Personal Connection to Characters free essay sample

We had food, a home, and clothes. Did poor people have homes, food to eat, and clothes on their back? Troy continued to explain how Mom and Dad were still paying for the house in Michigan as well as the one in Oakwood. â€Å"But we don’t live there anymore. Why do we still pay for it? † I asked, still very confused and becoming more concerned by the second. Troy told me he didn’t know. It took my family 18 months to sell our house in Michigan and it has impacted us financially ever since. That was a speed bump we weren’t expecting. Financial issues aren’t the only things that can be unexpected and difficult. There are emotional speed bumps too. When my family moved back to Ohio I felt like my world was collapsing in on me. I was 3 years old when we moved to Michigan, so everything that I really knew and remembered was in Michigan. We will write a custom essay sample on Personal Connection to Characters or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page My house, my friends, school, parks†¦ everything. I was seven years old when I was told that everything that I knew was going to change in less than a month. That’s a big change for someone of that age. My first few days at Smith Elementary were rough. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know my surroundings. After a year of being at Oakwood I was familiar with the school and town. But I still felt out of place. I made friends but I didn’t make any strong connections with anyone. As the years went on I moved from group to group. Once Junior High started I was lonely. I had tried the cliques, gotten in trouble because of them; and I was still alone. That year was full of nights with tears. When my brother left for college at the end of my 7th grade year I was devastated. He was my best friend. How was I suppose to last without him? Well truth be told, I didn’t. My grades began slipping; I went from being a straight A student to B’s and C’s. Along with that I began lying frequently and getting in trouble. I was lost and confused. Being 13, I was tried of being miserable and disappointing everyone around me. 8th grade year was a big improvement. And things have continued to get better and better as time goes on. Until that time though, I understood, and I still understand, the hardships of life. Even though learning all the valuable lessons I learned were difficult, I’m grateful that I experienced what I did. My past has made me who I am and allows to have a better understanding of the world. Tess had difficult life experiences as well that helped her grow as a person. Everyone must endure some hardships in order to truly understand and enjoy the joy of life.

Environmental Impact Of Shipping Essay Example

Environmental Impact Of Shipping Essay Example Environmental Impact Of Shipping Paper Environmental Impact Of Shipping Paper It was tasked with evolving the technical basis for the reduction mechanisms that may form part of a future IMO regime to control greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, and a draft of the actual reduction mechanisms themselves, for further consideration by Amos Marine Environment Protection Committee (MOPE) Ballast water Ballast water discharges by ships can have a negative impact on the marine environment. Cruise ships, large tankers, and bulk cargo carriers use a huge amount of ballast water, which is often taken on in the coastal waters in one region after ships discharge wastewater or unload cargo, and discharged at he next port of call, wherever more cargo is loaded. Ballast water discharge typically contains a variety of biological materials, including plants, animals, viruses, and bacteria. These materials often include non-native, nuisance, invasive, exotic species that can cause extensive ecological and economic damage to aquatic ecosystems along with serious human health problems. Sound pollution Noise pollution caused by shipping and other human enterprises has increased in recent history. The noise produced by ships can travel long distances, and marine species who may rely on sound for their orientation, immunization, and feeding, can be harmed by this sound pollution The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species has identified ocean noise as a potential threat to marine life. Wildlife collisions Marine mammals, such a whales and manatees, risk being struck by ships, causing injury and death. For example, if a ship is traveling at a speed of only 15 knots, there is a 79 percent chance of a collision being lethal to a whale. [9] One notable example of the impact of ship collisions is the endangered North Atlantic right whale, of which 400 or less remain. The greatest danger to the North Atlantic right whale is injury sustained from ship strikes. [9] Between 1970 and 1999, 35. 5 percent of recorded deaths Were attributed to collisions. [l O] During 1 999 to 2003, incidents of mortality and serious injury attributed to ship strikes averaged one per year. In 2004 to 2006, that number increased to 2. 6. [11] Deaths from collisions has become an extinction threat. [1 2] Atmospheric pollution Exhaust gases from ships are considered to be a significant source of air pollution, both for conventional pollutants and greenhouse gases. There is a perception that cargo transport by ship is low in air pollutants, because for equal weight and distance it is the most efficient transport method, according to shipping researcher Amy Bows-Larkin. 1 3] This is particularly true in comparison to air freight; however, because sea shipment accounts for far more annual tonnage and the distances are often large, shippings emissions are globally substantial. [1 3] A difficulty is that the year-on-year increasing amount shipping evenness gains in efficiency, such as from slow-steaming or the use of kites. The growth in tone-kilometers of sea shipment has averaged 4 perceptually since the sass. [14] and it has grown by a factor of 5 since the sass. 3] There a re now over 100,000 transport ships at sea, of which about 6,000 are large container ships. [13] General requirements for pollution prevention in the marine environment Most international regulations on marine pollution come from the 1 973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (AMORAL), which was updated in 1978. AMORAL was developed by the International Maritime Organization (l MO) and is aimed at preventing and minimizing pollution from ships both accidental and from routine operations. There have been a number Of amendments to the Convention since it was first produced, and AMORAL now has six technical annexes covering marine pollution by: oil noxious liquid substances carried in bulk harmful substances carried in packaged form sewage from ships garbage from ships air pollution from ships Prevention of marine pollution by garbage and sewage The disposal of garbage and sewage from ships is a major environmental issue, and Annexes IV and V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships were developed to address this. Within the KICK, Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage) Regulations 1 998 were developed to address this and were updated in 2008 to reflect changes add to the system internationally. You can [download MGM 385 (M+F) Guidance on the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage and Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2008(HTTPS://www. Gob. Westernmost/ publications/ MGM n -385-prevention-of-pollution-by-sewage-and-garbage-from- ships-regulations-2008) under these Regulations: every ship of 12 meters or more must display placards informing crew and passengers about disposal ARQ reorients for garbage every ship of 400 gross tones or certificated for 1 5 passengers or more must have a garbage management plan and maintain a garbage record book The Regulations also pacify that vessels covered by the regulations must have at least one of the following: a sewage treatment plant which complies with the Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulations 1 999 a sewage commutin g and disinfecting system, with facilities for temporary storage of sewage a holding tank for the retention of sewage which has sufficient capacity and has a visual indicator of the amount of its contents Air pollution and ozone-depleting substances Air pollution from ships, and in particular the emission of sulfur and nitrogen compounds (SOX and Knox) and ozone-depleting substances (ODDS) is trickily controlled by regulations that implement the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (AMORAL) and its various annexes and protocols. AMORAL Annex VI, which is specifically about air pollution, has 19 separate regulations, as well as a Code for controlling nitrogen oxide emissions.

Pancreatic Cancer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pancreatic Cancer - Research Paper Example One certainty about cancer is that it is characterized by uncontrolled cellular growth, which occurs as a result of the cells being unable to regulate the mitotic cycle, thus often resulting in tumors, or massive cancer cell bodies, in the affected areas of the body. The pancreas is an organ in the body, which is designed to help break down fats, which are ingested as food. It is also responsible for the secretion of Insulin, which is a hormone responsible for helping regulate sugar levels within the body. There has been research, which has shown that there are some genetic factors that make a person more predisposed to the development of cancer. In addition, as a person ages, the risk for developing pancreatic cancer increases. Smokers and people suffering from obesity are also at an extreme risk of developing pancreatic cancer. At first, like most cancers, the development of the cancer can go unnoticed. Some symptoms of the development and presence of pancreatic cancer can include pain in the abdomen, jaundice, nausea, changes in weight, fatigue, and a host of other symptoms. Once these symptoms have started, there are a few ways that doctors and medical practitioners use in order to identify if a person has pancreatic cancer.

Movie Report over Good Fellas for Organized Crime class Essay

Movie Report over Good Fellas for Organized Crime class - Essay Example Plot summary The protagonist, Henry Hill ignores his father’s advice and decides to lead the life of a gangster. Henry joins a gang and his life as a gangster helped him to be independent. Paul "Paulie" Cicero (leader), Jimmy "The Gent" Conway and Tommy DeVito (associate members) are the members of Henry’s gang. Air France Robbery (1967) was Henry’s first robbery in his life as a criminal. Henry’s relationship with Karen (his wife) and Janice Rossi proves to be unsuccessful. Henry’s life as a criminal includes the murder of Billy Batts. Later, Henry’s gang leader asks him to conduct a crime in Florida but almost all the members got arrested. Gradually, Henry began to ignore the leader and indulged in more serious crimes. Later, Henry was imprisoned for his involvement in drug trade. This incident deeply influenced him and he decided to change his life. But other members of Henry’s gang (Paul Cicero and Jimmy) were not ready to change a ccording to the situation. Discussion: The discussion includes theme, message, genre and portrayal of life in the film. A. Theme As pointed out, the film’s theme is interconnected with organized crime and it’s after effects. ... To be specific, Henry was able to identify that imprisonment and drug addiction were the byproducts of organized crime. This deeply influenced him and his decision to keep away from the life of a gangster was based upon this self-realization. On the other side, other members of Henry’s gang were not ready to realize their mistake and were forced to be imprisoned. This is the basic difference between Henry and the other members of his gang. B. Message The director makes use of the protagonist (Henry Hill) as a mouthpiece to communicate with the viewers and to convey his message on criminal instinct and organized crime. The director portrays Henry’s life through the perspective of an onlooker. Within this context, one can easily identify that Henry’s life is symbolic of criminal instinct and redemption in the end. In the beginning of the film, Henry’s decision to join the gang changes his life. His decision was based on his attraction towards the life of a g angster, especially a life with independence and thrill. Gradually, he came to realize that the drawbacks in his life are interconnected with his decision. For instance, he was not able to maintain his relationship with Karen (his wife) and Janice Rossi and was forced to face imprisonment for a number of times. In short, the protagonist’s life represents the director’s opinion on criminal instinct and organized crime. C. Genre One can easily identify that the film Good Fellas by Martin Scorsese represents gangster movie genre. To be specific, gangster movies portray the life of gangsters who represent the darker side of human life with criminal instinct. Besides, gangster movies provide ample importance to violence and crime. In the film, the director provides ample

Securities regulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Securities regulation - Essay Example As such, it reduces the events of unwarranted lawsuits. Additionally, the regulation is perceivably accurate, owing to its elimination of unjustifiable errors. However, there may be events of complexity in the preparation of financial statements emanating from this procedure. Besides, the principles-based regulations usually employ the commonly conventional accounting principles as their accounting foundations. Set objectives aid in the creation of accurate financial records. There is usually an example that serves as a guideline in the preparation of such financial statements. A significant merit in this principle is the fact that it may be applicable in the effortless creation of financial records in numerous accounting circumstances as opposed to its rules-based counterpart. However, its key setback may emanate from its lack of uniformed guidelines, thereby producing inconsistent information, thereby making it difficult in the comparison of dissimilar organizations. Besides, in cases of litigation, the accountants may compel themselves into unwarranted legal

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

Social Effects of Technology Essay -- essays research papers

Introduction The interaction of technology and society may be the one thing more than any other that gives society a meaning and defines us a human beings. In recent years it has become popular to point fingers of accusation at technology as if it were "autonomous" and driving us all to perdition. I take other view. No doubt the uses of technology and society interact strongly. I think it wrongheaded and very naive to think of aggressive technology affecting a passive society eroding away the things that give society value and leaving behind a rusted hulk. Admittedly there always the potential for abuse or misuse of a technology, but technology is not inherently destructive, I argue. In the following we will consider ten effects of technology. No doubt many more can be thought of. Instead of, or in addition to the list below, we might include the effect of technology on health, on other technology or on the security of the individual and the nation. I consider these and other topics as too narrow in scope or able to be covered under one or more of the other headings. I believe the following ten can be used as a systematic first step into the study of technology and society. Here is the list of effects. Following that I will discuss each briefly. Finally I will present a list of nine values regarding the interaction of technology and society to guide our analysis. Ten Effects of Technology Technology's Effect on Commerce Technology's Effect on Social Systems Technology's Effect on The Environment Technology's Effect on Individual Psychology Technology's Effect on The Rate of Change Technology's Effect on Institutions Technology's Effect on Individual Freedom Technology's Effect on Our Perception of Reality Technology's Effect on Our Mutual Dependence Technology's Greatest Effect In the following each of these are briefly discussed. Technology's Effect on Commerce The first field deals with the economic and commercial consequences of the technology in question, whether it is an existing historical technology or a burgeoning one that is just beginning to impact the society. This was not chosen without considerable thought. The impact of technology on the commercial aspect of human culture is a major one. Most technological changes begin in the economic realm. Technology is a key factor in the supporting and developing of an... ... the argument that nature was created specifically for our use. There is pleasure and value for humans in nature. Preserving diversity preserves opportunities for pleasure. Ecologistic-Scientific values Humans enjoy the systematic study of nature. Esthetic Values Symbolic Values We use technology everyday -- in common speech, in literature, in art, in fact, in many ways for communication and thought. Humanistic Values Moralistic Values Dominionistic Values Humans seem to have a need to dominate nature. Generally one tries to preserve one's dominion. Negativistic Values This is the flip side of the positive values 1-8 above. This alludes to fear and alienation people feel toward some parts of nature such a spiders and snakes. Those who hold negative values may not support preservations attempts if they conflict with these values. Education plays a role -- a very strong role -- in the values a person holds. The more education one has received, the more one will tend to stress the importance of humanistic, moralistic and scientific values, downplaying dominionistic, utilitarian, and negativistic values. Those with less education tend to see things the other way around.

Closed-Source Systems Essay

There are several differences and similarities when discussing open and closed source software or systems. Some operating systems that are currently in operating are closed source and some of them are open source. Both closed and open source software / systems have their place in the technical world. It is difficult to say which of these types is better, because it will usually be based on numerous factors. Possible factors could be cost, convenience, flexibility, maintenance, and accessibility. The comparison will always be made when discussing open and open closed source software / systems, but it will always be a person-to-person situation based on necessity. Closed Source Software / Systems Closed source software is defined as software that contains a hidden source code or a non-visible source code. It is usually developed by a single person or a company. Once a final copy of the closed source software is developed and completed, it is sold to the public. This final copy is what end-users will find available to them. According to (Grant, 2004), â€Å"Closed source software is normally copyrighted or patented and is legally protected as intellectual property. † He also mentions that legally, â€Å"A user cannot give it away, copy it, or modify it in any way unless the user has a special license or permission to do it† (Grant, 2004). There are incentives for producing closed source software. It can be sold by the developers and it is intangible. What is meant here is, the developers or company that produced it can replicate it numerous times over. In order for companies to make a profit the software is generally rushed out the door. When this happens, the software can have issues in terms of functionality, maintenance, and support. Due to these issues, the producing companies are the only ones with the authority to produce patches to fix problems. Ultimately, after a patch is made the responsibility will rely on the end user to apply it and resolve the problem. This is where a security issue is involved. Grant mentions in his article, â€Å"Users have a poor record for applying patches resulting in thousands of computers around the world being left vulnerable every time a flaw is discovered† (Grant, 2004). Cost is a major factor with open and closed source software / systems. Closed source types generally cost more and this is due to licensing, patents, copyrights, registration, and manufacturer or company name. Maintenance, updates, and support are basic complimentary features when buying a closed source type. An example of a closed source software / system is Microsoft’s Windows and Office. Open Source Software / Systems As previously mentioned, closed source software / systems have their source code â€Å"hidden† from the public. Open source software / systems have their source code â€Å"visible† to the public. The same type of developers who create closed source software can create open source software. Grant states, â€Å"The reasons for writing open source software range from those who have a passion for computing and who want to contribute to make a difference, to those who do not like having to rely on any single company to produce what is needed† (Grant, 2004). Open source software / systems and the authors who create them are legally protected by the General Public License, or GPL. Since it is published under the GPL, users can use it for free and give it to as many people as they want to as long as they do not pretend they wrote it. According to Grant, â€Å"Users can make changes to open source software as long as what was modified is availably known to the public (Grant, 2004). That is one aspect that makes open source software / systems so grand, is that users can change the source code. This continues to the next aspect, which is; updates, patches and/or fixes. Users, or the public, can apply these factors straight to the open source software which is unlike closed source types. One of the downsides to open source software / systems is there is no warranty. If the software malfunction or does not perform well the users will have no recourse. Some other factors that Grant mentions with open source software / systems are, â€Å"There is no guarantee of good documentation or support, (Grant, 2004)† which is different than closed source types. Obviously, cost will always be an issue. Open source is free! Closed source is not. On the record, open source software packages have had better security that closed source types. A couple examples of open source type software / systems are; Linux and Open Office. Summary Overall, there are no perfect software / systems in the world. Some people might say that closed source software is for novice users and open source software is more for an advanced user base. Both types have a place in the technical world and serve a purpose. Their differences in maintenance, cost, functionality, support, flexibility, and availability will only make a difference in a person to person scenario. It can also come down to convenience and personal preference. Closed source and open source software / systems might have their differences, but where one might outweigh the other they tend to maintain a certain balance.

Argue or accept - Smart Custom Writing Samples

Argue or accept - Smart Custom Writing HomosexualityIn the United States, homosexuality and consequently, same-sex marriages, has resulted in a lot of controversy and the trading of accusations and counter-accusations. Conceptually, marriage is defined as a legal and religious long-term commitment between two people of the opposite sex. This stretches further to incorporate rights in financial responsibilities and benefits as assigned to heterosexual couples. However, this traditional view is increasingly facing change and opposition. Several states such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Iowa, the District of Columbia and, New Jersey have already reflected this clamour for change and adopted legislation allowing gay marriages. In these states therefore, homosexual couples have the freedom to decide whether to marry or not in a legally acceptable manner. The gay couples can enjoy mutual couple benefits such as legal spouse representation, medical visitations, pension benefits and inheritance rights accorded to the bereaved. In a few other states such as Rhode Island, Hawaii, Maine, Colorado and Wisconsin have instituted domestic partnership laws whereby gay couples can enjoy limited rights though gay marriages are out rightly outlawed. This has however not influenced the society to radically accept gay couples and end all stigma and discrimination directed unto them. Proponents of the entrenchment of gay rights into the United States Constitution argue that barring homosexual marriages is tantamount to discrimination. The essence of the United States Constitution is to protect and preserve minorities' rights and hence gay advocates feel that the federal government or anyone else should not bar marriage to any minorities. This argument is further supported by the Interracial Marriage Act whereby marriages across races were prohibited in the United States till 1967. Therefore, it is crucial to examine the pros and cons of gay marriages and evaluate them from a basis of whether it is plausible to not only legalise them but also mount awareness campaigns to de-stigmatize them. There are various arguments that have been put forward in support of gay marriages. These range from rights in freedom in the Bill of Rights, inherent rights, societal perspectives and biological claims. First, lobbyists and advocates for gay couples feel that if they are not legalized, this will be tantamount to isolation of their rights to religious freedom. Opponents to this have expressed the fact that all major religions consider homosexual relationships as a sin. However, the First Amendment as entrenched in the American Constitution that every person’s rights and views pertaining to religion or lack thereof be it a minority group or not, must be protected. The marriage institution is a secular and societal activity in contrast to the widely acknowledged view as a solely religious perspective of people’s lives. Therefore, the government cannot base laws on a religious concept. This can be equated as entrenching the mentioning of God’s name in vain as a crim e. Secondly, benefits that accrue to a married couple such as joint property ownership and medical benefits are also accorded to gay couples if their unions are legalized. Vital societal and mutual benefits such as tax reduction, property ownership, insurance benefits and agency laws affect a couple’s decision-making. For instance, if a partner in a gay couple that has lived together for twenty years falls ill, visitation rights to the other partner are denied since they are not recognized by law as the next of kin or spouse. Therefore, critical decisions such as incapacitation are not discussed conclusively by the couple. This, as the advocates pointedly illustrate, is unfair just because these individuals do not fit a state definition. Thirdly, gay couples and various couples not only feel that this is an accepted lifestyle but also cite biological causation. Over time, the widely held conception that homosexuality is a deviant sexual behavior is fading out. History, dating back to the Greece indicates the existence of homosexual relationships and the origin of such terms such as Lesbos for lesbians. Psychological research is underway that has already achieved in showing that same-sex relationships have a biological causation. However, caution should be taken to differentiate this from a genetic causation which has no substantial basis. This is depicted by the fact that in most gay couples, one partner exhibits characteristics of the opposite sex such as softer voices in males and strong cheekbones in females. There would be absolutely no need for an individual to choose to be gay in a world that frowns upon the same. This argument therefore renders support to the implied theory that homosexuality is involuntary. Fourthly, denying gay couple the right to a legal marriage is discriminatory. America was founded on the concept of majority rule with the protection of minorities such as the anti-slavery acts and inter-racial marriages. Furthermore, it does not hurt anyone in particular or the society. A marriage is deemed as a personal commitment between two people and should not be dictated upon by society. On to the fifth argument for gay marriages, it is important to note marriages are founded on the basis of love not the mutual benefits accorded by the state on couples. This is a life-time commitment whereby the partners vow to support each other through thick and thin and forsake all others till death. It is noteworthy that legal maneuvers accorded to couples in several states have not served to quest the clamor for legalization and acceptance of marriages. This implies there is more to these marriages than just legal aspects. The sixth argument put forward is that gay marriages will entrench family values whereby couples will give up high-risk sexual behaviors. This is a two-edged approach whereby the opposite can be viewed as the erosion of family virtues. However, marriages encourage people to settle down and give up frivolous lifestyles which expose them to STDs and other risks. When married couples commit to building a life together, they depict a positive desirable behavior that should be encouraged. Finally, it is important to note that gay couples enjoy the same financial benefits and constraints encountered by heterosexual marriages. Therefore, a homosexual marriage ensures couples support each other especially in the face of the ongoing turbulent economic times. They can easily meet their bills and utilities and live the American dream if these unions are legalized. On the other hand, opponents to this legislation have come up with a myriad number of reasons as to why gay marriages should not be legalized. First and chief among these is the religious aspect. Most religions in the world today consider homosexuality a great sin. Homosexuality is not only deeply opposed by the various religions in the country but it is also deemed offensive. It is seen as limiting the freedom of religion enjoyed by the majority. The fact that the United States Constitution was founded under a religious perspective and highly borrows from the Christian Bible further serves to indicate the citizens’ opposition to homosexuality. Hence, laws prohibiting homosexuality should be upheld. Secondly, the legalization of gay marriages shall weaken the definition and perspective attached to marriage as per se. With rising cases of divorce, which are projected at 50 percent, the respect accorded to marriages has already been weakened. Gay marriages, if legalized, are expected to increase the number of non-serious marriages viewed as making fun of this serious intuition such as individuals desiring to be tax-exempt. This shall be in utter contrast to the widely felt view that marriage is a sacred institution that should be well-adhered to. Further, this is supported by the fact that only people in the opposite sex can pro-create. Most activists against homosexuality feel that it encourages adoption while ignoring pro-creation, which is viewed as a gift from God. Secondly, the full adoption of marriage into the social setup shall ideally weaken the perspective in which traditional family values are held as the most vital in society. The chief building blocks of every society is the traditional nuclear family setup of man, woman and children. This has been the reason as to why societies have managed to remain rational throughout historical events such as the world wars, the great depression and other similar challenges. Family members have always stuck up close even when friends and lovers forsake thee. Therefore, it is noteworthy that our societies are crumbling due to the increasing change in perception of families and the weakening of their structure. Introducing another perceptive view to the already weakened family view shall definitely worsen the situation. Thirdly, this would trigger a slippery slope in the scope of the legality of marriages. Contrary to the proposition by gay proponents that these marriages would hurt no-one, this would trigger the onset of a chain reaction that would ultimately lead to a radical change in the whole idea of marriage. Abhorrent traits such as incest in which closely relate family members intermarry may come up. There is therefore a need to define the institution of family and marriage firmly, otherwise, the options and variations might prove to be endless. This may sound absurd, but it is vital to note that it does not take the majority to change this but a few activist judges to change these laws by interpreting them under the doctrine of stare decisis so as to impose this on everyone just as was the case in where two judges in California declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.   Finally, the gay culture, under a psychological analysis and review, should not be encouraged. This is since it leads to psychological disorders, much lower life expectancy which is indicated at less than twenty years in comparison to the general population which can be attributed to the hassles experienced by this couples; and the highly likely transmittance of Sexually Transmitted Diseases as is the case in the studies conducted in Haiti by Centre of Disease Control. There is therefore a need to discourage unhealthy practices that are detrimental to humanity. In conclusion, it is important to note the controversy on gay marriages and homosexuality is a societal issue that must be resolved. Either the proponents and advocates of homosexuality will attain legislative and mutual recognition over time or the opponents of this change will manage to contain this whirlwind. It is therefore vital to analyze various articles that have appeared in the recent past which act as pointers as to the direction this crucial debate is taking. New York Times reporter David Dunlap notes that while the licensing marriages does not explicitly prohibit homosexual marriages at any one time, it â€Å"used terms of gender that clearly indicated that only heterosexual couples could marry.... In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a refusal to grant marriage licenses violated the state constitution. Even though the court found that the state of Hawaii’s constitution had discriminated against homosexuals, which should legalize marriage nationally, presently there have been no same-sex marriage license that have been issued anywhere in the United States .† This reflects the situation at the time. There have been wide-felt changes since then. As of 2010, various states have already passed legislation in favour of gay marriages and gone ahead to issue licences. Conversely, an Online US News columnist feels that â€Å"one state court should not dictate marriage laws for the entire nation. If gay marriages become legal in Hawaii, other states may have to recognize them, as well, because the U.S. Constitution requires each state to grant full faith and credit to the acts of other states. But, he argues, many states do not want to recognize same-sex unions, and should not be forced to do so by a few judges in Hawaii.† Hawaii has gone forth to include various legal rights which safeguard the interests of gays. Is this a pointer that homosexuality is here to stay?

History of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement

History of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement During the Asian American civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s, activists fought for the development of ethnic studies programs in universities, an end to the Vietnam War, and reparations for Japanese Americans forced into  internment camps during World War II. The movement had come to a close by the late 1980s. The Birth of Yellow Power By watching African Americans expose institutional racism and government hypocrisy, Asian Americans began to identify the ways in which they, too, had faced discrimination in the United States. â€Å"The ‘black power’ movement caused many Asian Americans to question themselves,† wrote Amy Uyematsu in â€Å"The Emergence of Yellow Power,† a 1969 essay. â€Å"‘Yellow power is just now at the stage of an articulated mood rather than a program- disillusionment and alienation from white America and independence, race pride and self-respect.† Black activism played a fundamental role in the launch of the Asian American civil rights movement, but Asians and Asian Americans influenced black radicals as well. African American activists often cited the writings of China’s communist leader  Mao Zedong. Also, a founding member of the Black Panther Party- Richard Aoki- was Japanese American. A military veteran who spent his early years in an internment camp, Aoki donated weapons to the Black Panthers and trained them in their use. Impact of Internment Like Aoki, a number of Asian American civil rights activists were Japanese American internees or the children of internees. The decision of President Franklin Roosevelt to force more than 110,000 Japanese Americans into concentration camps during World War II had a detrimental impact on the community. Forced into camps based on fears that they still maintained ties to the Japanese government, Japanese Americans strove to prove that they were authentically American by assimilating, yet  they continued to face discrimination. Speaking out about the racial bias they faced felt risky for some Japanese Americans, given their past treatment by the U.S. government. â€Å"Unlike other groups, Japanese Americans were expected to be quiet and behave and thus did not have sanctioned outlets to express the anger and indignation that accompanied their racially subordinated status,† writes Laura Pulido in Black, Brown, Yellow and Left: Radical Activism in Los Angeles. Goals of the Movement When not only blacks but also Latinos and Asian Americans from various ethnic groups began to share their experiences of oppression, indignation replaced fear about the ramifications of speaking out. Asian Americans on college campuses demanded a curriculum representative of their histories. Activists also sought to prevent gentrification from destroying Asian American neighborhoods. Explained activist Gordon Lee in a 2003  Hyphen  magazine piece called â€Å"The Forgotten Revolution,† â€Å"The more we examined our collective histories, the more we began to find a rich and complex past. And we became outraged at the depths of the economic, racial and gender exploitation that had forced our families into roles as subservient cooks, servants or coolies, garment workers and prostitutes, and which also improperly labeled us as the ‘model minority’ comprised of ‘successful’ businessmen, merchants or professionals.†Ã‚   Students' Efforts College campuses provided fertile ground for the movement. Asian Americans at the University of California, Los Angeles launched groups such as Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) and Orientals Concerned. A group of Japanese American UCLA students also formed the leftist publication Gidra in 1969. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, branches of AAPA formed at Yale and Columbia. In the Midwest, Asian student groups formed at the University of Illinois, Oberlin College, and the University of Michigan. â€Å"By 1970, there were more than 70 campus and†¦ community groups with ‘Asian American’ in their name, Lee recalled. â€Å"The term symbolized the new social and political attitudes that were sweeping through communities of color in the United States. It was also a clear break with the name ‘Oriental.’† Outside of college campuses, organizations such as I Wor Kuen and Asian Americans for Action formed on the East Coast. One of the movement’s greatest triumphs was when Asian American students and other students of color participated in strikes in 1968 and 69 at San Francisco State University and the University of California, Berkeley for the development of ethnic studies programs. Students demanded to design the programs and select the faculty who would teach the courses. Today, San Francisco State offers more than 175 courses in its College of Ethnic Studies. At Berkeley, Professor Ronald Takaki helped develop the nation’s first Ph.D. program in comparative ethnic studies. Vietnam and Pan-Asian Identity A challenge of the Asian American civil rights movement from the outset was that Asian Americans identified by ethnic group rather than as a racial group. The Vietnam War changed that. During the war, Asian Americans- Vietnamese or otherwise- faced hostility. â€Å"The injustices and racism exposed by the Vietnam War also helped cement a bond between different Asian groups living in America,† Lee said. â€Å"In the eyes of the United States military, it didn’t matter if you were Vietnamese or Chinese, Cambodian or Laotian, you were a ‘gook,’ and therefore subhuman.† The Movement Ends After the Vietnam War, many radical Asian American groups dissolved. There was no unifying cause to rally around. For Japanese Americans, though, the experience of being interned had left festering wounds. Activists organized to have the federal government apologize for its actions during World War II. In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed Proclamation 4417, in which internment was declared a â€Å"national mistake.† A dozen years later, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which distributed $20,000 in reparations to surviving internees or their heirs and included an apology from the federal government.