...Yet, despitethe size, growth,and influence consulting of firms,business historians haveremained uncharacteristically silent aboutthe origins,development, impactof management and consulting, or "management engineering" was asit known before Second the World War. In this 2 paper, will describe professional I the origins management of consulting firmsat the turnof thecentury anddiscuss why, after slow,gradualgrowththroughthe 1920s, thesefirms took off duringthe 1930s. I argue(1) that historians have wrongly assumed that management consulting arosedirectly out of Taylorism,(2) that engineers,accountants, and lawyers, often supervised merchantbankers, by provided counselthat later became the primary repertoire of management consultants, (3) thatthelegalseparation investment commercial and of and banking in 1933drovetherapidprofessionalization growth management and of consulting duringthe GreatDepression. Recent historiansof scientificmanagement, includingDaniel Nelson, StephenWaring, and JudithMerkle, have tracedthe impact of Taylorismon contemporary institutions diverse business as as education, public administration, andBritish industry longaftertheProgressive-era for "efficiency" craze ended [29, 36, 26]. The proponents scientific of management, Frederick Taylor, Henry Gantt, Morris Cooke,FrankandLillian Gilbreth,andHarrington Emerson, consulted with nearly businesses ways systematize activities theirworkers 200 on to the of through theapplication wageincentives, of time-motion...
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...government patronage and loss making. Nigeria’s banking sector was still characterized by a high degree of fragmentation and low levels of financial intermediation up until 2004. In the light of the foregoing, banks are compelled by the Central Bank of Nigeria to raise their capital base from N2 billion to 25 billion on or before 31st December, 2005. Most banks resorted to mergers and acquisition as a survival strategy, which saw a reduction in the number of banks from 89 to 25. This study contributes to the concept of bank recapitalization by critically examining the impact of bank consolidation on the performance of banks using a sample of randomly selected Nigerian banks. It is the intention of the researcher to give more validity to empirical evidence that have been obtained by previous researchers on the subject matter. Relevance of the study The earliest set of studies evaluates the effects of bank consolidation through mergers and acquisitions comparing pre- and post- merger performance by measuring performance using either accounting or productive efficiency indicators.The results from both indicators have varied and at sometimes been contradictory. This can be explained by performance-influencing variables like size, brand name, diversification and cost reduction, there is still no reconciliation between these indicators. I intend to contribute to the determinants of bank performance by evaluating the possible performance impact of bank consolidation on banks. Consolidation...
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...Systemic Risk and Regulation∗ Franklin Allen Department of Finance Wharton School University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104 allenf@wharton.upenn.edu Douglas Gale Department of Economics New York University 269 Mercer Street New York, NY 10003 douglas.gale@nyu.edu January 4, 2006 Abstract Historically, much of the banking regulation that was put in place was designed to reduce systemic risk. In many countries capital regulation in the form of the Basel agreements is currently one of the most important measures to reduce systemic risk. In recent years there has been considerable growth in the transfer of credit risk across and between sectors of the financial system. In particular there is evidence that risk has been transfered from the banking sector to the insurance sector. One argument is that this is desirable and simply reflects diversification opportunities. Another is that it represents regulatory arbitrage and the concentration of risk that may result from this could ∗ We are grateful to our discussant Charles Calomiris and other participants at the NBER Conference on "The Risks of Financial Institutions" held in Woodstock, Vermont, October 22-23, 2004, our discussant Martin Hellwig and other participants at the CFS Conference on "Risk Transfer between (Re-)Insurers, Banks, and Markets" held in Frankfurt, June 10-11, 2005, and our discussant Charles Kahn and other participants at the Bank of Portugal Conference on "Financial Fragility...
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...Bank of America: Challenges and Expecations Economic ups and downs are natural phenomena in today’s society. Specifically, American consumers want a good life financed by credit. The American way is, "live today, pay tomorrow". Over the years, America’s obsession for living above their means grew, even if their incomes didn’t, as revealed by the U.S. 2004 Census. A preferred standard of living and feeling of entitlement is what has dominated U.S. consumer spending habits over the last few decades. “This mentality worked so well in the 1960's and 1970's, when there were high-paying jobs, but failed miserably in the 21st century. Inability of the bulk of the U.S. population to change its mentality and live sensibly has resulted in expensive purchases that were not backed by economic realities. Lenders have helped fuel the public mentality by providing easy credit. Anyone who wanted to buy an expensive car or a mansion was a precious customer. To further boost profits, financiers engaged in risky business deals and did not keep enough cash reserves.” (lucidpages.com). This credit driven economy was unsustainable and became daily practice by business, banks and government which as a result has led to the financial meltdown that we are still experiencing today. Financial institutions, specifically Bank of America, engaged in predatory lending practices, poor acquisitions with Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, and faulty balance sheet management in which have all contributed to the collapse...
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...Structural Change in the U.S. Banking Industry: The Role of Information Technology Sandra D. Cooke Economics and Statistics Administration Office of Policy Development Office of Business and Industrial Analysis June 1997 ESA/OPA 97-6 Structural Change in Banking: the Role of Information Technology Structural Change in Banking: the Role of Information Technology ABSTRACT Commercial bank investment in information technology (IT) equipment has grown rapidly, from $104 million in 1960 to more than $10 billion in 1994. These investments in “hard” technologies (computer hardware, software, telecommunications equipment, etc.) have been accompanied by increases in "soft" technologies, for example, complex financial innovations that were infeasible on a large scale without IT hardware. These developments, together with deregulation, are creating new competitors, new financial markets and instruments, and a new role for commercial banks as providers of financial services. This study documents how changes in information technology have affected the role of banks in financial markets and have influenced changes in the structure and performance of the U.S. banking industry. The analysis also covers new, fast-growing financial innovations linked to IT investment e.g., asset securitization and derivatives. IT’s effect on the banking industry has been positive. Increased competition has caused banks to lose traditional customers, but IT enabled the banks to offer new products...
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...1) Throughout this class we have discussed the conduct of the major players at financial institutions and their role in leading their companies to the brink of failure, and in some cases have been successful (Bear Stearns, Lehman & AIG). With that as a starting point how important is character and ethics? What role(s) do you think boards of directors should play and did they exercise their fiduciary responsibilities to the shareholders and employees? Money is an important character in various financial institutions, but by itself is not necessarily evil. Rather, it is something that is used to trade goods and services. We call it "currency", and it allows us to do business between organizations. Unfortunately, that is the sterile dictionary-type definition but it does not capture all the issues that are involved with finances. In corporate life, just like in many other realms, money causes all sorts of problems. People make incredibly bad decisions because of money, and plenty of people have gone to prison because of their money-related behavior. This is why people always approach money with a certain amount of uneasiness. Here are a few thoughts on why financial management ethics are important. The numbers do not have a soul, so they cannot govern themselves. They must be managed by people. Ethics are important because finances make people do some strange things. The spreadsheet does not have a conscience, and the goal of working with spreadsheets is to make numbers add...
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...Rating agencies and their excessive power: Why are they so powerful? By Nadezhda Peneva American University in Bulgaria, EMBA, Cohort 13 NIP147@aubg.bg March 21, 2014 Abstract The paper is set out to find out the influence of credit rating agencies on the business and the national policies as well as to elaborate on how powerful are they for the society and why. Over 100 years rating agencies demonstrate excessive power, but is this just an assumption or it could be a strong conclusion? In the paper the role and power of the rating agencies like Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch would be defined and assessed. 1. Introduction Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) could be generally defined as „providers of opinions about the creditworthiness of companies and countries which have become very important players in financial markets due to growth in Capital Markets, Credit Derivative Markets, Globalisation of Capital Markets; and an increase in Regulatory Use of Ratings” (Ryan, 2012). Here comes the question: Why actually they have become very important players globally? CRAs are companies who assign credit ratings for the debt of public and private companies who are issuers of certain types of debt obligations and also CRAs assign credit ratings for debt instruments themselves. Usually the issuers of securities are companies, governments, NGOs and entities with special purposes or national governments...
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...Department Abstract The financial liberalization in the four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) that took place mostly in the 1980s led to a major financial crisis in three of those countries. The crises in Finland, Norway, and Sweden are among the deepest financial crises in advanced market economies since World War II. Denmark experienced some banking problems but managed to avoid a systemic crisis. This paper reviews the process of liberalization and discusses the reasons why Finland, Norway, and Sweden drifted into financial and economic crises. Keywords: financial repression, credit rationing, capital account controls, financial deregulation JEL classification numbers: E42, F36, G28 I am grateful to Tapio Korhonen for extensive assistance. Adam Gulan, Hanna Putkuri, and Juhana Hukkinen helped in specific aspects of work. Jarmo Kontulainen and Juha Tarkka provided useful comments. The views expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent those of the Bank of Finland. 1 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2190375 I Introduction The banking and economic crisis that occurred in the Nordic countries in the 1990s has ever since received wide international attention. The episode was the most serious economic and financial crisis experienced by advanced market economies in the period subsequent to WWII. 2 In particular, the nearly 15% plunge in Finland’s aggregate output in a period of two or three years was a surprising...
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...then, the tax laws have increased so vastly in number and complexity that the average person cannot understand the laws enough to prepare their own return without assistance. This may come in the form of a tax accountant or software that walks the taxpayer through various rules that may apply to them. This paper focuses on how technology has changed the tax accounting profession throughout the years, highlighting the various innovations that have had the most significant impact. First, I will focus on how technology has changed the various aspects of tax accounting from recruiting clients and communicating with them, to filing completed tax returns and interacting with the Internal Revenue Service. Following, I will describe what tax accounting is likely to look like in the future due to some of the latest technological advances. Finally, I will summarize the major changes in the tax accounting profession over the years, and how tax accounting will continue to evolve moving forward. Technologies Impact on All Aspects of Tax Accounting Client Recruitment The most important aspect of a tax accounting is attaining clients. In the early years of tax accounting, the primary method of recruiting clients was through word of mouth, soliciting friends and acquaintances, and advertising in the newspapers or over the radio. In the early 1950s, television became the main source...
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...Español | Français | Русский | USINFO > Publications An Outline of the U.S. Economy Related Item USA Economy in Brief CONTENTS Continuity and Change This volume was prepared for the U.S. Department of State by Christopher Conte, a former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, with Albert R. Karr, a former Wall Street Journal reporter. It updates several previous editions that had been issued by the U.S. Information Agency beginning in 1981. How the U.S. Economy Works The U.S. Economy: A Brief History Small Business and the Corporation Stocks, Commodities, and Markets The Role of the Government in the Economy Monetary and Fiscal Policy American Agriculture: Its Changing Significance (Posted February 2001) Labor in America: The Worker's Role Other Language Versions: Foreign Trade and Global Economic Policies Afterword: Beyond Economics Glossary Executive Editor: George Clack | Editor: Kathleen E. Hug | Art Director: Barbara Long Illustrations: Lisa Manning | Internet Editor: Barbara Long This site is produced and maintained by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein. Home | About USINFO | Site Index | Webmaster | Privacy Topics | Regions | Resource Tools | Products | | Continuity and Change How the U.S. Economy Works The U.S. Economy: A Brief History Small...
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...across nations, but in most countries it started in 1930 and lasted until the late 1930s or middle 1940s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the world's economy can decline. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by approximately 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few alternate sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as cash cropping, mining and logging suffered the most. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. In many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until after the end of World War II. Start Economic historians usually attribute the start of the Great Depression to the sudden devastating collapse of US stock market prices on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday; some dispute this conclusion, and see the stock crash as a symptom, rather than a cause, of the Great Depression. Even after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, optimism persisted for some time; John D. Rockefeller said that "These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again." The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April. This was...
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...Subprime Lending Discuss in detail the event, the people involved, and its background and impact of America. Before 1930, features of Housing loans presented significant challenges. To obtain a home loan a down payment of half the value the house was required. Further issues with these loans were large balloon payments and short maturities. The pricing for mortgage loans varied widely due to no nationwide housing market. The main funding for these loans was provided by life insurers, thrifts, and commercial banks. By 1932, a housing crisis was wreaking havoc on home loans. The estimated defaulted loans were rising to twenty –five percent. In response to this crisis, the FHL Bank System was designed to provide relief to lending institutions and homeowners. In 1933, President Roosevelt birthed two Acts regarding the housing market. The first was the Home Owners Loan Act. This act established the HOLC, which was designed to slow down the quickly rising foreclosure rate. Under this act, long-term self-amortizing fixed rate mortgages became the new norm. The second act in the New Deal was the National Housing Act. The FHA was created in this act. This protective measurement was used to help the lenders maintain foreclosed homes by adding automatic insurance payments to active loans. The FHA also expanded the use of a fixed rate long-term home loan. In 1938, the American government formed Fanny Mae to provide a secondary market for home mortgages. This secondary market gave...
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...HISTORY OF RISK MANAGEMENT 15 2.6. PROCESS OF RISK MANAGEMENT 15 2.7. Enterprise Risk Management 16 2.8. ERM&CRO 18 2.9. BANKING RISK 19 2.10. Credit risk management in UK banking sector 19 CHAPTER 3 21 3. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 21 3.1. ECONOMIC CRISIS AND BANKS OF UK 21 3.2. Minimizing the moral difficulties involved in the originate and distribute model of banking. 22 3.3. Transparency of risk in financial products is essential if regulation is to work 22 3.4. Reform Basel ii so that it is not so pro-cyclical 23 3.5. RISK MANAGEMENT AND COSTS OF BANKING CRISIS 24 3.6. Costs of Risk 25 3.7. SIGNIFICANCE OF REGULATORY STYLE 26 3.8. KEY WAYS TO MITIGATE BUSINESS RISK 27 3.9. Risk dash board every bank needs 28 3.10. ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND 29 3.11. RISK MANAGEMENT AT KENYA COMMERCIAL BANK (KCB) 29 3.12. Risk management in hotel and tourism industry in India and in the whole world 30 3.13. The management of risk in agricultural sector in the United States of America 31 3.14. THE ROLE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS IN RISK MANAGEMENT 33 4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 35 4.1. CONCLUSION 35 4.2. RECOMMENDATION 36 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This report is the main and final part of our MSc in Finance and Business Management course. To make this report I have got the guidelines from the tutors, breo, and support from friends and families. Without any support it is not easy to...
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...2012.11.1.043 Economics Crisis and Response: Case Study of Malaysia’s Responses to Asian Financial Crisis Fumitaka Furuoka, Beatrice Lim, Catherine Jikunan and Lo May Chiun The paper chooses the “Asian Financial Crisis” as a case study to examine its impact on Malaysian economy and describes how Malaysian government responded to the crisis. It also focuses on the Asian financial crisis’ impact on the employment of banking sector in Malaysia. In the finance, insurance, real estate and business service sector, a number of 6,596 workers were retrenched. Banks were forced into mergers and acquisition as well as downsizing, trim lean, organizational changes and introduction of new technologies. Excess workers were offered a “voluntary separation scheme.” These retrenched workers became the urban poor facing high cost of living and no opportunity for jobs as there is no safety net provided. 1. Introduction The economic meltdown began in Thailand in July 1997 and spread to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea. This phenomenon was later called the "contagion effect." To improve economic foundations, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea decided to ask for and received rescue packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However,...
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...Journal of Banking & Finance 25 (2001) 535±554 www.elsevier.com/locate/econbase Eciency of the Dojima rice futures market in Tokugawa-period Japan Shigeru Wakita * Faculty of Economics, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Osawa, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo, 192-0397 Japan Received 21 May 1998; accepted 20 December 1999 Abstract Co-integration analysis is applied to historical data (1760±1864) from the worldÕs ®rst well-established futures market, in rice at Dojima (in Osaka, Japan). The market shows a strong seasonal character. The summer market was strongly characterized by producersÕ hedging behavior, and may be called a ``commodity-oriented futures market''. On the other hand, the spring and autumn markets in the middle of Tokugawa era were ``®nancial'' markets, characterized by the unbiasedness hypothesis from the theory of rational expectations. Ó 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classi®cation: G13; N25 Keywords: Futures market; Market eciency; Cointegration; Osaka 1. Introduction In Tokugawa-period Japan (1603±1867), the rice trading center was Osaka, a city called the ``kitchen for the country''. It was there that clan governments (Han) across the land shipped much of the rice they collected as land tax in lieu of cash. In Dojima, the site of the rice trading activities, a rice futures market * Tel.: +81-426-77-2307; fax: +81-426-77-2304. E-mail address: wakita@bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp (S. Wakita). 0378-4266/01/$ - see front matter Ó 2001...
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