Stegosaurus

The clam is a benthic, epifaunal and sesile organism with bilateral symmetry. The star is a benthic, epifaunal and sesile organism with pentameral symmetry. The crab is a benthic, epifaunal and vagrant organism with bilateral symmetry. The sea urchin is a benthic, epifaunal and sessile organism with radial symmetry. The hermit crab is a benthic, epifaunal and vagrant organism with bilateral symmetry. The squid is a pelagic and nektonic organism with bilateral symmetry. The barnacles are benthic, epifaunal and sessile organisms.The crayfish is a benthic, epifaunal and vagrant organism with bilateral symmetry. The shrimp is a benthic, epifaunal and vagrant organism with bilateral symmetry. The turtle is a pelagic and nektonic organism with bilateral symmetry. The bryozoan is a benthic, epifaunal and sessile organism with asymmetric symmetry. The ammonite is a benthic, epifaunal and vagrant organism with bilateral symmetry. The horn coral is a benthic, epifaunal and sessile organism tha t has radial symmetry. The fish is a pelagic and nektonic organism with bilateral symmetry.The sea urchin is a benthic, epifaunal and sessile organism that has radial symmetry. The shark is a pelagic and nektonic organism with bilateral symmetry. The ammonite is a benthic, epifaunal and sessile organism with radial symmetry. The trilobite is a benthic, infaunal and vagrant organism with bilateral symmetry. No, it would not be successfull on the sea floor and it certainly would not be successfull burrowing or living in the sea floor, although squid do sometimes prey on benthic organisms. The squid uses its tentacles to grab and eat its prey.The squid uses its muscles to pump through the water. And has adapted to see better with large eyes. No they would not do so well living on land, they float through the sea so they would not have any means or mobilization, also, they use long tentacles to sting and catch their prey, this would not be very efficient on land. The hermit crab uses th e shell to protect itself from prey. Because the animal moves so slowly, it needs the added protection. It could be that the animal could not move fast and would need to curl up in its shell to protect itself from prey.

Issues in Corporate Governance

CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE ADVANCED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT †¢ †¢ †¢ Investment decisions Financing decisions Dividend decisions Financial objectives Primary objective – maximise shareholder wealth Secondary objectives – meeting ‘other’ predetermined targets Stakeholders †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Shareholders Management and employees Customers Suppliers Lenders Government w w w . s tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 1 CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE Stakeholders Suppliers Measures Price Payment Security Liquidity Taxable profit Inflation Employment Investment Lenders Government w w w . tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 2 CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE w w w . s tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 3 CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE Corporate Governance Are the board effective? Are they making good decisions? Can we obtain assurance that they are? Are the board effective? Combined Code Board of Directors Chair CEO Execs Non-execs w w w . s tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 4 CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE Are they making good decisions? Higgs Report Cadbury Report Greenbury Code Key guidance Smith Turnbull Can we obtain assurance that they are?Disclosure FSA Listing Rules FSA Disclosure and Transparency rules Combined Code w w w . s tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 5 CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE More formalised Independent audit committee Quarterly reporting USA Sarbanes Oxley Independent directors PCOAB Critical accounting policies Germany EU company law Two-tier board of directors Board of directors Supervisory board Management board w w w . s tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 6 CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE Japan â€Å"Consensual management† Policy boards Functional boards Monocratic boards w w . s tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 7 CH AP TER 1 – I S S U ES I N COR POR ATE G OVER N AN CE SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK †¢ Sustainability – balancing growth with environmental and social concerns â€Å"At BP, we are working hard to restore trust in our ability to operate safely and responsibly wherever we do business. Our approach to sustainability covers issues relating to governance and risk management, safety, the environment, the energy future and our local and global socio-economic impact. We aim to report on these issues in a way that answers key questions raised by our stakeholders. Carbon Trading 1. Governments hand out free tradable rights to emit carbon dioxide to big industrial polluters 2. Companies buy additional pollution credits from projects that claim to emit less greenhouse gas than they would have without the investment Environment Agency 1. Protects air, land and water used by society in England and Wales 2. Offers guidance to busine sses on environmental issues †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Environmental Permitting Flood Pollution and emissions Waste Water Environmental Audits †¢ †¢ †¢ Energy saving Waste reduction Business processes w w w . s tu d yi n te ra cti ve . o rg 8

Argument essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Argument - Essay Example Unpopular when first proposed and passed in 2010, the ACA has steadily gained acceptance since the Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the law last June. The disagreement is between two opposing ideologies. One that believes health care should be a commodity much like any other, you buy as much as you can afford and if you cannot afford it then do without. The other thinks all citizens are entitled to the bare essentials of life including food, shelter, clothing and healthcare. Before the ACA passed and was a still a bill trying to survive in Congress, legislators and the American public were locked in a contentious national debate that further divided a nation already deeply separated by a conflicting concept regarding the country’s ideological direction. One side was frightened that â€Å"creeping socialism† was undermining the â€Å"American ideal.† They did not want European style governance claiming that the transformation would change the found ations of the country into something unrecognizable to them. The anti healthcare faction went as far as to use groundless scare tactics such as saying Obamacare death panels would come for grandma after she became too unhealthy to justify paying for continuing care. This and other statements just as untruthful and outrageous were not found on a radical, unknown blog posts but were spoken on the Senate steps by elected representatives in front of cameras and microphones. The battle was tough even by Washington D.C. standards but was won and subsequently preserved by the Supreme Court and the November 6 election. Despite the rumors of death panels killing dear old Grandma, the AARP and AMA along with nearly every person or organization involved with health care delivery supported the ACA and for good reason. The law already forbids health insurance companies from dropping coverage if a policy holder becomes ill and discriminating on the basis of pre-existing conditions and age. It all ows easier access for everyone, lets children age 26and under to stay on their parent’s plan, assists with long-term care and strengthens Medicare. The law also addresses preventative care. Already, insurance companies must pay for preventative services such as diabetes screenings, mammograms and immunizations at no cost to the patient and without adding to their insurance premium. By 2014, when it is fully implemented, annual and lifetime coverage limits will be a thing of the past. This means benefits will not end when they are most needed, during a serious and costly stay in the hospital. Small businesses and middle income families will receive tax credits which will guarantee all can afford healthcare (â€Å"Fact Sheet,† 2012). Opponents to health care reform seem to favor the components of the ACA but not the law as a whole. They fear the level of care will decline providing compelling evidence to back up their claim. â€Å"Fewer than 700,000 physicians would be available to treat a patient population growing in size, aging in years, shunning medical education and receiving ‘free’ health care or insurance coverage from the government in increasing numbers.† (â€Å"Doctor Shortage,†

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Education - Essay Example There was also push for marriage and fatherhood for these disabled veterans. After the war, several Britons believed that independent, skilled labor would help cure the veterans disabled in battle. This would enable them to earn their own living as well as support themselves. In addition it would change them from being helpless to independent strong men. The most interesting things I learnt from the lecture include a lot of exciting insights from the World War I. For instance the fact that the first world war was fought by people from all the continents even though some did not know why they were fighting. The scientific research also that was going on shifted attention to this war; many new things were discovered that were for the first time ever used in war of that magnitude. The use of newly invented machine guns by the soldiers was also another thing that caught my attention. The issue of the veterans being given wives to marry as a way of rewarding them is also another very striking thing that caught my eye. The use of plastic surgery on injured soldiers is another thing that caught my

Trichomoniasis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Trichomoniasis - Essay Example This sexually transmitted disease is not reportable, so the epidemiologic data remains very difficult to obtain. However, it has been estimated that there are 5 million new cases in the United States each year, which is more than the sum of all cases of Chlamydia and gonococcal infections. The World Health Organization estimates that there is incidence of 173 million new infections of Trichomoniasis worldwide per year. This is also known as Trichomonas vaginitis. It is caused by the sexually transmitted, flagellated parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis. The transmission rate is high; 70% of men contract the disease after a single exposure to an infected woman, which suggests that the rate of male-to-female transmission is even higher. The parasite, which exists only in trophozoite form, is an anaerobe that has the ability to generate hydrogen to combine with oxygen to create an anaerobic environment. It often accompanies bacterial vaginosis, which can be diagnosed in as many as 60% of pat ients with Trichomonas vaginitis (Cates, Jr., 1999, S2-S7). Risk Factors: There are certain risk factors that are associated with Trichomoniasis. These include all the risk factors for sexually transmitted infection acquisition. ... There is generally a longer duration of infectiousness and a high level of asymptomatic infections, especially in men. Many women with annual Pap smear examination have asymptomatic infections. This is responsible for 25% of all cases of clinically diagnosed vaginitis. More than half of infected women and nearly 90% of infected men are asymptomatic, which increases the reservoir of people spreading the infection. Trichomoniasis increases the risks of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission and HIV acquisition (Horowitz, Mrdh, eds., 1999). Infection: The primary mode of transmission of T. vaginalis is through sexual contact. Transmission by fomites is possible, but is rarely the cause of a symptomatic infection. An inoculums of at least 10,000 organisms is needed to establish a clinically significant infection. Male-to-female transmission rates are higher than female-to-male rates; about 85% of exposed women will contract the infection. Female-to-male transmission rates are more variable, but may be as high as 70% within 48 hours of exposure. Incubation period varied between 4 to 28 days. T. vaginalis resembles anaerobic bacteria more than eukaryotic behavior in that it ferments large amounts of carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases, causing bubbles. Its presence in the vaginal vault changes the vaginal microbiology-the lactobacilli disappear and anaerobic bacteria predominant. T. vaginalis swims freely in the vaginal discharge but can also attach to the vaginal wall. The cell membranes of the parasite a nd those of the host interdigitate. Trichomonas adhere to vaginal and cervical epithelial cells. T. vaginalis also infects the urethra, Skene's glands, and Bartholin glands. The

Nokia company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Nokia company - Essay Example Strategy helps an organisation to attain competitive advantage which ascertains its success. The business operations of the company along with its manufactured goods were believed to be based on technology. The factor of technology has been considered to be crucial because of the rapid alterations and the constant developments. Therefore, the company in order to stay ahead in the competition required to deal adeptly with the altering technological environment. The issue of increasing competition and sustaining existence in such a tumultuous environment would be addressed in this study (Dittrich, 2005). Academic Foundations Concepts & Theories Regarding Strategic Management of Organisations Organisations have been stated to be an accumulation of individuals who are brought together and organised with the intention of attaining certain objectives. In this context, strategy has been referred as the means adopted by the mentioned accumulation of such individuals for the reason of turning to an effectual economic performer. Strategy could be described as a structure of behaviours with the help of which a particular organisation, by mishap or plan, builds resources. These resources are then employed for the purpose of providing products as well as services in a manner that is comprehended to be worth by the users. The delivery of the products as well as the services are carried out by adhering with the financial and other determined intentions along with the restrictions made obligatory by the chief stakeholders. Appropriate strategies offer an organisation with certain assets that are measured to be exclusive or rather distinguishing. It also provides the organisation the method for adjusting and redesigning its competitive benefits in accordance with the... It is evidently clear from the discussion that the origin of Nokia, the leading cell phone manufacturer, traces back to 1865 with the commencement of a project relating to forestry business by Fredrick Idestam who was a mining engineer in Finland. Finnish Rubber Works Ltd was set up in 1898 and the Finnish Cable Works commenced its functions in the year 1912. Slowly, the possession of the two companies along with Nokia started to change hands with few other owners. And then at last in the year 1967, these three mentioned companies were brought together which gave rise to the company called Nokia Corporation. The company has its headquarters at Espoo in Finland. Nokia Corporation is involved with the production of mobile gadgets along with appliances related to mobile network. It creates mobile gadgets with the facility of accessing internet on the gadgets. The company also offers services as well as resolutions relevant to its manufactured products throughout the globe. Nokia Corpora tion is involved with chiefly four kinds of business operations or divisions and they are multimedia, networks, mobile handsets and enterprise solutions. The company was stated to be the biggest producer of mobile handsets in the globe. It has a workforce which engages about 132,000 employees in more than 120 countries. In case of Nokia, after carrying out the internal and external analysis, it could be suggested that the company needs to take away its previous outdated models of mobile phones from the market as the requirements of the customers keeps on altering

CISG Memo, International Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CISG Memo, International Business Law - Essay Example Article 30 broadly describes the seller's obligation while articles 31-34 expounds on that focusing on the "delivery of the goods and handing over of documents." Article 67 must be read in conjunction with these articles for it determines who assumes the risk of loss and when or under what circumstances this is passed onto the buyer. Article 31 applies only if the seller is not bound to deliver the goods at any other particular place. This article specifies the place where he is to perform his obligation to deliver. The general rule is the seller's place of business. There are two exceptions: (1) where the sale involves carriage of the goods then the obligation is fulfilled when the goods are handed over to the first carrier for transmission to buyer; (2) if the contract is not covered by the first exception and is related to specific goods, or unidentified goods to be drawn from a specific stock or to be manufactured or produced at a particular place the obligation is fulfilled when the goods are placed at the buyer's disposal meaning that "the seller has done that which is necessary for the buyer to be able to take possession."1 The effect of the fulfillment of the obligation to deliver is that any risk of subsequent damage or loss has now passed onto the buyer. ... If the contract involves the carriage of goods and the seller is not bound to hand them over at a particular place, the risk passes to the buyer when they are handed to the first carrier for transmission to the buyer. But if a place is specified for delivery, the risk passes onto the buyer only when the goods are handed over to the carrier at the place agreed upon. Note that even if the seller is authorized to retain the documents controlling the disposition of goods is immaterial to the passage of the risk. These rules will still apply. Article 32 sets forth the additional obligations of the seller in article 31. The first is to clearly identify the goods through the buyer's notice of the consignment. The second is to enter into contracts necessary for the proper transport of the goods in keeping with the circumstances and usual practice. Third, if the seller is not bound to effect insurance, he must inform the buyer so that the buyer may opt to obtain the same. Article 33 as a general rule states that the delivery of goods must be at within a reasonable time after the conclusion except when a date or a period is fixed or determinable from the contract. Article34 requires that the seller must hand over the documents to the goods in the time, place and required form as specified in the contract. If the seller hands the documents earlier than the agreed time, he is given the right to cure any lack of conformity in the documents. He can exercise this right until the time to hand over the document expires. Consequently the buyer is given the right to claim damages if in the exercise of such right by the seller causes him unreasonable inconvenience or expenses. According to a practicing lawyer, the rules of the CISG will create

History of women in the military Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of women in the military - Research Paper Example It has only been since recent decades that women have been welcomed into the military, but before this, it was something that was often done discretely. Even though women had often be seen in wars in the ancient and medieval battles, such as Joan of Arc in 1429 (Willens, 1996), it was in the early 1900s that women were being spoken against about why they should not participate in war. One of the biggest arguments was that women should stay at home and tend to their family, leaving their husbands to battle. Many women accepted this, though many more had the counterargument that the men could stay home while the women went off to fight. This was always quickly shot down, though, as the mothers were the ones that children really relied on. Other arguments included the fact that women were not physically built as men were, and therefore unlikely to handle the physical burden of being in a war; the emotional nature of a woman was also looked down upon, with many males and military officials believing that women did not have what it took to handle to emotional and often traumatic impacts of war. Women, however, fought their own battle to be allowed the chance to fight the other battles. The more that military officials realized how many women were sneaking into the wars, the more open they became to accepting them, also realizing that they could be huge assets in the outcome of the wars. Their male counterparts took their willingness as something positive that could be applied to the war; after all, nobody could deny someone who sincerely wanted to fight for a cause or for their country. Men quickly found the positives in this level of strength. It was World War I that really brought the change that women had been fighting for when the United States Navy began to accept women for enlisted service. After a successful first World War, it became clear that it would be beneficial to have women enlisted by

Response to Horatio Alger of H. L. Dalton Essay Example for Free

Response to Horatio Alger of H. L. Dalton Essay Harlon L. Dalton in his essay Horatio Alger criticizes a concept of the American dream the idea that presents America as the country where the opportunity for a success is possible for all hard working, talented and determined people regardless of race, gender and their social status. Dalton implies that not only this idea is not true but is doing a harm to society because that equality is cover only wishful thinking and can not be true unless massive changes in society economic structure and relocation of resources will be done. Daltons essay presents the point of view with that I can only partially agree. I must say that author is probably right that in this country the opportunities are not equal for all people. Why they should be? This world is not a paradise; we cannot just overcome overnight all either what is bad in us or in our society, it a complicated and I assume time-consuming process. I would like to give an example: I could tell the employer: you must employ the African-American and not white man that will be wrong not only because it could be white man who truly deserves this position but because the employer should really be aware that what is good for his company is to employ the more talented employee. There should be no law to force him whom he could employ. Therefore, there must be change in people and their thinking; it may take sometimes a generation or two. Nevertheless, even America is not fully fulfilled dream for all people; it opened the door of success for many and still is opening for others. This vast country gave opportunity for first settlers to success. Only strong and smart could survive in the harsh environment but their hard work was well paid, and they learned how to use this land to live well. As many newcomers came, the opportunity diminished making the dream more difficult to fulfill. It does not mean that American Dream died then; it is been well preserved in American constitution and richness of this country that is a good base to create that wonderland of equal opportunities for all people. Day after day this country is changing the more women achieve the most important positions in the enterprises, the more African-American stars appears on the big  screen, our children have more friends of different races and we do not mind to go to the doctor whose color of skin is different than ours. That is a big achievement and that is American dream. Dalton says not only that we live in the inequality but also that the concept of American dream is making harm to the society because allows to believe in what is not true and stop the reforms that should be done to prevent these inequalities. In my opinion, American Dream is self-realizing idea: the more people will believe in equality the more equality will be. If every man in this country will believe that all people have equal rights that will be no need to introduce massive changes in the structure of the economy and in the location of public resources as the author suggests. The problem is people still do not believe in it and therefore act as they should not act protecting those who they should not and rejecting these whom they should protect. There is another good reason to believe in American Dream; this dream is the engine that makes people works harder and more effectively, what helps to create the economical betterment of this country. I truly believe also that if any of social or racial group feels that its rights are abused it will refuse to work hard and in consequences it will fall off from the pursuit of money and goods and this way only worsen its own situation. In the conclusion, American dream is not failed idea as author wanted to present it. Although we do not live with a total equality, this dream is reflecting people desire America to be such a country and it is the factor that is making the America what is today in economical and social dimension. Bibliography Dalton H.A. Horatio Alger.

War is Peace Essay Example for Free

War is Peace Essay As the Night set in over Afghanistan on October 7th 2001, the night was suddenly ablaze with display of light and sound. Ironically it was a Black Sunday for the people of Afghanistan. The U. S conducted air raids on Afghanistan. Afghanistan was already in rubble. Were these attacks justified? These raids were telecast on TV channels. Many innocent children witnessed these intense episodes of blood shed. For every terrorist killed, many innocent lives were wiped out. These killings created more terrorists. What is this war and violence all about? This is about space, not a war of good over evil or culture. Living without space can prove to be claustrophobic and so it blew up into a war. These raids totally pulverized Afghanistan further. All the arterial roads were closed and with winter setting in, it was difficult for people to get food. Though food packets were air dropped, people were in constant fear of being blown up by land mines. In the past twenty years wars between Soviet Union and America have given rise to a group of maimed and disfigured people mostly in their forties. Young orphans stripped of their innocence strutted around with guns in their hands. These were young hands that never held teddies. Young men beat and raped women without any feelings of guilt. Now North alliance – Taliban’s enemy is trying to gain supremacy over Kabul and faced with complete defeat and soldiers were switching sides. Are these acts of communal violence justified? There is no excuse. These acts cannot be justified even if it is in retribution. The international coalition against terror is a group of rich countries that hold weapons of mass destruction – Chemical, Biological and Nuclear. Most wars have been fought by these countries. They have upheld violence and war. They have supported dictators. Arundhathi Roy is an intense writer. Her detailed descriptions of war makes you sit up and think. She speaks of these acts of violence from a social and cultural perspective. What is this war all about? Is it about establishing peace? Peace at what cost? Can peace be achieved with more violence and fighting? It only leads to communal violence and hatred. This communal violence is a result of misinterpretation of Religion and the real issue gets sidelined. Can’t these terrorist attacks be detected before it happens? With all the high tech gadgets and the intelligence on the job it is impossible to track each and every email, every phone call, letter or plan. During wars; fear, suspicion and rumors terrify people. News of death and violence create panic; leading to more acts of violence. Ultimately it leads to monoculture and dictatorship. Use of religion to gain power is dangerous. The US air dropped food like rice which could not be cooked without fire. Was The US Government attempting to use this misery to boost its image? The author wonders. According to the book, there seems to be some underlying causes than what it appears to be. What is the root cause of all this blood shed and terrorism? The author wonders if it was power and oil. Or was it good over evil? Or was it all about religion? At the end of the book War is Peace, the author Arundathi Roy questions â€Å"how long can we be mute spectators? † Is it not time for us to voice our opinions she wonders. Is the beauty and joy of nature lost? She wonders†¦.

Service Quality in ICBC

Service Quality in ICBC Abstract The development of computer technology and information network technology has brought massive challenges to financial services organizations. Online banking, which provides financial services to customers via Internet, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. Therefore, as the biggest commercial bank in China, it is very important for the managers of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to build a long-term customer relationship. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty. Based on the objectives, after decides the type of investigation and research approach, five pairs of hypotheses are formulated to test the relationship between variables. The results of this study indicate that there are high positive relationship between customer perceived service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. There is also a medium positive relationship between handle customer complaint and customer loyalty. According to these, the ICBC online banking must establish a long term strategy to improve the perceived service quality, satisfying their customer, handling customer complaint promptly in order to achieve more loyal customers. Declaration of Originality I declare that this thesis entitled â€Å"Examining the Service Quality, Customer satisfaction and Loyalty in Online Banking Services of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China† has been composed by myself and has not been presented or accepted in any previous application for a degree. The work, of which this is a record, has been carried out by myself unless otherwise stated and where the work is mine, it reflects personal views and values. All quotations have been distinguished by quotation marks and all sources of information have been acknowledged by means of references including those of the Internet. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview In the past twenty years, the pace of change in financial services sector has been dramatic. The development of computer technology and information network technology has introduced a new virtual economy based on the Internet. As the Internet provides new communication channels to banking industry, the number of online banking websites increased rapidly (Aladwani, 2001). Online banking, an important part of the Internet economy, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. Mols (2000) indicated that the introduction and customers’ adoption of online banking will bring a massive change in the relationship between retailing banks and customers. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. As a result, building long-term customer relationships becomes ever more important as a part of financial institutions’ strategy. How to satisfy customers and gain customer loyalty has become one of the best means of obtaining competitive advantage. Since China’s accession to the WTO, many foreign banks have begun to do business in China. They not only brought advanced management methods and business philosophy, but also made the financial market in China more competitive. As a consequence of this competition, China’s commercial banks lost a large number of high-end customers in a short period of time. Faced with the loss of customers and the future trend of the growth of profit changing from deposits and loans to intermediary business, China’s commercial banks began to recognize the importance of improving customer satisfaction and loyalty and stepped up their efforts to compete with their foreign counterparts (www.financialnews.com.cn). Due to the increasingly competitive marketing environment, enterprises must be customer oriented (Kotler, 1997). With regarding to banking industry, the service quality is considered as the most important competitive weapon (Staford, 1996). Therefore, how to improve service quality and satisfy customer become a very important marketing strategy in banking industry. Service quality has been many researchers’ interest in recent years by the impellent of Parasuraman et al. (1985). There have been many researches identified the key factors impact on the service quality of traditional banks (Jun and Cai, 2001). However, there are few studies on the customer perceived service quality of online banking services (Broderick and Vachirapornpuk, 2002). Customer loyalty even received less attention than service quality and customer satisfaction (Caruana, 2000). The concepts of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty are linked together (Caruana, 2000). As illustrated by Caruana (2000:611), â€Å"service quality as an antecedent construct and service loyalty as an outcome variable of customer satisfaction†. Therefore, it is important for banks to know the current performance of their services and understand the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. In Fecikova’s (2004:57) words: â€Å"Customer satisfaction has become an important issue for commercial and public service organisations.† The standards to judge a company’s win or lose are based on how many customers they can keep. Thus, how to satisfy customers and maintain loyal customers have become important marketing strategies of Chinese online banking industry. However, no matter how well the services are designed and delivered, mistakes will happen. The majority of customers will participate in private word-of-mouth activities regarding their consumptive activities (Day and Landon, 1977). The valence of these word-of-mouth activities may be negative, neutral, or positive. When there is a difference between customer expectation and the actual performance of products or services, the negative feelings will result in complaint behaviour. Therefore, how to handle customer complaints, restore the confidence of customers and reduce the loss of customers has also been an important task to companies in the services process. 1.2 Research Objectives There are some marketing and financial literatures on the services and customer relationship of traditional banks, but few researches are done on the services quality and customer loyalty of online banking. This study presents an analysis of the service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), focuses on the relationship between services quality and customer satisfaction and loyalty, and how handle customer complaint influence customer loyalty. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, this study aims to find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty of ICBC online banking. 1.3 Structure of Project This project is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is the overview and introduction of the research. In Chapter 2, the writer introduces the development and history of online banking services and its development in ICBC. After that, the writer reviews the relevant theories of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and customer complaint, explains how they were measured and the relationship between them, which are mainly based on previous findings. Using these theories, Chapter 3 illustrates the research questions and methodology of this research, the structure of questionnaire was also introduced in this section. Chapter 4 explains the findings of this research, discussing the current situation of ICBC online banking services, examining the relationships between these variables and give some recommendations. In the final Chapter, the writer summarizes the research, discusses the findings and introduces a number of limitations of this study. This section also contains opinions and suggestions on developing the online banking in the future. Chapter 2 Review of the Literature 2.1 Introduction This chapter first introduces the overview of Chinese online banking services and the development of ICBC online banking. Secondly, the writer clarified what the service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer complaint have been covered in the previous study, indicates which factors would affect them and what kind of methods were used to measure them. In this part, the characteristics of online services and customer’s adoption of online banking services are also addressed. Finally, the relationships between these four concepts are reviewed. Bloemer et al. (1999) suggested that although the previous studies indicate that there are obvious relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, however, how strength the relationships are still not clear (Bloemer er al., 1999). Therefore, based on the literature review, the writer presents a research model for this study as well. 2.2 Background of Chinese Online Banking Services 2.2.1 Overview Online banking services are broadly defined as the ability to carry out bank transactions electronically, usually via the internet. It is an important part of the Internet economy. All business transactions are done via the banks’ websites (en.wikipedia.org). Online banking refers to several kinds of services through which bank customers can gain information and services such as money transfer, bill payment, short loan, investment, buy insurance and so on, via a page on Internet without leaving their homes or organizations (Sathye, 1999). There are several studies indicated that online banking services are the most profitable products to banks (Robinson, 2000). By eliminating the infrastructure costs associated with branch-based retail banking services. Online banking is able to offer instant service and lower service charges than their competitors. Online banking is the cheapest channel for banks to deliver services (Robinson, 2000; Giglio, 2002). Research shown that the cost of an average online banking transaction is only 10 percents of the cost of a similar average branch transaction (Kolodinsky et al., 2004). Through provide services online, banks can reduce their expenditure on hard ware and staff in branch (Karjaluoto et al., 2003). At the same time, online banking service delivery channel can also help banks to retain current customers who use online banking services from any location. As Internet has become such an efficient and world-wide used communication medium, it has also become a widely used retail channel (Cho, M. and Park, S., 2001). Furthermore, online banking provides banks opportunities to attract more customers from exiting Internet users (Rotchanakitumnuai and Speece, 2003). From the customers view, online banking services are convenient and can saving time compared with traditional retail banking services. Verma et al. (2004) suggested that customers are willing to pay more for online banking services to gain both offline value and online benefit. They can use online banking services when connect to Internet without the limitation of time and location. As illustrated by Bainbridge (2008), Traditional banking was impacted greatly by the commercialization of the Internet in the early 1990s. As the Internet became more generally accessible, traditional banks began to realize its potential to deliver services to their customers while reducing long-term operational costs. Upon realizing this, they began to offer limited services online. In 1995, the first pure online bank, the Security First Network bank was founded in the United States. It provided services such as direct access to account, bill payment and check viewing, which are quite common today (Christopher, 2008). In the following twenty years, online banking services have developed rapidly and have now become a significant part of the business for commercial banks. As in other countries, Chinese commercial banks are undergoing rapid change due to advances in information technology. Eight months after the first online bank founded in the United States, in June 1996, the Bank of China set up websites and started to provide Internet banking services to the community. One year later, China Merchant Bank launched the first fully online banking â€Å"All in one Net†. It became the first fully Internet bank in China (data.chinabyte.com). Subsequently, more and more Chinese domestic banks have set up online banking services to penetrate the market and gain competitive advantage (Li, 2002). In 2000, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China launched online banking business in 31 cities in China. As the nations largest commercial bank, the opening of its online banking business aroused widespread interest. In 2002, HSBC launched its online banking services in China (data.chinabyte.com). The number of costumers and the trading volume of online banking have increased rapidly. At the end of 2007, the trading volume of corporate online banking reached 245.8 trillion RMB, which increased 163.1% compared to 2006. In the total transaction volume, corporate online banking accounts for 93.6% which is 230 trillion RMB. However, the growth of Personal Online banking was even faster in recent years. The trading volume reached 15.8 trillion RMB at the end of 2007 which is almost four times of 2006’s 4.1 trillion RMB. The number of business customers reached 0.84 million and individual customers reached 65 million at the end of 2006 (iresearch.com.cn). At the same time, the range of services provided by online banking has also increased. Before 2000, some of the banks only provided information services. Now they provide services such as enquiry, investment advice, money transfers, buying and selling of securities, online payments and, in some banks, small loans, housing mortgage loans and other credit facilities. As the 21st century is a customer-oriented century, how to create and maintain customer has became an important part of marketing strategy of banking industry. As information technology advanced and communication channels diversified, customers can use a variety channels to acquire more complete information and choices, to achieve their own best interests. As illustrated by, customer’s role in consumer economy has changed from the recipient to products or services to the decision maker. Most banks also aware that customers are becoming a dominant position, however, how to use information technology and limited sources to achieve the best and most efficient service quality to satisfy customers, gain loyalty customers, ensure the source of profit, these have became the focus of the operation of Chinese banks. 2.2.2 Introduction of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China As the largest one of four big stated-owned commercial banks which dominate the financial markets in China. The ICBC is the leader in online banking services and is constantly introducing advanced online banking products and services to the public. The following figure illustrates its repaid growth in online banking. Figure 2.1 ICBC Online Banking Trading Volume We can see form the figure above, in 2000, ICBCs online banking trading volume amounted only RMB 2.03 trillion, in 2002 this number grew to RMB 8.77 trillion which is almost 4 times of 2000. In the following five years, the ICBC online banking trading volume kept a rapid growth rate. In 2005, it went beyond RMB 46 trillion, growing 23 times compared to that in 2000. By the end of 2007, ICBC online trading volume jumped to RMB 102.88 trillion, which is more than 50 times of 2000. At the same time, the customers of ICBC online banking grew rapidly. At the end of 2007, ICBC Online banking has had 980,000 business customers and 39.08 million individual customers (icbc.com.cn). As illustrated in figure 2, the individual customers of ICBC online banking kept an continued rapid growth from 0.2 million in 2000 to 48.5 million in June of 2008. Currently, ICBC online banking provides a variety of services; customers can transfer money, pay bills, buy stocks or bonds, change foreign currency and so on. It has been very successful and has won various awards in China. It is also widely recognized and respected in the international banking sector. In every year from 2003 to 2006, ICBC was granted the â€Å"Best Personal Internet Bank of China† award by Global Finance. All these have established ICBC as a leader in e-banking in China and have put it among the top financial players in the international arena (icbc.com.cn). 2.3 Introduction to Service 2.3.1 Definition of Service According to Kotler and Keller (2006:374), â€Å"services are intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable products†. Therefore, services require more quality control than products. Financial services are services directed specifically at people’s money or wealth, they are concern with organizations, individuals and their finances (Ennew and Waite, 2007). Nowadays there are a whole range of finance services, such as banking services, credit cards, insurance, foreign exchange, stock and bonds trading and so on. 2.3.2 Characteristics of Service In the earlier marketing literature, Gummesson (1987) suggested that â€Å"services are something that can be bought and sole but which you cannot drop on your foot.† Basically, services are process or experiences (Bateson, 1977; Bowen and Schneider, 1988; Parasuraman et al., 1985). We cannot own a bank account as we own a car, but we have the right to use the bank account doing various financial transactions on our behalf by banks. According to Kotler and Keller (2006), services have for distinctive characteristics which are intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. Most services are intangible (Beteson, 1977). They cannot be counted, measured and verified before sale to assure quality. Thus the company may find it difficult to understand the consumers’ evaluation of service quality (Zenthaml, 1981). Ennew and Waite (2007) suggested that services are heterogeneity because service performance different from customer to customer. The performance of services may be totally different from the customer’s perception. Those characters of services indicate that quality of services is more difficult to evaluate than products. Although these are widely used in services marketing, many researchers have different thoughts. Loverloch and Gummesson (2004) argue that this framework has weaknesses, such as intangibility which is ambiguous, they suggested that many services also involve some tangible elements and outcomes. Vargo and Lush (2004) also highlight the inability of this framework to distinguish between goods and services. 2.4 Introduction to Service Quality 2.4.1 Definition of Service Quality Marketing literature has provided many definitions of service quality. Before 1980’s, most research of quality focused on how to define and measure the quality of tangible products. As the service industry developed vigorously, more and more scholars did lots of exploration and study about service quality. However, due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to define, measure and control (Crosby, 1979). According to the American Society for Quality (Miller, C., 1993), â€Å"quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs†. Levitt (1972) suggested that services quality refers to the results of services can meet the standards set by the customers. Sasser and Olsen (1978) defined services quality from materials, equipment and personnel. This classification suggests that service quality not only including the final results, but also including the provision of services. Gronoroos (1982) firstly proposed the concept of perceived service quality, he suggested that service quality generated from the comparison between expected service quality and the experienced service quality. According to Lewis and Boom (1983), service quality is the consistency of the transfer of service and expectations of service. Customer’s perceptions of quality usually come from their comparison between expected and perceived quality. The result of this comparison is, when the perceived quality is higher than expected quality, customer will get good quality of service or satisfaction with it (Parasuraman, et. al, 1985). Six years later, they pointed out that service quality is a psychological assessment that is measured by customers according to the gap between the expectation and actual service quality (Parasuraman, et. al, 1991). However, Stewart, Hope and Muhlemann (1998) suggested that service quality should be distanced by who provide the service and how they provide it. The former is evaluated after the service, while the latter is evaluated in the process of deliver service. Sarsser et al. (1998) argued that service quality should be defined through three factors which are materials, equipment and person. They suggested service quality not only include the results, but also include the provision of services. Service level and service quality are similar, service level can be divided into expected service level and perceived service level (Sarsser et al., 1998). In recent years, the definition of service quality improved towards customer factor. Harrison (2000) described that service quality is basically concerned with meeting customer’s need and requirements and how well the service level delivered meets customer expectations. Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) argue that there are two levels of customer expectations, desired service and adequate service. The former is defined as the â€Å"wish for† level of service performance, while the latter is defined as the basic service expectations. According to Kim et al. (1998), financial institutions always provide generally undifferentiated services to customer. Therefore, service quality becomes the most important factor. 2.4.2 Dimensions of Service Quality Marketing literature provide many views of the measurement dimensions of services quality. Sasser et al. (1978) suggested that there are three different dimensions of service performance: levels of material, facilities, and personnel. Gronroos (1982) divided service quality into two types: technical quality and functional quality. The former refers to what customers are actually receiving from the service , the latter refers to the process in which the service is delivered. Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) argued that service quality has three dimensions physical quality, such as equipment; corporate quality, such as company’s image; interactive quality, which means the interaction 74bb1v8140customers. Parasuraman et al (1985) suggested there are ten dimensions of service quality, which are reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding the customer and tangibles. After further study, they improved these to five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurances, tangibles (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Figure 2.3 illustrates the structure of their finding. Source: Parasuraman et al., (1985,1988) Brady and Cronin (2001) presented a service quality model of three dimensions: interaction quality, physical environment quality and outcome quality. Interaction quality refers to the interaction between customer and employee in the process of service delivery. It is impacted by attitude, behavior and expertise. Physical environment refers to customer’s evaluation of physical facilities or building design. Outcome quality indicates the result of services (Brady and Cronin, 2001). 2.4.3 Importance of Service Quality With the development of world economy and the pace of globalisation, most markets have been very competitive, in order to survive, companies need to provide good quality services to satisfy and retain loyalty customers (Fecikova, 2004). According to Broderick and Vachirapornpuk (2002), not only the technology changes overtime, customer expectation and perception of online services also changes continuously. Therefore, service quality will become a very important issue to online banks. Nowadays, as the process of globalization has made the market competition in financial industry more and more intense. Customers have been considered as the most importance to service industry (MacDonald et al, 2000). At the same time, customers’ expectations of service quality are constantly increase, while their tolerance of poor services is constantly decline (Smith and Lewis, 1989). Therefore, it is increasingly difficult for the company to success in the competitive market. Only the company which provide better services than others can gain competitive advantage in the market and gain more customers (Gronroos, 1990). Easingwood and Storey (1993) suggested that service quality is the most important factor for the success of financial industry. Therefore, providing high quality services to customers is important for a bank to success and survival in today’s competitive market (Wang et al., 2003). 2.4.4 Measuring Service Quality As service quality directly relates with customer satisfaction, more and more company concern measuring service quality an important task. According to Baggs and Kleiner (1999:36), â€Å"The measurement of customer service is the most important variable that a company has to manage. Customer service includes the overall picture that an organisation presents to the public.† Due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to measure and control (Crosby, 1979). Gronoroos (1984) suggested that service quality should be measured by compare the customer perception and expectation of services. However, most of service quality studies have been focused on the development of instruments to measure service quality directly. Cronin Taylor (1992) argue and change this method to a comparison of performance with ideal standards, or from performance perceptions only. Their performance is mostly based on employees. Customers’ evaluation of service quality is influenced by their interactions with the employees. Recently, most researchers agree that services comprise of an outcome, which is an achievement of some end by the customer, and a process, which is the interaction customer-service provider (Blanchard Galloway 1994). Recent research suggested that to measure service quality, not only the performance of service should be measured, the process of the service delivery should be considered as well. To check the influences for service process to their perceptions; Rust and Oliver (1994) presented the three component model to indicate the influence of service process to service quality. From the figure 2.4, it clearly be seen that there are three factors deciding the perceived service quality, they are service product, service delivery and service environment. This theory support the importance of service delivery, for actual outcome quality only one of the three factors. SERVQUAL Model SERVQUAL model is the most widely used method to measure service quality both in academic research and business analysis. Parasuraman et. al (1985) formulated a service quality model which highlighted the requirements for deliver high service quality. The model identifies five gaps that may cause unsuccessful services delivery. There are five gaps in this model. Gap 1 is the gap between consumer expectation and management perception. Gap 2 is the gap between management perception and service quality specification. Gap 3 is the gap between service quality specification and service delivery. Gap 4 is the gap between service delivery and external communication. Gap 5 is the gap between perceived service and expected service. Source: Parasuraman et al. (1985:44). Based on this research, Parasuraman et. al (1985) identify ten factors which determine the services quality. These determinants were: Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Competency Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Access Understanding the customer Parasuraman et al. (1988) furthered the service delivery process and established a SERVOQUAL service quality analytical framework which includes five factors: Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy(Zeithaml et al, 1990). Tangibles. All physical elements of the provision of service by banks. It includes the building, decoration, equipment, personnel, publications, visible materials, etc. Reliability. He extent to which repeated use of the product or service satisfies customers requirements of it. It creates a level of trust by the customer in the services and products provided by banks and it directly affects customer perceptions of brand, economic strength, the levels of professionalism of staff and the quality of products. Responsiveness. The speed the company responds to the requirements of customer. Typically, this is a function of the willingness of bank staff to provide the necessary services when requested by customers. It not only embodies the attitude of a bank’s service and work efficiency, but also demonstrates the difference in quality compared with the inter-bank service. Assurance. This is the customers feeling that bank staff are fully capable of dealing with problems in the course of their work. Empathy. This is a measure of the extent to which the supplier identifies the customers problems as also being their own problems and the willingness with which they take those problems on board for resolution. Typically it would include providing customers with personalized product portfolios in line with their personal needs and aspirations. Based on these five factors, they developed a 22 items scale to measure service quality. The following table illustrates the details. ries. Carman (1990) suggested adding certain dimensions which are differentially important in different industry. Cronin and Taylor (1992) argued that SERVQUAL model was not appropriate in their study of banking and fast food industries. Another criticism i Service Quality in ICBC Service Quality in ICBC Abstract The development of computer technology and information network technology has brought massive challenges to financial services organizations. Online banking, which provides financial services to customers via Internet, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. Therefore, as the biggest commercial bank in China, it is very important for the managers of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to build a long-term customer relationship. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty. Based on the objectives, after decides the type of investigation and research approach, five pairs of hypotheses are formulated to test the relationship between variables. The results of this study indicate that there are high positive relationship between customer perceived service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. There is also a medium positive relationship between handle customer complaint and customer loyalty. According to these, the ICBC online banking must establish a long term strategy to improve the perceived service quality, satisfying their customer, handling customer complaint promptly in order to achieve more loyal customers. Declaration of Originality I declare that this thesis entitled â€Å"Examining the Service Quality, Customer satisfaction and Loyalty in Online Banking Services of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China† has been composed by myself and has not been presented or accepted in any previous application for a degree. The work, of which this is a record, has been carried out by myself unless otherwise stated and where the work is mine, it reflects personal views and values. All quotations have been distinguished by quotation marks and all sources of information have been acknowledged by means of references including those of the Internet. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview In the past twenty years, the pace of change in financial services sector has been dramatic. The development of computer technology and information network technology has introduced a new virtual economy based on the Internet. As the Internet provides new communication channels to banking industry, the number of online banking websites increased rapidly (Aladwani, 2001). Online banking, an important part of the Internet economy, plays an increasingly important role and still has tremendous potential for development. Mols (2000) indicated that the introduction and customers’ adoption of online banking will bring a massive change in the relationship between retailing banks and customers. At the same time, the global and local competition between financial institutions has become more intense. As a result, building long-term customer relationships becomes ever more important as a part of financial institutions’ strategy. How to satisfy customers and gain customer loyalty has become one of the best means of obtaining competitive advantage. Since China’s accession to the WTO, many foreign banks have begun to do business in China. They not only brought advanced management methods and business philosophy, but also made the financial market in China more competitive. As a consequence of this competition, China’s commercial banks lost a large number of high-end customers in a short period of time. Faced with the loss of customers and the future trend of the growth of profit changing from deposits and loans to intermediary business, China’s commercial banks began to recognize the importance of improving customer satisfaction and loyalty and stepped up their efforts to compete with their foreign counterparts (www.financialnews.com.cn). Due to the increasingly competitive marketing environment, enterprises must be customer oriented (Kotler, 1997). With regarding to banking industry, the service quality is considered as the most important competitive weapon (Staford, 1996). Therefore, how to improve service quality and satisfy customer become a very important marketing strategy in banking industry. Service quality has been many researchers’ interest in recent years by the impellent of Parasuraman et al. (1985). There have been many researches identified the key factors impact on the service quality of traditional banks (Jun and Cai, 2001). However, there are few studies on the customer perceived service quality of online banking services (Broderick and Vachirapornpuk, 2002). Customer loyalty even received less attention than service quality and customer satisfaction (Caruana, 2000). The concepts of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty are linked together (Caruana, 2000). As illustrated by Caruana (2000:611), â€Å"service quality as an antecedent construct and service loyalty as an outcome variable of customer satisfaction†. Therefore, it is important for banks to know the current performance of their services and understand the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. In Fecikova’s (2004:57) words: â€Å"Customer satisfaction has become an important issue for commercial and public service organisations.† The standards to judge a company’s win or lose are based on how many customers they can keep. Thus, how to satisfy customers and maintain loyal customers have become important marketing strategies of Chinese online banking industry. However, no matter how well the services are designed and delivered, mistakes will happen. The majority of customers will participate in private word-of-mouth activities regarding their consumptive activities (Day and Landon, 1977). The valence of these word-of-mouth activities may be negative, neutral, or positive. When there is a difference between customer expectation and the actual performance of products or services, the negative feelings will result in complaint behaviour. Therefore, how to handle customer complaints, restore the confidence of customers and reduce the loss of customers has also been an important task to companies in the services process. 1.2 Research Objectives There are some marketing and financial literatures on the services and customer relationship of traditional banks, but few researches are done on the services quality and customer loyalty of online banking. This study presents an analysis of the service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), focuses on the relationship between services quality and customer satisfaction and loyalty, and how handle customer complaint influence customer loyalty. This project has five objectives to achieve: The first objective is to test whether there is a difference between customer expected and perceived service quality in ICBC online banking services. Secondly, the study aims to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction in ICBC online banking services. The third objective is to examine the relationship between customer perceived service quality and customer loyalty in ICBC online banking services. The fourth objective is to examine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the online banking services of ICBC, investigate the current situation and give some evaluations. Finally, this study aims to find out how the dealing with customer complaint in ICBC customer service department influences customer loyalty of ICBC online banking. 1.3 Structure of Project This project is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is the overview and introduction of the research. In Chapter 2, the writer introduces the development and history of online banking services and its development in ICBC. After that, the writer reviews the relevant theories of service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty, and customer complaint, explains how they were measured and the relationship between them, which are mainly based on previous findings. Using these theories, Chapter 3 illustrates the research questions and methodology of this research, the structure of questionnaire was also introduced in this section. Chapter 4 explains the findings of this research, discussing the current situation of ICBC online banking services, examining the relationships between these variables and give some recommendations. In the final Chapter, the writer summarizes the research, discusses the findings and introduces a number of limitations of this study. This section also contains opinions and suggestions on developing the online banking in the future. Chapter 2 Review of the Literature 2.1 Introduction This chapter first introduces the overview of Chinese online banking services and the development of ICBC online banking. Secondly, the writer clarified what the service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer complaint have been covered in the previous study, indicates which factors would affect them and what kind of methods were used to measure them. In this part, the characteristics of online services and customer’s adoption of online banking services are also addressed. Finally, the relationships between these four concepts are reviewed. Bloemer et al. (1999) suggested that although the previous studies indicate that there are obvious relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, however, how strength the relationships are still not clear (Bloemer er al., 1999). Therefore, based on the literature review, the writer presents a research model for this study as well. 2.2 Background of Chinese Online Banking Services 2.2.1 Overview Online banking services are broadly defined as the ability to carry out bank transactions electronically, usually via the internet. It is an important part of the Internet economy. All business transactions are done via the banks’ websites (en.wikipedia.org). Online banking refers to several kinds of services through which bank customers can gain information and services such as money transfer, bill payment, short loan, investment, buy insurance and so on, via a page on Internet without leaving their homes or organizations (Sathye, 1999). There are several studies indicated that online banking services are the most profitable products to banks (Robinson, 2000). By eliminating the infrastructure costs associated with branch-based retail banking services. Online banking is able to offer instant service and lower service charges than their competitors. Online banking is the cheapest channel for banks to deliver services (Robinson, 2000; Giglio, 2002). Research shown that the cost of an average online banking transaction is only 10 percents of the cost of a similar average branch transaction (Kolodinsky et al., 2004). Through provide services online, banks can reduce their expenditure on hard ware and staff in branch (Karjaluoto et al., 2003). At the same time, online banking service delivery channel can also help banks to retain current customers who use online banking services from any location. As Internet has become such an efficient and world-wide used communication medium, it has also become a widely used retail channel (Cho, M. and Park, S., 2001). Furthermore, online banking provides banks opportunities to attract more customers from exiting Internet users (Rotchanakitumnuai and Speece, 2003). From the customers view, online banking services are convenient and can saving time compared with traditional retail banking services. Verma et al. (2004) suggested that customers are willing to pay more for online banking services to gain both offline value and online benefit. They can use online banking services when connect to Internet without the limitation of time and location. As illustrated by Bainbridge (2008), Traditional banking was impacted greatly by the commercialization of the Internet in the early 1990s. As the Internet became more generally accessible, traditional banks began to realize its potential to deliver services to their customers while reducing long-term operational costs. Upon realizing this, they began to offer limited services online. In 1995, the first pure online bank, the Security First Network bank was founded in the United States. It provided services such as direct access to account, bill payment and check viewing, which are quite common today (Christopher, 2008). In the following twenty years, online banking services have developed rapidly and have now become a significant part of the business for commercial banks. As in other countries, Chinese commercial banks are undergoing rapid change due to advances in information technology. Eight months after the first online bank founded in the United States, in June 1996, the Bank of China set up websites and started to provide Internet banking services to the community. One year later, China Merchant Bank launched the first fully online banking â€Å"All in one Net†. It became the first fully Internet bank in China (data.chinabyte.com). Subsequently, more and more Chinese domestic banks have set up online banking services to penetrate the market and gain competitive advantage (Li, 2002). In 2000, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China launched online banking business in 31 cities in China. As the nations largest commercial bank, the opening of its online banking business aroused widespread interest. In 2002, HSBC launched its online banking services in China (data.chinabyte.com). The number of costumers and the trading volume of online banking have increased rapidly. At the end of 2007, the trading volume of corporate online banking reached 245.8 trillion RMB, which increased 163.1% compared to 2006. In the total transaction volume, corporate online banking accounts for 93.6% which is 230 trillion RMB. However, the growth of Personal Online banking was even faster in recent years. The trading volume reached 15.8 trillion RMB at the end of 2007 which is almost four times of 2006’s 4.1 trillion RMB. The number of business customers reached 0.84 million and individual customers reached 65 million at the end of 2006 (iresearch.com.cn). At the same time, the range of services provided by online banking has also increased. Before 2000, some of the banks only provided information services. Now they provide services such as enquiry, investment advice, money transfers, buying and selling of securities, online payments and, in some banks, small loans, housing mortgage loans and other credit facilities. As the 21st century is a customer-oriented century, how to create and maintain customer has became an important part of marketing strategy of banking industry. As information technology advanced and communication channels diversified, customers can use a variety channels to acquire more complete information and choices, to achieve their own best interests. As illustrated by, customer’s role in consumer economy has changed from the recipient to products or services to the decision maker. Most banks also aware that customers are becoming a dominant position, however, how to use information technology and limited sources to achieve the best and most efficient service quality to satisfy customers, gain loyalty customers, ensure the source of profit, these have became the focus of the operation of Chinese banks. 2.2.2 Introduction of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China As the largest one of four big stated-owned commercial banks which dominate the financial markets in China. The ICBC is the leader in online banking services and is constantly introducing advanced online banking products and services to the public. The following figure illustrates its repaid growth in online banking. Figure 2.1 ICBC Online Banking Trading Volume We can see form the figure above, in 2000, ICBCs online banking trading volume amounted only RMB 2.03 trillion, in 2002 this number grew to RMB 8.77 trillion which is almost 4 times of 2000. In the following five years, the ICBC online banking trading volume kept a rapid growth rate. In 2005, it went beyond RMB 46 trillion, growing 23 times compared to that in 2000. By the end of 2007, ICBC online trading volume jumped to RMB 102.88 trillion, which is more than 50 times of 2000. At the same time, the customers of ICBC online banking grew rapidly. At the end of 2007, ICBC Online banking has had 980,000 business customers and 39.08 million individual customers (icbc.com.cn). As illustrated in figure 2, the individual customers of ICBC online banking kept an continued rapid growth from 0.2 million in 2000 to 48.5 million in June of 2008. Currently, ICBC online banking provides a variety of services; customers can transfer money, pay bills, buy stocks or bonds, change foreign currency and so on. It has been very successful and has won various awards in China. It is also widely recognized and respected in the international banking sector. In every year from 2003 to 2006, ICBC was granted the â€Å"Best Personal Internet Bank of China† award by Global Finance. All these have established ICBC as a leader in e-banking in China and have put it among the top financial players in the international arena (icbc.com.cn). 2.3 Introduction to Service 2.3.1 Definition of Service According to Kotler and Keller (2006:374), â€Å"services are intangible, inseparable, variable and perishable products†. Therefore, services require more quality control than products. Financial services are services directed specifically at people’s money or wealth, they are concern with organizations, individuals and their finances (Ennew and Waite, 2007). Nowadays there are a whole range of finance services, such as banking services, credit cards, insurance, foreign exchange, stock and bonds trading and so on. 2.3.2 Characteristics of Service In the earlier marketing literature, Gummesson (1987) suggested that â€Å"services are something that can be bought and sole but which you cannot drop on your foot.† Basically, services are process or experiences (Bateson, 1977; Bowen and Schneider, 1988; Parasuraman et al., 1985). We cannot own a bank account as we own a car, but we have the right to use the bank account doing various financial transactions on our behalf by banks. According to Kotler and Keller (2006), services have for distinctive characteristics which are intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. Most services are intangible (Beteson, 1977). They cannot be counted, measured and verified before sale to assure quality. Thus the company may find it difficult to understand the consumers’ evaluation of service quality (Zenthaml, 1981). Ennew and Waite (2007) suggested that services are heterogeneity because service performance different from customer to customer. The performance of services may be totally different from the customer’s perception. Those characters of services indicate that quality of services is more difficult to evaluate than products. Although these are widely used in services marketing, many researchers have different thoughts. Loverloch and Gummesson (2004) argue that this framework has weaknesses, such as intangibility which is ambiguous, they suggested that many services also involve some tangible elements and outcomes. Vargo and Lush (2004) also highlight the inability of this framework to distinguish between goods and services. 2.4 Introduction to Service Quality 2.4.1 Definition of Service Quality Marketing literature has provided many definitions of service quality. Before 1980’s, most research of quality focused on how to define and measure the quality of tangible products. As the service industry developed vigorously, more and more scholars did lots of exploration and study about service quality. However, due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to define, measure and control (Crosby, 1979). According to the American Society for Quality (Miller, C., 1993), â€Å"quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs†. Levitt (1972) suggested that services quality refers to the results of services can meet the standards set by the customers. Sasser and Olsen (1978) defined services quality from materials, equipment and personnel. This classification suggests that service quality not only including the final results, but also including the provision of services. Gronoroos (1982) firstly proposed the concept of perceived service quality, he suggested that service quality generated from the comparison between expected service quality and the experienced service quality. According to Lewis and Boom (1983), service quality is the consistency of the transfer of service and expectations of service. Customer’s perceptions of quality usually come from their comparison between expected and perceived quality. The result of this comparison is, when the perceived quality is higher than expected quality, customer will get good quality of service or satisfaction with it (Parasuraman, et. al, 1985). Six years later, they pointed out that service quality is a psychological assessment that is measured by customers according to the gap between the expectation and actual service quality (Parasuraman, et. al, 1991). However, Stewart, Hope and Muhlemann (1998) suggested that service quality should be distanced by who provide the service and how they provide it. The former is evaluated after the service, while the latter is evaluated in the process of deliver service. Sarsser et al. (1998) argued that service quality should be defined through three factors which are materials, equipment and person. They suggested service quality not only include the results, but also include the provision of services. Service level and service quality are similar, service level can be divided into expected service level and perceived service level (Sarsser et al., 1998). In recent years, the definition of service quality improved towards customer factor. Harrison (2000) described that service quality is basically concerned with meeting customer’s need and requirements and how well the service level delivered meets customer expectations. Zeithaml and Bitner (2000) argue that there are two levels of customer expectations, desired service and adequate service. The former is defined as the â€Å"wish for† level of service performance, while the latter is defined as the basic service expectations. According to Kim et al. (1998), financial institutions always provide generally undifferentiated services to customer. Therefore, service quality becomes the most important factor. 2.4.2 Dimensions of Service Quality Marketing literature provide many views of the measurement dimensions of services quality. Sasser et al. (1978) suggested that there are three different dimensions of service performance: levels of material, facilities, and personnel. Gronroos (1982) divided service quality into two types: technical quality and functional quality. The former refers to what customers are actually receiving from the service , the latter refers to the process in which the service is delivered. Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) argued that service quality has three dimensions physical quality, such as equipment; corporate quality, such as company’s image; interactive quality, which means the interaction 74bb1v8140customers. Parasuraman et al (1985) suggested there are ten dimensions of service quality, which are reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding the customer and tangibles. After further study, they improved these to five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, empathy, assurances, tangibles (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Figure 2.3 illustrates the structure of their finding. Source: Parasuraman et al., (1985,1988) Brady and Cronin (2001) presented a service quality model of three dimensions: interaction quality, physical environment quality and outcome quality. Interaction quality refers to the interaction between customer and employee in the process of service delivery. It is impacted by attitude, behavior and expertise. Physical environment refers to customer’s evaluation of physical facilities or building design. Outcome quality indicates the result of services (Brady and Cronin, 2001). 2.4.3 Importance of Service Quality With the development of world economy and the pace of globalisation, most markets have been very competitive, in order to survive, companies need to provide good quality services to satisfy and retain loyalty customers (Fecikova, 2004). According to Broderick and Vachirapornpuk (2002), not only the technology changes overtime, customer expectation and perception of online services also changes continuously. Therefore, service quality will become a very important issue to online banks. Nowadays, as the process of globalization has made the market competition in financial industry more and more intense. Customers have been considered as the most importance to service industry (MacDonald et al, 2000). At the same time, customers’ expectations of service quality are constantly increase, while their tolerance of poor services is constantly decline (Smith and Lewis, 1989). Therefore, it is increasingly difficult for the company to success in the competitive market. Only the company which provide better services than others can gain competitive advantage in the market and gain more customers (Gronroos, 1990). Easingwood and Storey (1993) suggested that service quality is the most important factor for the success of financial industry. Therefore, providing high quality services to customers is important for a bank to success and survival in today’s competitive market (Wang et al., 2003). 2.4.4 Measuring Service Quality As service quality directly relates with customer satisfaction, more and more company concern measuring service quality an important task. According to Baggs and Kleiner (1999:36), â€Å"The measurement of customer service is the most important variable that a company has to manage. Customer service includes the overall picture that an organisation presents to the public.† Due to the characteristics of intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and indivisibility, service is hard to measure and control (Crosby, 1979). Gronoroos (1984) suggested that service quality should be measured by compare the customer perception and expectation of services. However, most of service quality studies have been focused on the development of instruments to measure service quality directly. Cronin Taylor (1992) argue and change this method to a comparison of performance with ideal standards, or from performance perceptions only. Their performance is mostly based on employees. Customers’ evaluation of service quality is influenced by their interactions with the employees. Recently, most researchers agree that services comprise of an outcome, which is an achievement of some end by the customer, and a process, which is the interaction customer-service provider (Blanchard Galloway 1994). Recent research suggested that to measure service quality, not only the performance of service should be measured, the process of the service delivery should be considered as well. To check the influences for service process to their perceptions; Rust and Oliver (1994) presented the three component model to indicate the influence of service process to service quality. From the figure 2.4, it clearly be seen that there are three factors deciding the perceived service quality, they are service product, service delivery and service environment. This theory support the importance of service delivery, for actual outcome quality only one of the three factors. SERVQUAL Model SERVQUAL model is the most widely used method to measure service quality both in academic research and business analysis. Parasuraman et. al (1985) formulated a service quality model which highlighted the requirements for deliver high service quality. The model identifies five gaps that may cause unsuccessful services delivery. There are five gaps in this model. Gap 1 is the gap between consumer expectation and management perception. Gap 2 is the gap between management perception and service quality specification. Gap 3 is the gap between service quality specification and service delivery. Gap 4 is the gap between service delivery and external communication. Gap 5 is the gap between perceived service and expected service. Source: Parasuraman et al. (1985:44). Based on this research, Parasuraman et. al (1985) identify ten factors which determine the services quality. These determinants were: Tangibles Reliability Responsiveness Competency Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Access Understanding the customer Parasuraman et al. (1988) furthered the service delivery process and established a SERVOQUAL service quality analytical framework which includes five factors: Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy(Zeithaml et al, 1990). Tangibles. All physical elements of the provision of service by banks. It includes the building, decoration, equipment, personnel, publications, visible materials, etc. Reliability. He extent to which repeated use of the product or service satisfies customers requirements of it. It creates a level of trust by the customer in the services and products provided by banks and it directly affects customer perceptions of brand, economic strength, the levels of professionalism of staff and the quality of products. Responsiveness. The speed the company responds to the requirements of customer. Typically, this is a function of the willingness of bank staff to provide the necessary services when requested by customers. It not only embodies the attitude of a bank’s service and work efficiency, but also demonstrates the difference in quality compared with the inter-bank service. Assurance. This is the customers feeling that bank staff are fully capable of dealing with problems in the course of their work. Empathy. This is a measure of the extent to which the supplier identifies the customers problems as also being their own problems and the willingness with which they take those problems on board for resolution. Typically it would include providing customers with personalized product portfolios in line with their personal needs and aspirations. Based on these five factors, they developed a 22 items scale to measure service quality. The following table illustrates the details. ries. Carman (1990) suggested adding certain dimensions which are differentially important in different industry. Cronin and Taylor (1992) argued that SERVQUAL model was not appropriate in their study of banking and fast food industries. Another criticism i

Impact of eCommerce in Todays Business World Essay -- economic impact

In beginning this essay, I would like to state that E-commerce and stock trading has drastically affected the lives of many Americans and non-Americans worldwide. There are several effects from this technology and new system of buying and selling. I believe that one effect is the current shift and demand for different workers. This is important, as it will reshape the definition of work for the average American as well as workers worldwide. Second, this change of business practices will fundamentally change our views of how business is to be conducted and change consumer attitudes. Finally, I believe that a final effect of this system would be the introduction of deviance and corruption. Until recently, many business transactions were completed in the following manner using the following technologies: In person, over the phone, by e-mail. It has been just in years that people have had the ability to complete buying and selling transactions from the their workplace, home, car or even high up in the rocky mountains with just a few clicks of a button. The technology has made it very easy to accomplish what could have been a very time consuming, energy inefficient and possibly maddening experience to get business done. One very significant aspect of this efficiency has been the way stock market trading has become very popular. Traditionally, if a person was to invest their money on Wall Street, they had to call their Stock Broker and send them the money before the stocks could be purchased. As we all know the sweeping changes that take place at any particular time on the stock market can change drastically, often times changing the value of a stock from one minute to the next. Many a fortune has been lost due to stocks not being... ... the workplace. Or maybe it can result in more family time, or the pursuit of one’s hobbies and creative interests. It can save energy by not having to drive from mall to mall looking for the best prices. I can even say that I am not immune to the effects of on-line buying. By using a message post forum, I was able to locate a specific and rare car. The car was in Las Vegas. By using E-mail we were able to correspond for free. After a month of negotiation and detail clarification, the car arrived at my front door. This would not have been possible had it not been for on-line selling and buying. Works Cited Suzette Brooks and Ted Ruthizer Pg 18, USA Today, September 2014, Joshua Hyatt Pg 87, INC, October 2014, "Impact of eCommerce in Today’s Business World" Web 24 Apr. 2015. http://www.synaxiom.com/impact-of-ecommerce-in-todays-business-world/

Environmental Management Essay -- Environment, Forest Officials, Poli

The role of the State is still crucial to twenty-first century environmental policy making. The State through its various different organizations is involved in implementing policies related to the direct and active manipulation of the environment (Wilson, 1997). The State devises a set of rules governing the access and withdrawals of the resource stock (Grafton, 2000). For example, forest officials, such as the Forestry Commission in the United Kingdom directly manages and exploits state owned forests. The State’s indirect environmental management policy role is often considered the most important. The distinctive feature of the State is that it has control through coercion in a given territory. Through the perspective of environmental management policies, this is important as the State is lawfully in a -position to force non-State environmental managers in the pursuit of its own policy and environmental outlook (Wilson, 1997). State policies designed to regulate logging on p rivate and publicly owned land are enforced through legal acts and contravention of these regulations could lead to prosecution. These official policies require non-State environmental managers to alter their practices in line with rules set by the state (Wilson, 1997; UK Forestry Standard, 2011). Therefore, State environmental management policies are designed to control the environmental management practices of other groups associated with taking from and adding to the environment. The uniqueness of the State’s policy making role is that it holds great responsibility for the promotion of the common good for all within the national territory and has the authority to fulfil this. Consequently the State plays an enormous role in environmental policy making. Alt... ...nge. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity are both environmental regimes established under the auspices of the United Nations. Agreements such as these provide a criterion for positive environmental action whereas their related protocols outline specific ways to address particular features of the overall environmental problem. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol assigns emission reduction targets to States, aiming to reduce global warming. The internationalism of environmental management is predominantly constructed upon the commitment, negotiations and agreements between individual States. This new structure of environmental management reflects the growth of a global civil society and has mobilised States at the international level. Environmental Management Essay -- Environment, Forest Officials, Poli The role of the State is still crucial to twenty-first century environmental policy making. The State through its various different organizations is involved in implementing policies related to the direct and active manipulation of the environment (Wilson, 1997). The State devises a set of rules governing the access and withdrawals of the resource stock (Grafton, 2000). For example, forest officials, such as the Forestry Commission in the United Kingdom directly manages and exploits state owned forests. The State’s indirect environmental management policy role is often considered the most important. The distinctive feature of the State is that it has control through coercion in a given territory. Through the perspective of environmental management policies, this is important as the State is lawfully in a -position to force non-State environmental managers in the pursuit of its own policy and environmental outlook (Wilson, 1997). State policies designed to regulate logging on p rivate and publicly owned land are enforced through legal acts and contravention of these regulations could lead to prosecution. These official policies require non-State environmental managers to alter their practices in line with rules set by the state (Wilson, 1997; UK Forestry Standard, 2011). Therefore, State environmental management policies are designed to control the environmental management practices of other groups associated with taking from and adding to the environment. The uniqueness of the State’s policy making role is that it holds great responsibility for the promotion of the common good for all within the national territory and has the authority to fulfil this. Consequently the State plays an enormous role in environmental policy making. Alt... ...nge. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity are both environmental regimes established under the auspices of the United Nations. Agreements such as these provide a criterion for positive environmental action whereas their related protocols outline specific ways to address particular features of the overall environmental problem. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol assigns emission reduction targets to States, aiming to reduce global warming. The internationalism of environmental management is predominantly constructed upon the commitment, negotiations and agreements between individual States. This new structure of environmental management reflects the growth of a global civil society and has mobilised States at the international level.