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Management Essays – Nationwide Building Society

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Analyse the external factors facing Nationwide This report willanalyse the external factors facing Nationwide and highlight the resultingopportunities and threats it faces as an organisation as a result of thisanalysis. Before this is addressed in the next section, a brief background onNationwide’s business, mission, goals and objectives is provided below. The NationwideGroup is the world’s largest building society that is part of a group oforganisations offering retailing banking services. Nationwide hasits head office in Swindon, 1 major administrative centre in Northampton, abranch network scattered over the UK and 11 subsidiary companies. The products offered by Nationwideinclude: Residential mortgage lending (funded through retail savings) General retail banking services Personal investment products Insurance Personal lending Offshore deposit taking Commercial lending treasury operations Its mission is: Honest and straightforward. Treats all people with respect andas individuals and focuses on building long-term and beneficial relationshipswith members and employees with the objective of being the best retailfinancial services business in the UK. Nationwide’sgoal is to increase overall market shares in the retail savings and residentialmortgage markets. Its objectives,as outlined in www.nationwide.co.ukare: To maximise value, which is comprised of the mutuality dividendand retained profits, over the long term for our current and future members;and To provide our members with a range of top quality, competitivefinancial services that are widely available and delivered with speed, courtesyand reliability, backed by policies of fairness, honesty, employee importanceand corporate responsibility Nationwide iscommitted to remaining a building society and consequently pass on the successof its business operations to its present and future customers, also known asmembers, through better quality and cheaper financial products. It believes -and the majority of its members support this view – that becoming a bank willremove that emphasis meaning that business strategies will be geared towardsmeeting shareholders needs to the detriment of the members. The External Environment The externalenvironment is effectively everything outside the building society that mayaffect its performance or reputation, either directly or indirectly. An analysis ofthe external environment forms a significant part in the development ofNationwide’s strategy. It involves: Understanding Nationwide’s position, now and going forward withinthe external environment it operates in Preparing Nationwide for major changes in this environment Enabling the building society to identify the externalopportunities and threats it faces, as part of a strengths, weaknesses,opportunities and threats audit (SWOT) Developing suchan understanding enables Nationwide to put action plans in place to exploit theopportunities and minimise the threats it faces. The external factors will beanalysed under two sections: The macro-environment The micro-environment This analysiswill include examples of threats and opportunities that Nationwide faceconsequently, summarised at the end of the micro-environment section. The Macro-environment The macro-environmentin which financial services organisations operate can be analysed using thePESTEL mnemonic framework, with each letter standing representing, political,economic, social, technological, ethical and legal analysis respectively. Political The UK political scene is one of democratic stability. This sense of democracy permeatesthrough to the financial services industry as fair competition, innovation andentrepreneurial spirit are encouraged and supported by respective governments. The UK government’s links with the financial services industry is through HM Treasury whichaims to: Raise the rate of sustainable growth; and Achieve rising prosperity HM Treasury aimsto achieve these goals by creating economic and employment opportunities (www.dti.gov.uk), thus striking a balancebetween economic efficiency with regulation and protection of consumers offinancial products and services. Anothergovernment department, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), regulates theindustry. Among the FSA’s objectives are protecting consumers which involvesmaking demands of financial services organisations, geared towards, forexample: Providing relevant and timely information to their customers Striking a balance between profit-making and exploitingcustomers. One area wheregovernment intervention is required is in the issue of advertised typicalrates. For example, a Barclays Bank may advertise that its typical loan rateis 6.9% when in reality only a small proportion of their customers receive thatrate with the majority being quoted in excess of that. Nationwidecharges only one rate for its Personal Loan product, currently 6.7%. When thisissue is addressed, Nationwide could potentially increase its market share ifits 6.7% is less than Barclays advertised rate (i.e. rate quoted to majority ofcustomers). Economic The economicoutlook in the UK appears strong as at January 2006. Interest rates arestable. Retail sales have continued to be strong – up 2.1% on a year ago and0.7% on December 2005. Consumer confidence is improving while earnings growthhas increased. House priceshave increased for the fourth consecutive month, since September 2005. Personal lendingis on the increase mainly due to the increase in secured lending. However,unsecured lending has decreased, contrary to expectations. Credit card debtgrowth is decreasing, indicating more debt consolidation Investment inthe economy is increasing, up 2.2% on the previous quarter and 3.9% on January2005. Inflation levels are generally down, as measured by the Retail PriceIndex (RPI). The favourableeconomic outlook presents opportunities for improving secured lending likemortgages. Organisations must also be aware of the threats posed by thediminishing overall unsecured lending portfolio, which could mean putting inplace strategies that focuses on increasing the rates charged for theseproducts to compensate for the potential reduced volumes for example. Social The UK demography is changing. The population is getting older and by 2015, there will be more65 year olds than young people aged below 16 years (www.statistics.gov.uk). Life expectancyis also on the increase and so is the average retirement age. People are moreknowledgeable when it comes to financial services products. This has resultedin less consumer loyalty and customers patiently shop around for the best dealsor returns and also demanding better customer service. Buying behaviour isalso changing with the use of increased technology. Household income is increasing. Opportunitiesfacing organisations is holding on the well trained staff for longer due toincreased retirement age. Lending policies that restrict lending beyond acertain age will need to be reviewed. Technological Technologicalinnovation and development is becoming increasingly crucial to achieving andsustaining competitive advantage. Organisations have increased the range ofservices they provide through online and telephone banking. Technology isincreasingly used to automate inefficient manual processes in order to controlcosts. Keeping up withthe pace of change could however, be costly and could make organisationsuncompetitive. Ethical Financialservices organisations are paying a great deal of attention to its socialaccountability and responsibility and are not shy to publicise that fact. The presence ofpressure and environmental groups, for instance, keep these organisations awareof their responsibilities as the adverse publicity that can be generated, if abusiness is deemed to be acting irresponsibly can do long lasting damage tothat organisation’s reputation. Consequently, organisations includeEnvironmental initiatives as part of their overall group strategy. Legal The FSA focuseson legislation geared towards organisational behaviour and customer relations (www.fsa.gov.uk). There has been a greatemphasis placed on providing more information to customers from which to makeinformed decisions, recently. Basel IIrequirements, which comes into effect in 2007 and 2008 puts a requirement onorganisations to hold sufficient reserves of capital to cover unexpectedlosses. For firms that are deemed to adequately identify and measure theirrisks, they would be allowed to hold less capital, thereby providingopportunities to use extra funds to grow their businesses. For example,Nationwide anticipates that their capital reserve requirement will reduce by upto 60% under Basel II. It is anticipated, however, that competition formortgage lending which is low risk will become fiercer as competitors also meetthe requirements. Finally,financial reporting in the UK must meet the requirements of the InternationalFinancial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which requires more detailed reporting.Businesses not complying could potentially present more volatile results and inNationwide’s case turn away investing members. The Micro-environment Themicro-environment is effectively the industry in which Nationwide operates inand is concerned with the competitive pressures faced within that industry. Porter’s five forces model isuseful in analysing the micro-economic environment. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers refer toconsumers in the financial services industry. Consumers are better informed,thanks largely to the efforts of the FSA who promote transparency in organisationsto enable them to make better informed decisions. For mortgages, for example,consumers could switch lenders after an initial term which gives them theopportunity to obtain more favourable rates. Product and servicedifferentiation is minimal thereby enhancing the bargaining power of buyers. Thebargaining power of buyers is increasing, thereby representing a threat toorganisations that cannot provide their services at competitive prices Bargaining power of suppliers This isrelatively low. Dot com organisations fall into this category. Getting intotheir ‘best buy’ tables could result in significant extra business. However,going on such tables depend on the price of the product being sold rather thanthrough what is paid to dot com organisations as commission. However, thesesites could be used to advertise individual organisations products. Threat of New Entrants Competition isencouraged in the financial services industry which means new entrants areencouraged through government support and legislation. However, the industryis dominated by approximately a dozen organisations in terms of market share(including Nationwide), which operate efficiently, use technology ascompetitive advantage and possess enormous brand reputation, thus making thethreats of new entrants to be fairly low. However, as margins are gettingtighter through increased competition, any new significant entrant could provecostly to existing organisations Threat of substitute products Product and service differentiationis minimal, in general, therefore the threat of consumers switching to asubstitute product is minimal. The extent of competitive rivalry Competition isintense, due to the high bargaining power of buyers. A small difference ininterest rate can result in significant difference in business volumes. Products andservices offered are also similar, while there are also many providers.However, branding is very important and the likelihood of a customer opting fora Personal Loan with Nationwide at 6.7% say is higher than opting for XYZ NewEntrant at 6.5%. Examples of theopportunities and threats facing Nationwide as a result of analyses of themicro and macro-environments are summarised below: Opportunities Threats Strength of the economy Competition legislation Increase in retirement age Less customer loyalty Increase in household income Pace of technological change Technological advancement Increased bargaining power of buyers Meeting Basel II requirements Fierce competition Low bargaining power of suppliers Low threat of substitute products Low threat of new competitors Figure 2 Opportunities andthreats facing Nationwide Group Conclusion Nationwide arein a position to exploit the opportunities above by formulating andimplementing strategies that yield increased performance throughprofitability. It is also in a position to minimise the threats throughputting in place appropriate strategies. It will be in a position to do thisby firstly carrying out an analysis of its external environment. REFERENCESAND BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Begg, D et al 1997, ‘Economics’ 5th edition, McGraw-Hill,Maidenhead Buckle, M

AmeriTech College Provo Week 1 Vital Signs Health Care Professionals Discussion

AmeriTech College Provo Week 1 Vital Signs Health Care Professionals Discussion.

I’m working on a nursing discussion question and need a sample draft to help me study.

Vital signs are an important measurement in the assessment step of the nursing process. Discuss how having accurate vital sign measurements will influence the nurse’s plan of care and give an example.discuss how their scenario would be different with drastically different vital signs. discuss how you would respond to the patient regarding the vital signs listed in that peer’s exampleDrugs are researched over a period of time via the clinical research process. Describe the different phases of the clinical research process and how a drug will be made available to patients.What are the advantages and disadvantages to participating in clinical drug research?What is the nurse’s role in the clinical research process?In this week’s lecture, we discussed Florence Nightingale and her contribution to statistics in nursing. Nurse Nightingale is best known as the founder of modern nursing and is possibly the most well-known nurse in history. For this week’s discussion, explain in your own words who Nurse Nightingale is. Include in your discussion one additional major contribution Nurse Nightingale made to healthcare besides what was discussed in the lecture. What attributes do you admire about Nurse Nightingale? What traits do you hope to emulate in your own practice as a nurse?remember to cite all references
AmeriTech College Provo Week 1 Vital Signs Health Care Professionals Discussion

Z10 Marketing Plan Report

write my term paper Z10 Marketing Plan Report. Executive Summary Research in Motion changed its brand name to BlackBerry, early this year. In line with its endeavor to offer solutions to challenges facing global communication industry, the company has come up with BlackBerry Z10, which is a Smartphone that is capable of executing work and personal applications. The product relies on the company’s key competence, which is corporate security. BlackBerry Z10 guarantees the commercial quarter and professionals of their information security. Besides, it allows users to multi-task. The major economic challenge that affects the company is economic variations across the globe. Moreover, the increased use of BlackBerry Smartphones by antisocial individuals might affect the sales of BlackBerry Z10. BlackBerry uses promotional and differentiation strategies to increase its sales volume. Company analysis Mission and goals Research in Motion (RIM) was the company that created BlackBerry brand. Early this year, the company changed its name to BlackBerry. BlackBerry’s mission and goal are, “to provide solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market, including the software that allows the BlackBerry Smartphone to provide mobile access to email, applications, media and the internet” (Sampson, 2011, p. 6). To achieve the mission and goal, the company has continued manufacturing and building on its present products. Currently, the company has come up with BlackBerry Z10, which is a Smartphone that accommodates both work and personal applications, helping users to switch from “their personal space to work space with a simple flick of the finger” (Sampson, 2011, p. 12). All these are in line with the company’s mission and goal, which is to offer answers to challenges that face global mobile communication market. Product markets and portfolio Sampson asserts, “Smartphones are still a niche market, though there is huge scope for expansion” (2011, p. 9). BlackBerry is the second biggest company with respect to sales of Smartphone. In 2011, the company had over seventy million customers across the globe. BlackBerry focuses mainly on the Indian market. The company, together with Nokia dominates the market. Currently, BlackBerry serves 15 percent of the Indian market share. The company concentrates on selling its products to the high-end urban market. Indian society is highly differentiated. Therefore, demand for BlackBerry’s products varies in the market. High demand for BlackBerry Z10 and other products in the commercial sector and colleges makes the company focus on the two market segments. BlackBerry’s market can be largely split into two segments; the rural and town markets. The two markets vary significantly with respect to demands, requirements, fiscal orientation, and inevitability of the customers. In 2011, the company’s total revenue was $3.4 billion (Sharma et al., 2012). BlackBerry offers solutions to numerous functionalities, which range from instant messaging, e-mails, intranet applications, voice, to internet browsing. Its portfolio includes, “software development tools, BlackBerry wireless solution, the BlackBerry wireless handheld product line, and other software and hardware” (Sharma et al., 2012, p. 17). The company’s product line includes Smartphone, business software, BlackBerry®, tablet, PlayBookTM and accessories. Its products and services are in high demand across the globe. Core competencies Hoang argues, “BlackBerry’s future does not lie on its capacity to tackle its rivals head-on. Instead, the company needs to focus on its core competences, namely the blackberry backend and corporate security” (2012, para. 1). The manufacture of BlackBerry Z10 affirms the company’s core competence in guaranteeing corporate security. Through the Smartphone, the company is capable of providing security solutions to institutions that are in dire need of secure business communication. The company has experienced personnel, who are able to develop firewall that guarantees secure transition from work to personal applications when using BlackBerry Z10. This implies that BlackBerry enjoys unparalleled data security capabilities as its core competence (Hoang, 2012). Strengths and weaknesses Many users commend BlackBerry Company for its development of BlackBerry Z10. This latest model of Smartphone has numerous strengths compared to its earlier models. One of the strengths of BlackBerry Z10 is its capacity to systematize calendar and message information (Howitt, 2013). The phone allows users to amalgamate their text messages, e-mails, and social messages under a single folder. Besides, one is capable of accessing all the messages promptly. Indeed, the phone allows users to access crucial and tailored information efficiently. Another strength of BlackBerry Z10 lies on its touch keyboard. BlackBerry Z10 has a well organized and easy to use keyboard. Besides, the phone has predictive text mode, which enhances typing speed and accuracy. BlackBerry Z10’s hardware is capable of handling the latest operating system. Consequently, one is capable of opening numerous applications without challenges (Howitt, 2013). Despite the numerous strengths, BlackBerry Z10 has a number of weaknesses. The phone does not have a hard button that helps users to switch from an application to the home screen. Consequently, it takes long to switch from an application to the home screen as one has to swipe continually. Another weakness of this Smartphone is that it gives users a lot of problems when multitasking. The absence of a hard button makes it hard for users to switch from one application to another (Howitt, 2013). Marketing environment PEST environment Political BlackBerry enjoys a steady political environment in the United States’ market, which helps it to increase its market share. A recent study by Nielsen revealed that the introduction of BlackBerry Z10 into the American market gave the company a competitive edge (Reed, 2010). However, BlackBerry encounters challenges in Indian, Chinese, and United Arab Emirates’ markets where consumers doubt security capabilities of the Smartphone. Economic Economic features influence the mobile phone industry since consumers purchase phones based on income. The recent economic crisis posed a major threat to the introduction of BlackBerry Z10. Today, consumers have to be sure that the price of a Smartphone equals its capabilities (Reed, 2010). Besides, variations in exchange rates across the globe are likely to affect the price of BlackBerry Z10, making it either competitive or extremely expensive. Social Social aspects like lifestyle, education, and cultural values affect the sales of BlackBerry products. The company makes substantial sales during the holidays. One of the social aspects that are likely to affect the sales of BlackBerry Z10 is the increased use of BlackBerry Smartphones by antisocial individuals. This might affect the company’s sales performance in religiously receptive countries (Reed, 2010). Technology Technological changes affect BlackBerry products significantly. However, introduction of BlackBerry Z10 into the market is likely to help the company to increase its sales volume as the technology used to manufacture the Smartphone is environmental conscious (Reed, 2010). Key competitors Nokia and Apple companies are the key competitors in the Smartphone market. The two companies focus on urban market where demand for Smartphones is high. Many consumers have confidence and are loyal to Nokia and Apple companies. Hence, the companies are guaranteed of a steady market. Nokia is renowned for excellent customer services, which has made it dominate the market for decades. The major weakness of the two competitors is that they do not have Smartphones that can handle contemporary business applications (Sharma et al., 2012). Hence, many consumers are turning to BlackBerry Z10, which has numerous functionalities and supports contemporary applications. Customer environment Presently, BlackBerry serves a differentiated market that is made up of two segments; urban and rural segment. The urban segment comprises of professionals and businesspersons who make their purchasing decisions depending on the value of the product. Individuals in this market segment purchase a product after they are sure that it will add value to their businesses or careers (Sharma et al., 2012). On the other hand, BlackBerry serves the rural market segment that comprises of customers, who make decisions based on affordability, battery life, connectivity, and network expansion of the Smartphone. Consequently, BlackBerry has a potential market growth in the urban segment, especially with the introduction of BlackBerry Z10, which meets the majority of their needs. Product and marketing strategy One of the marketing strategies that BlackBerry uses to position its BlackBerry Z10 Smartphone is product differentiation. The Smartphone has BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) functionality, which differentiate it from others (Sharma et al., 2012). BlackBerry Messenger is software that allows users to send and receive instantaneous messages. The company uses this functionality to target the high-end urban market segment, which demands a Smartphone capable of reducing the time they take to communicate with business associates or clients. BlackBerry uses factors like demands, customer needs, and financial orientation to segment its market. Marketing mix BlackBerry applies the 4Ps marketing mix to enhance its competitiveness in the global market. The company focuses on product functionalities as one of its brand positioning strategy when developing BlackBerry Z10. The company has also increased the number of applications that the Smartphone supports (Hein, 2009). Therefore, consumers can now use BlackBerry Z10 to execute numerous applications efficiently. BlackBerry Z10 uses, “Hub and Balance features as its key differentiators from other devices” (Wagner, 2013, para. 6). BlackBerry uses varied pricing mechanisms to capture different market segments. To cater for all customers, the company has Smartphones, which vary in functionalities and prices. Many customers shy away from purchasing Apple brands due to price. They prefer BlackBerry because it sets its prices based on the features and value of the product. The main target group for BlackBerry Z10 comprises of professionals and businesspersons who are not price sensitive (Wagner, 2013). Hence, BlackBerry is at liberty to set its price at a level that corresponds to the capabilities of the gadget. BlackBerry runs numerous advertisement programs to promote its products. Recently, the company launched a “keyboard challenge” advertisement that seeks to portray BlackBerry Z10 as the Smartphone with the best keyboard in the market (Wagner, 2013). Besides, it liaises with its business associates in promoting Smartphones. For instance, the company, in collaboration with CellOne lowered the price of BlackBerry Z10 from $599 to $399 as one of its promotional strategies. Besides, the company allows its clients to trade their old BlackBerry Smartphones with Z10 at lower charges. To reach many customers, BlackBerry Company liaises with numerous distributors (Wagner, 2013). For example, the company works with Mainline (a mobile phone distributor firm) to distribute its BlackBerry Z10. Mainline helps the company to get dealers who supply the Smartphone to local outlets, thus helping the company to reach remote customers. References Hein, K. (2009). Phones top list of most-trusted brands. SalesZ10 Marketing Plan Report

CS125 (C Language) Homework 12

CS125 (C Language) Homework 12.

Sorry about posting this late. The assignment is to implement the pieces of a buffer (in this case an integer buffer) that we have been doing in class. Make sure that you pay attention to this assignment so that you understand all the pieces. The next two builds on this one and add features that we will learn about. You need to have a good grasp on this part do to the next parts.Here is the description. Note that the ibufPrint function is already provided at the end. CS125_Asmt12_buffer.pdfHere are two of the three files, fully implemented. In the hw12.c file, you can move the #ifdef NOTYET line around in main, putting it at the end of the phase that you have completed so far, so that it only compiles only as much as you have implemented to test. hw12.c IntegerBuffer.h
CS125 (C Language) Homework 12

ECO 1023 Santa Monica The Effects of Corona Virus on Economy of US Discussion

ECO 1023 Santa Monica The Effects of Corona Virus on Economy of US Discussion.

One major goal of this course is to provide you with skills and knowledge of both the theory and the practical tools necessary to start your own research. The best way to achieve this goal is to write an original research paper. The paper will discuss why you chose the topic, economic model, econometrics specification, data and empirical finding.I. Title page.II. Abstract. This should be less than 50 words and summarize the topic, methodology, and main findings. Itshould appear on your title page.III. Introduction. This section should state the nature and objectives of the project along with a brief review ofany relevant literature. Make sure to provide some background or motivation for why your project is interesting.IV. Description of the model. The model should be clearly stated and any equations carefully explained. Youshould write out the econometric model you plan to estimate, and discuss the expected impact of the exogenousvariables in your model.V. Data description and model estimation. You should use the techniques developed in class to analyze yourdata and estimate your model. Make sure to describe the dataset you are using by providing summary statisticsof important variables. Your results should be reported and discussed in this section and could include:parameter estimates, standard errors, t-statistics, F-statistics, R-squared, tests for autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity, and possible multicollinearity, as appropriate.VI. Conclusion. Review the major findings as well as possible extensions for future work. Make sure to mentionany limitations of your approach as well as alternative explanations of your results. Policy implications, if any,could also be included in this section.VII. Tables and graphs. Your paper must include at least one table and one graph. The tables and graphs shouldbe well-labeled and accessible to the reader—do not merely print out your regression output with crypticvariable names.Appendix If you have a lot of regression results or other details in your theoretical/statistical model that merit tobe included yet, they may distract the reader, you may include them in an appendix.Example：https://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/62051
ECO 1023 Santa Monica The Effects of Corona Virus on Economy of US Discussion

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