspect of the banking. Many people argued that it was advance in technology of 1990s that made it possible to develop those channel of distributions and system that allowed the banks to render an unprecedented high quality services. In final analysis, this research work assess an aspect of banking that is lacking in Traditional Bank an online banking and its impact on customer satisfaction and banks performance. 1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES The research on Internet technology in banking and acceptance of modern banking by customers have been viewed in different perspectives but few aspects of this topic are left with little exploratory. There is little research on the effects of Internet technology on banks profitability and customers satisfaction. Many researchers did not fully agree that Internet technology has immensely affected the profitability level of the banks. The rationale behind this is to offer a better understanding on how internet banking is evolving. This study intends to achieve the following objectives: 1. Research the problem of identity theft and card authorisation 2. Evaluate the problem concerning lost revenue 3. Research the other work done in this area. 4. Proffer solution to the problem of identity theft and card authorisation. 5. Implementing solutions and the cost benefits 1.2 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY Banks have use internet technology to cut operations costs, increase qualities, efficiencies and improve value-added services to the customers. Also, investment in technology gives competitive advantages to some Banks leading to some banks having opportunities to perform better than their rivals. This research work is focusing on two important key elements which are: 1) Impact of internet technology on Bank and its customers and; 2) Associated risks with internet technology with more emphasis on identity theft 1.3 EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE The expected contributions to knowledge of this research work are to identify various theft and card authorisation, evaluate the problem concerning lost revenue and proffer solution to the problems. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW It is my intention to survey literature review to reveal the level of knowledge and understanding of people about identity theft. A number of text books, articles and journals internet search are used for this purpose. Among these are: a) 50 ways to protect your identity and your credit card Steve weisman The book is well written very relevant to the study and well referenced. Various types of identity thefts were discussed. It also explains that the motive behind identity theft could be for financial gain, revenge or malicious intent. The book goes further to suggest some protection rules such as only the credit cards that needed should be carried in the wallet, the practice of online account statement should be stick to, personal information should not be given on phone to unknown persons, shredding documents that containing personal detail after use and so on. But these protection rules only addressed offline identity theft, the issue of online identity theft or frauds which common to credit cards were not addressed at all. b) Business Information system (Technology, Development Management) Paul, et al The book looks at the issues of identity theft, brand abuse and costs of identity theft. The three issues discussed are equally paramount important to this research. The book is good for academic and well referenced. According to the book, â€Å"the term brand abuse is used to cover a wide range of activities, ranging from sale of counterfeit goods, for example software applications, to exploiting a well known brand name for commercial gain. It was further stated that with regards to identity theft, CIFAS(www.cifas.org), a UK-base fraud prevention service, report that there were 80,000 cases of identity theft in the UK in 2006.The coated in the companys web site showed that identity fraud cost UK economy  £1.5b in 2005 and generates a revenue of  £10m each day for fraudsters. c) Identity theft literature review- Graeme, R.N Megan M.M It is a well written article and equally well referenced. In this article, the authors focused on two important issues, the first one is the cost of identity theft while the second one focuses on the issue of legislations. The two issues discussed are very relevant to this research. The authors look at various identity legislations passed to control the crimes of identity. (www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ca29schiff/062304idThef2.html). d) Enquiry in to the credit card fraud in E- payment- Jithendra, D. Laxman, G In this article the authors look at credit card Hacking and types of credit card frauds. This article is not well referenced and authors failed to proffer adequate solutions at end of the discussion. In my opinion, the article is much related to this research work but the sources of documents used to write the article cannot be easily traced because it is not properly referenced. However, it is very helpful reading in understanding the background of the topic. e) Identity theft and credit card fraud Sarah P. Miller Sarah Millers article examines the various tactics the fraudsters use to commit credit card fraud. Some of these tactics are; opening a new credit accounts, existed accounts hijacking, skimming tactic among the other. The article also looks at various ways of protections against credit card fraud and come up with some of security measures to guard against credit card fraud in our society. The article is appropriately written and very useful for this research. The source of the article is also quoted as http://EzinArticles.com/?expert=sarahp.miller . f) Improving response time of authorization process of credit card system- Humid, siti Hafizan Ab It is a journal of computer science published in February 1 2008. The journal discusses the issue of credit card authorization process. It also explains the pitfalls and benefits of credit card authorization. The journal is very briefs about the topic but all the salient points are well discussed. It gives a website as the only source but fail to give other reference. It is very pertinent to mention that the journal would have been a great assistant to the realisation of the objectives of this research work if it has been properly referenced but the beauty of this journal is that it serves as basis of understanding of the topic. g) 7 precautions that minimize the Risk of identity theft Jesse Whitehead In this article, Jesse looks at financial costs of identity theft and estimated it to be $50 billion. He further explains that researchers are yet to discover a precaution that is hundred percent guaranties against the risk of identity theft. In final analysis, Jesse recommends the following precautions to reduce the threat of identity theft in our society. One, he recommends that social security number should not be disclosed to anybody unless otherwise require by law. Secondly, it was also suggested that social security number should not be carried all about. Shredding all important documents immediate after use is strongly recommended and more emphasis should be placed on e- statements from our banks and credit issuers. It was also suggested that a strong password and pin should be created and printing of Driver licence number on our checks should be highly discouraged. The author gives this website as the source of article http://EzinArticle.com/?expert=jessewhitehead but no other reference available. It is very relevant to this project as important aspect of the topic is being discussed. 2.1 DEFINITION OF INTERNET According to Paul et al, â€Å"internet refers to the physical network that links computers across the globe†. From this definition, the interconnectivity of many computer devices all over the globe is done through the world-wide computer network known as internet. These computer devices store and transmit information like World Wide Web and electronic mail (e-mail) messages. There are other devices like mobile computer, pagers, web TVs that are connected to the internet. All these devices are revered to as host or end system. Both electronic mail and world -wide web are network application programs that run on host or end system. Like other internet units, end system run protocols that regulate the sending and receiving of information in the internet domain. Internet has two major protocols popularly called TCP (Transmission control protocol) and IP (internet protocol). Communication links like coaxial cable, copper wire, fibber optics or radio spectrum link end systems together. Data transmission rate of all these links are not the same. This transmission rate is known as bandwidth and is measure in bit or second. End systems are indirectly join to one and other vial routers and a router receives information from the incoming communication links and send it to its outgoing communication links. The IP defines the format of receiving and sending information between the routers and end systems. The path on which information is transmitted is called route or path. The internet then utilises packet switching which gives room for multiple communicating end systems to share a path of a path simultaneously. Connection of network to the internet needs to follow specific name and address and it must be run on the IP protocol. The arrangement of interconnection of the internet is from bottom to top. End systems is connected to local internet service providers by means of access network and this access network is refers to as local area network (LAW) or phone based access network. The local internet service providers are then connected to regional internet service providers. The regional internet providers will also connected to national and international internet service providers. This type of internet is called public internet. There are other private networks that cannot be accessed by public. It can only be accessed within the organisations and refer to as intranet. It also makes use of the same internet technology that public internet is using. Another way of defining Internet is to look at its infrastructural that offers services to distributed application. Internet provides opportunity to distribute application on its end systems to share data with each other. The application could be inform of e-mail, file transfer, remote login, and world-wide web and so on. Web can be ran over network apart from the internet but this does not suggest that web is a separate network, instead it is one of the distribute applications that make use of services offer by the internet. Both connection-oriented services and connectionless services are two services offer by internet to the distributed application. 2.2 GROWTH OF INTERNET Internet and computer networks began early 1960s. During this period, telephone was commonly employed as means of communication. This telephone network utilises circuit switching to transmit information from a sender to receiver and since then, internet continue to grow from strength to strength. There are a number of factors that contributing to this development. Financial analysts observe that costs, competition, demographic issues and customer service are the major considerations that make bankers to constantly review their internet bank strategies. It is the belief of these analysts that demand for internet banking products and services will continue to increase. But the major task facing banks now is how to ensure that the benefits of internet banking outweigh its costs and the risks. The strategies adopted by each bank to increase its market share and cost reduction vary from one bank to another. Internet is a platform through which customers access accounts and general informa tion. It gives customers information about various products and services offer by the bank. 2.3 RISKS OF INTERNET SERVICE There are a number of internet threats around business world today. The threat continue to increase as internet become more acceptable means of conducting online business transactions. As banks so heavily rely on internet to reduce costs, so also they become more prone to some risks. Few examples of these risks are as followings: a) Hacking Hacking involves attempting to gain unauthorised access to a computer system, usually across a network. Hackers only need limited programming knowledge to wreak large amount of havoc. The fact that billions of bits of information can be transmitted in bulk over the public telephone network has made it difficult to trace hackers, who can make repeated attempts to invade bank system. For instant, much damage could be done if people gain authorised access to banks network service. Hacker may gain access to banks internal network for two major reasons. It could be for monetary benefit which usually associated with identity theft where personal information as well as credit card details is obtained to perpetrate fraud. It could also come inform of malicious intent ranging from deletion of file, deliberate introduction of computer viruses into a system or forwarding vital organisations information to rival. Counter measure like dial-back security can be used to prevent this problem. It ope rates by requiring the customer wanting access to the network to dial into it identity themselves first. The system then dials the customer back on their authorised number before allowing them access. Also, system can have firewall to prevent unauthorised access into bank system. Firewall software is use to monitor and control all incoming and outgoing traffic to deny intruders gaining access to the information system. b) Malicious Code Malicious code like worms, Trojan horse program and viruses are written to penetrate a system in order to have access to confidential information or disrupting the bank network. Through the help of the code, Fraudster can enter the network of a bank without its knowledge and valuable information can be stolen in the process. This stolen information can be used to commit identity theft or fraud. This code attacks are very delicate in that they can replicate and spread themselves without human intervention. c) Intrusion This is a process through which an intruder has access to bank network. Usually, the intruders are employees of the bank who have gained access to the authentication information of a bank customer. Intruder could also be an external person who has acquires some skills to get the authentication information of the bank customer. When internal or external intruders have unauthorised access to bank network, vital information about customers can be obtained and later use to perpetrate frauds or commit crimes. To guard against this ugly incident, bank must restrict its employees to some areas of its network. d) Denial of services Banks nowadays rely on internet for effective communication within and outside organisations. In the process of communication, the bank is subjected to the risk of denial of services. Communication channels of the bank can be blocked, web page may be changed or the system employ to process online business transaction may be attacked. A denial of service attack is associated with an attempt by attacker to prevent legitimate users of a service from using that service. The situation forces the bank to close down services until everything return to normal. This kind of criminal activity was hardly experience until 1999 when the crime became cankerworms in our business environments. The effect of this criminal activity is very great most especially when bank so heavily depend on the internet for online business transactions. Huge amount of money could be lost to the fraudster through the attack. Attack on Amazon and Yahoo servers in the year 2000 was a good example. The servers of Yahoo w as engulfed with series of attacks and â€Å"The attack was estimated as costing  £ 300,000 in the lost advertising revenue alone† (Financial Time of November 17, 2000). Another popular of denial of service attack was witnessed in 2004. During this time, a group of fraudsters from Russian embarked on a number of denials of service attack on UK bookmaker. The attackers demanded for certain amount of money before they could stop the attack, but the organisation in question (bookmaker) was not ready to give them any money at that time leading to a great losses of about forty million pound. The effect was very terrible on financial position of the company that very year. e) Brand Abuse It involves sale of counterfeit goods like software application to exploit a well recognised brand name for commercial benefit. Fraudster can imbedded the name of reputable organisation into a bogus web page just to portrait the page as high rank one. People that search for this reputable organisation can be routed to the false web page where the counterfeit goods are sold. A lot of people have intention of buying genuine products and services but end up in buying counterfeit one through the brand abuse. The effect of this is that people pay high price for less quality goods and services. The brand abuse practice costs most UK organisations huge amount of money and cost continue to increase year in year out. People also are no longer sure that the goods and services buy over web pages are actually genuine one. Many people have been victims of counterfeit unknowingly but thinking that they have bought the original goods and services they intend to buy even at exorbitant price. f) Credit Card Fraud The use of credit card online has become a global phenomenal. This card is being use all over the world to make payment for goods or services purchase on internet, retail shops or restaurants. The proliferation use of credit card online makes the users expose to various forms of risks. The risk could be in form of using peoples personal information to open new accounts, hijacking existing accounts. g) Opening of new account After important details like name, date of birth, social security number is obtained, the fraudster can pretend to be another person in order to create new lines of credits. The victims name can be used to secure credit cards and it may not be known to victim that someone has taken credit card on his or her name. Some people in many cases get to know when they receive calls from debt collectors or when they apply for loan and it is not granted due to bad credit rating. Many people have been forced to pay debt they didnt actually own through this process. h) Hijacking account Hijacking existing account is another method use to commit credit card fraud. Existing account can be hijacked by altering important details of the victims such as personal identification number, passwords, billing or mailing address. The purpose of this is to take perfect control of someones account illegally. The original owner of the account may find it hard to regain the control of the account. Even if they regain the control, fraudsters might have wreck serious havoc on financial reputation of the original owner of the account. It takes victims some time and money before they could clear their names from this mess. i) Skimming It is very common in the restaurants, stores or automated Teller machine. Skimming is done through the use of palm-sized card -reading devices. This device is capable of swiping credit card information. It is very delicate in that it may not be noticed until the victims witness unsolicited charges on the statement account of their credit cards. Many of these devices can be planted into Automated Teller machine slots or strategic locations that are not visible to the people. The aim and objective of doing this is to illegally capture important details of targeted victims. The details collected through this method can be used to perpetrate frauds on customers accounts or use to commit crime in the name of the victims. j) Phishing Phishing is another method that thieves use to lure people to supply their personal information through false e-mail and web sites. Customers may receive bogus electronic mail through a web site telling them to update their details. The web site may look like that of normal bank they use to visit. But when they access this web site, their account numbers and passwords will be demanded for. Both password and account number are collected through this method and later use to siphon money from customers accounts or credit cards. Barclays Bank and some highly reputable organisations were a victim of the crime in 2003.This method of stealing is hardly to detect because the e-mail and web site are made so similar to that of original banks. The only preventive measure is for the banks to educate their customers to ignore such e-mail whenever they receive it. Although this will not totally wipe out the crime because many online customers will still respond to such e-mail but additional measur e like authentication which involves adding an extra field to a record with the contents of this field derived from the remainder of the record by applying an algorithm that has previously been agreed between the bank and customers will go a long way in countering this crime. Multiple passwords can also be employed to counter the problem. Furthermore, there are many more of internet threats around but this research work will focus majorly on identity theft and card authorisation. 2.4 IDENTITY THEFT According to available information, identity theft and identity fraud are not new crimes. Both have been in existent for a while and continue to be among the fastest growing crimes in the UK. These two crimes can be perpetrated without a thief even burgling into your home or have physical contact with your computer system. The problem is likely to get even worse because of economy recession that grips all the nations. Information gathered from banks reveal that insurance fraud is increase by 17% and identity fraud seems to be following the same pattern. If bank customer identity is compromised he or she may find it hard to have good access to a loan, credit card or mortgage until everything is resolved. We are all victims of these crimes. We eventually pay highest prices in shops, highest interest rate on mortgages and higher premium on our insurance policies for no other reasons than this problem of fraud. Government and corporate individual organisations have been making frantic efforts to reduce these crimes. But in spite of all these efforts, the rate of identity theft and identity fraud are yet to reduce and number of victims of these crimes are also increasing on alarming rate. According to (UK payments, the UK trade association for payments, 2008) card fraud losses total  £609.9m, online banking fraud losses  £52.5m and cheque fraud losses  £41.9m. Furthermore, of identity fraud in 2007 was quoted to be 65,043 according to CIFAS, the UKs fraud prevention service. The 2003 survey of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) indicated that about 3.25 million Americans had lodged complaints that their personal detail was illegitimately used to get credit cards, obtain loans, rent apartment, and enjoy medical facility and some time use to commit crimes. Also, more than 5 million Americans were victims of credit card frauds where personal detail was used to obtain lines of credit and twent y five million plus have been victim of identity theft. WHAT ARE IDENTITY THEFT AND IDENTITY FRAUD THEN? Identity Theft is situation where by an individuals personal information or confidential detail is steal by another person without their knowledge. But Identity fraud is committed when thieves use this information to secure credit, goods or other services in the name of targeted victim without his or her knowledge. Another definition describe identity theft as â€Å"anyone who knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, any name or number that may be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific individual with the intent to commit or aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable state or local law† (1998 identity Theft Act, U.S public Law 105-318). 2.5 REASON FOR IDENTITY THEFT FRAUD Reports so far on various form of identity thefts indicated that fraudsters commit identity theft for a number of reasons. But the most common one are: a) Concealment Many people commit identity theft simply because they want to cover their past criminal records. Some people in the past have committed one crime or the other and want to cover them to avoid arrest. A very good example of this scenario was that of September eleven terrorist. â€Å"All 19 of the September 11th terrorist were involved in identity theft in some way† (Willox and Regan 2002) many people were wrongly arrested because their identities have been stolen. Also, a number of people commit identity theft because they want to hide their bad financial records which denied them access to essential banks products or services such as bank loans, mortgage, account opening or credit card. In some situations, identity theft can be committed to avoid payment of existing debts. These type of people may want to enjoy normal life again and the only way they can achieve this is to masquerade themselves under the identity of another person. The effects of these criminal activities are t hat warrant arrest and prosecution may be issued in the name of victim customer. b) Financial benefit Investigation conducted from various banks indicated that many fraud cases reported in the recent past revealed that people committing identity theft for financial gain. In some cases, thieves steal personal information of innocent persons to open a line of credit cards accounts. Along the line many goods and services can be purchased in the name of targeted victims. In the same manner, details of another person can be used to secure loan from bank and account abandon later after fraudsters might have make a lot of money from the accounts of victims. A friend narrated his experience where fraudster obtained his personal details to secure a loan of about  £10.000 from a commercial bank without his knowledge. The fraud discovered some months later when he received a letter from the bank that sum of  £10.000 plus accrued interest is due for payment in his account. The fraudsters have used his identity to have illegitimate financial gain. The case took him some legal battles and time before he could exonerate himself from this mess. c) Revenge Many banks have witnessed identity theft through the activities of their employees. Some employees of bank may collude with fraudsters to steal details of customers as retaliation to the termination of their appointments or the bad treatments they received from their employers. In this process, valuable banks information may be sold to competitors leading the bank to various litigations and financial lost. Also the reputation of the bank may be seriously damaged. The effect of this is decline in profits and low patronage of the customers. 2.6 TYPE OF IDENTITY THEFT Many Bank customers have been victims of identity theft by one way or the other and type of identity will largely depend on the definition giving to it. But the most prominent one is credit card. Information available reveals that credit card fraud on internet has been seriously increase due to the opportunity offered by new improved internet technology. Apart from credit card fraud, there are other types of identity theft such as extortion, phishing, financial scam, avoiding arrest, organized identity theft and many others. a) Extortion Fraudsters have many ways of extorting money from banks and customers but the two common one are cyber squatting and the threat of leaking customers information. Cyber- squatting, this method of extortion related to registering a bogus internet domain to