Infant Monkeys At The Washington National Primate Research...

Burbacher and Shen did a study with forty-one infant monkeys at the Washington National Primate Research Center’s Infant Primate Research Laboratory (Burbacher). The birth weights of each infant monkey were within the normal range; the average birth weight was 341 grams and the range was 225-420 gram. Monkeys were weighed daily throughout the study, and any clinical problems were recorded. This experiment mainly compared the natural mentality and brain distribution of infant monkeys and the inorganic mercury in infant monkeys after the thimerosal were exposure with those exposed to methylmercury (MeHg). Monkeys were injected thirmerosal at birth and 1, 2, 3 weeks of age so they could get exposed to the MeHg. Infants were divided into†¦show more content†¦These monkeys did not receive any injections. Infants were assigned to the three groups on a semi-random basis, in order to balance sex ratios and average birth weights across groups. Once monkeys exposed to the mercury or after the injection of Hg, some of the infants was sacrificed in days 2, 4, 7, or 28 in order to exam the brain of the monkeys (Burbacher). Based on our result, the brain weights at sacrifice and brain-to-body weight showed no difference. Also, no serious medical complications were observed in any of the monkeys when they were examined. In addition the weights of infant monkeys during the study showed no significant differences in the weight gain across the three groups the average weight gain during the first 23 days of life was 13 g. In concluding, this research shows that there is no link between the mercury and autism. The goal of â€Å"Neuropsychological Performance 10 Years After Immunization in Infancy With Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines† study was to investigate if thimerosal has any affect to neuropsychological development (William.). Children who were born in 1992-1993 were conducted in this study. A total of 15,601 healthy chil dren, 2-month-old infants were enrolled in the Italian Trial on Pertussis Vaccines. These children were randomly assigned into four groups, under double blind condition to receive 3 doses of 1 of 4 vaccines, 2 of which were DTaP vaccines from 2 different

William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper Essay - 672 Words

William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper, written in 1789, tells the story of what happened to many young boys during this time period. Often, boys as young as four and five were sold for the soul purpose of cleaning chimneys because of their small size. These children were exploited and lived a meager existence that was socially acceptable at the time. Blake voices the evils of this acceptance through point of view, symbolism, and his startling irony. Blake expresses his poem in first person, as a young chimney sweeper. This gives his poetic voice creditability because the subject of the poem is chimney sweepers. In addition, using first person creates a deeper sense of sympathy in the reader.†¦show more content†¦In this quote the â€Å"coffins of black; symbolize the chimneys (554). Ultimately this all symbolizes the boys’ death because of their terrible life cleaning chimneys at such a young age. In the next stanza an Angel comes â€Å"And he opened the coffins and set them all free,; which symbolizes the boys’ death and escape to heaven. All of these symbols cause feelings of sympathy in the reader, hopefully causing them to want to help these children escape their fate. Blake also uses startling irony in this poem. This irony shocks the reader into realization of how terrible life is for these small boys. Some of the verbal irony Blake uses lies in the first stanza. The poetic voice claims that â€Å"[his] father sold [him] while yet [his] tongue/ Could scarcely cry ‘ ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep!’; (554). These words have a double meaning. They can mean that the speaker was not yet over mourning for his mother, or they can mean that he was so young that he was not yet able to sound out the s sound properly. In this case, he would stand on the corner and, instead of repeating the word sweep in an attempt at getting someone to hire him, he would repeat the word â€Å"‘weep!’; (554). Another, more startling irony is that these young children hoped and lived for death because only in the after life could they become children. Blake emphasizes this with theShow MoreRelated William Blakes Chimney Swe eper Essay1976 Words   |  8 PagesWilliam Blakes Chimney Sweeper In this essay I am going to explore Blakes Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience. During this essay I will cover Blakes life and times and the way chimney sweepers get treated around that time and what Blake attempts to do about it. Blake was born on November 28 in the year 1757. His parents where strict but understanding. Blakes parents realized early in his life that Blake was gifted. HeRead MoreAn Analysis of William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper1225 Words   |  5 PagesThesis Statement: This paper will analyze Blakes Chimney Sweeper and show how it presents an image of both experience and innocence, holding the latter up as a kind of light in the dark world of the child chimney sweepers. Outline I.Introduction A.Innocence and Experience B.The Chimney Sweeper connects both II.Recollections of a lost childhood A.Mother B.Father C.Sold into urban slavery III.Little Tom A.Hair like a Lamb B.Religious imagery C.The narrator tries to comfort him IV.RealRead More William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper Essay918 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Blake’s â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† was mainly about the possibilities of both hope and faith. Although the poem’s connotation is that of a very dark and depressed nature, the religious imagery Blake uses indicates that the sweeps will have a brighter future in eternity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In lines 4 – 8 when Blake writes, â€Å"There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curled like a lamb’s back, was shaved: so I said ‘Hush, Tom! never mind it,Read MoreWilliam Blakes Chimney Sweeper Poems858 Words   |  4 Pages Chimney sweeper Essay Writers and artists are influenced by the culture of their time. They respond to the world around them through their work. In the 18th century, England was plagued by the gruesome repercussions of the industrial revolution. One such repercussion was the child labor of the time, where young boys at the ages of five and six were for forced to work in harsh conditions, either sweeping chimneys or working in factories. William Blake used his romantic style of writing to commentateRead MoreAn Unfolding of William Blakes quot; the Chimney Sweeperquot;691 Words   |  3 PagesAn Unfolding of William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper. William Blakes poem The Chimney Sweeper gives us a look into the unfortunate lives of 18th century London boys whose primary job was to clear chimneys of the soot that accumulated on its interior; boys that were named climbing boys or chimney sweepers. Blake, a professional engraver, wrote this poem (aabb rhyme), in the voice of a young boy, an uneducated chimney sweeper. This speaker is obviously a persona, a fictitious character createdRead MoreEssay on Innocence Stolen in William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper843 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout world history their have been and are many occurrences of society corruption and oppression of masses, such as the forcing of small children to sweep chimneys. Thus, William Blake’s Purpose in writing the two â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† poems was to express his outrage at society for having oppressed and stolen the innocence of powerless children in forcing them to sweep. Both poems are similar in that he uses the actions and view point of the child speaker to express his rage against societyRead More William Blakes The Chimney-Sweeper, Holy Thursday (Innocence) and London1520 Words   |  7 PagesCompare and Contrast William Blakes The Chimney-Sweeper, Holy Thursday (Innocence) and London I am going to compare and contrast three of William Blake poems, where he shows his feelings about the way people treat children: The Chimney-Sweeper, Holy Thursday (Innocence) and London. The Chimney-Sweeper is about a child who sweeps chimneys. William Blake sets this poem in the winter. The children worked in the cold. Blake says, â€Å"A little black thing among the snow,† â€Å"The little black thingRead More Childhood in Robert Frosts Birchess and William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper1301 Words   |  6 PagesFrosts Birchess and William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper Robert Frosts view of childhood is much different than that of William Blake, as expressed in their respective poems, Birches and The Chimney Sweeper. Living in the late seventeenth century, Blake saw some hard times; and as such, paints a very non-romantic picture of childhood. Frost, however, sees things differently. The result is two glaringly different poems that goes to prove how very different people are. Blakes portrayal of childhoodRead MoreIndustrialized Society in Romantic Poetry: William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper1253 Words   |  6 Pagessimultaneously. This movement as defined by one of its creators William Wordsworth was, in the preface of their collaborated work Lyrical Ballads with Samuel Coleridge, â€Å"the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.(Wordsworth 1) Although the definition matched with the psychological and literary situation of the era, a couple romantic authors existed outside of the definition. William Blake was different and defined as pre-romantic author byRead MoreSolemn Soot and Social Despair In the Transformative World of William Blakes The Chimney Sweeper and London817 Words   |  3 PagesSolemn Soot and Social Despair In the Transformative World of William Blake England was changing. The rolling green shires and inspiring scenery that was fixed in the earliest memories of the Romantic poets was quickly vanishing. There was a trade off happening. Rivets for rocks, chimney stacks for trees, locomotives for carriages and steal tracks for cobblestone. Piece by piece England’s quaint agricultural backdrop was being replaced by a stern industrial one. Progress! Some shouted. The greater

The Human Resource Management Free Essays

string(142) " government involvement in human resource practices generates a need to re-examine HRM policies and mandates the development of new policies\." This paper is written from the perspective that Human Resource Management (HRM) practices are continually evolving to meet the changes of dynamic work environments. New technologies, increasingly rapid exchanges of information, social paradigm shifts and the restructuring of family systems contribute heavily to the need to find and apply methods of HRM that meet the needs of industry, workers and consumers. To do so effectively, vision and creativity are required in addition to on-going awareness of the bottom line. We will write a custom essay sample on The Human Resource Management or any similar topic only for you Order Now At the opening of the 20th century, the majority of jobs in America were held in two areas, agriculture and industry. Population distribution tables for that time demonstrate that most of the nation inhabited rural areas rather than urban areas. This continued to be the trend up until WWII, when men left the country to fight and women left rural America to fill factory jobs as their contribution to the war effort. This movement was the beginning of nationwide workplace and societal changes that have accelerated during the last half of the 20th century. The move from rural to suburban environments changed the way we did business as a nation. Where extended families resided in and supported each other in culturally defined rural settings, nuclear families found themselves alone in homogenous neighborhoods. (1) This created a demand for goods and services that were formerly provided by extended family and community members, opening up new markets and creating jobs. It also created the need to recognize the management of workers as a separate and formal discipline. As we move into the 21st century we can trace our nations† business growth over the last 100 years. We moved from an agrarian base to an industrial one. By the mid-50s† the majority of jobs were found in factories. Manufacturing suffered heavy blows during the late 60†³s and early seventies and was displaced by the service industry. With the closing of the 20th century those services have become increasingly technological. Surviving those changes requires adaptation, not only in the retooling of physical plants and the retraining workers, but also in the way we manage those workers. Some feel that there appears to be an underlying theme in books and papers on the subject of HRM, that there is only one correct way to manage people. (2) Maslow on Management offers a much different approach, demonstrating conclusively that one size does not fit all; i.e., that different people need to be managed differently. HMR models operating on the assumption that there is a single right way to manage people are using workplace criteria that are quickly becoming a thing of the past. The â€Å"one way† model views people working for an organization as employees who work full time and are solely dependent on that organization for their livelihood and their careers. These employees generally were viewed as subordinates with limited or very narrow skill sets. (3) These images of the worker may have been valid several decades ago. However, today every one of these images has become insupportable. While the majority of people working for an organization may be classified as employees, a very large and steadily growing minority – by working for the organization – no longer work as employees, but instead as outsource contractors. The concept of subordinate positions is fading as well, even in those areas that are considered fairly low level. As technology becomes increasingly more complex special knowledge is required in all operations. Subordinates, increasing their skill sets, become associates. The secretary, with knowledge of specialized software, becomes the Administrative Assistant. In order for the organization to run smoothly, the individual who does his job well, often has more knowledge about his job than his boss. (4) For example, the vice president of marketing may know a great deal about selling, but nothing about market research, pricing, packaging, service, or sales forecasting. Workers in these positions may report to the vice president, but are often experts in their own areas. Formerly, lower technological expectations and a firmly established hierarchy allowed general managers to delegate narrowly defined personnel responsibilities to those functioning as specialists. Today however, such practices would be inefficient to the point of being considered static, and must be replaced. To fail to do so would be to ignore and fail to address the many unprecedented pressures that demand a comprehensive and more strategic view in relation to the organizations† human resources. From the view point of General Management, what does the organization need? The General Mangement picture of HRM is viewed from a global perspective, as demonstrated by a survey of Fortune 500 CEOs in 1989. The results of that survey determined that effective management of Human Resources must address corporate needs in the eight following areas: 1. Increasing international competition makes the need for greatly improved human production mandatory. The crisis experienced in both the automobile and steel industries serve as clear illustrations. Foreign management practices, particularly Japanese management models, are being used to guide developing HRM techniques, especially those that seem to increase employee commitment while providing companies with a long term source of workers with necessary competencies and skills. 2. As organizations increase in size and complexity layer upon layer of management has resulted in expensive, but not particularly effective, bureaucracies. Multiple layers of management also serve to isolate workers from the competitive environment in which organizations operate as well as company policy makers. It†s hoped that a reduction of middle management layering will put workers closer to the competitive environment, fostering commitment to the organization as well as sharpening the competitive edge. Multinational companies have additional challenges in managing human resources, and need to adapt policies to work within diverse cultures and vastly different social values. 3. Some companies may face declining markets or slower growth, handicapping the organizations† ability to offer advancement opportunities and job security. How then to attract and retrain a competent and highly skilled work force? 4. Greater government involvement in human resource practices generates a need to re-examine HRM policies and mandates the development of new policies. You read "The Human Resource Management" in category "Essay examples" For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act forced the revision of HRM policies in companies across the nation. 5. America†s workforce has become increasingly more educated making it necessary to rethink assumptions about employee capabilities and the delegation of responsibilities. Under utilization of employee talent is a major cause of workforce turnover. 6. Expectations and the values of the workforce are changing, particularly those values and expectations relative to authority. This fosters a need to reexamine how much involvement and influence workers should be given. Means of voicing employee concerns and addressing those concerns with due process need to be provided. 7. As workers become more concerned with life and career satisfaction corporations are revisiting traditional career paths and seeking more alternative career paths that take into consideration employee lifestyle needs. 8. Demographic shifts in the workforce, particularly the infusion of women and minorities into organizations, are causing corporations to reexamine all policies, practices and values that impact the treatment, responsibilities, and advancement of these groups. (5) How do universal General Management issues affect HRM departments and practices? While narrower in scope than those concerns voiced by General Management, impact areas identified by HRM professionals closely mirrored major corporate needs identified by General Managers. Human Resource professionals, in an effort to meet the needs of both worker and organization, have examined ways to ensure a desired working environment while increasing productivity. In the early 1990s, the advisory board of the Commerce Clearing House were asked to identify the issues that they felt would shape the role of human resource functions in the next decade. Commerce Clearing House advisory board members saw four main HRM areas where current issues would influence the role of the human resource function in the near future: compensation; communication and personnel practices; employment relations; and Equal Employment Opprtunity requirments. (6) Compensation issues focused on the diversity of worker needs, pay-for-performance plans, and the regulation of employee benefit plans. Flexibility and adaptability in HRM practices are primary keys in addressing worker needs. Job sharing, staggered scheduling and flex time are some of the outcomes generated by creative approaches to HRM practices. Pay-for-performance plans hold the allure of rewarding productivity while providing monetary motivation. Successful implementation of such practices, however, require effective performance evaluations. To attempt such compensation without valid, reliable, and standard assessment instruments is to court litigation. Fairness is a national concern strongly affecting human resource managers. Personnell plansfocused soley on organizational needs must be abandoned to benefit workers and organizations alike. One example is the growing social phenomena of two career couples. As the numbers increase nepotism policies must be reexamined. Managing change and preparing people for change also require HRM professionals to rethink policy. New demands for an increase in functions such as retraining evolve as workers move through change. Training and professional development are crucial in all areas of operation. Even the lowest clerk needs to stay abreast of the latest innovations brought on by technical advancement. The march of technology, however, not only changes jobs, it makes some of them redundant or obsolete. In an era of company reconfiguration it becomes apparent that layoffs and divestirtures will occur when retraining isn’t an option. Outplacement policies must be considered and developed in preparation of the need. HRM professionals also understand the need for the development of effective HR auditing instruments to measure employee perceptions of management fairness and the climate for effective communication within the company. The information obtained by employee attitude surveys can be greatly beneficial to supervisors, but only if they’ve been trained to use it. (7) The legal environment of personnell management is many fingered and quite comprehensive. In addition to regulations stemming from the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), passed in 1970, HRM is greatly affected by the broad umbrella of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) regulation. As well as protecting workers form discrimination based on race, color, or creed, EEO serves workers in many other areas. Age discrimination also falls under this umbrella. With an increasing number of age discrimination suits, organizations need to develp a sensitvity to age issues and policy specific to older employees. A recent off shoot of EEO is the American with Disablities Act (ADA). ADA has created a need for new policies and procedures in accommidating employees with handicaps and disabilities. The emerging legal view that Acquired Immune Deficiancy Syndrome (AIDS) is a handicap brings policy questions about AIDS testing to the forefront. There is great potential for conflict in providing for the needs of other employees and creates an HRM channel that must be carefully navigated. Benefit plans that are regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) require special attention. Companies must be prepared to provide resources that not only offer such plans but also impeccably manage those employee benefit plans. Failure to do so will lead to subsequent suits by employees challenging plans that are out of compliance with ERISA disclosure, reporting and fiduciary standards are problematic. Governemnt regulation is also partly responsible for shifting attention from union group representation to regulations and policies that emphasize the rights of individual employees. It is mandatory that this factor be taken into consideration in personnel planning and policy making. The role of unions as bargaining units is on the decline and will continue to diminish as bargaining relationships become increasingly stable. This translates to decreased strike activity and fewer actions filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). While that is a positive outcome the trade-off must be recognized, prepared and accounted for. While businesses will see fewer strikes, they can expect to see increasing numbers of employment-at-will and wrongful discharge suits. An additional considertion affects employers who contract temporary employees. This practice is experiencing an increasing number of suits by temporary employees alleging unlawful activity. This surely influences staffing policy decisions. It should come as no surprise that such pressures have created the need for a greater emphasis on the human aspect of business. With something so seemingly obvious the qustion is why hasn’t this human aspect been addressed before? It may be due, in part, to the tendency to educate, develop, and train managers to fixate on analytical and technical aspects while assuming that â€Å"business as usual† in dealing with employees was sufficient to promote productivity. So why are companies now hoping to find solutions to business problems in the human side of enterprise? The answer lies in part to growing societal pressures. Concern over the condition of blue-color jobs in the 1930s, as well as civil rights and equal opportunity legislation in the 1960s and 1970s, has paved the way to revamping HRM policies to recognize and respond to shifting social values. More simply put, other approaches to improve employee productivity and organizational effectiveness haven†t worked. (9) The area of single most impact on worker performance lies outside of the work environment. Family needs are the primary cause of absenteeism, tardiness, and lower productivity. (9) The here are several factors creating this phenomena. First there is the steady flow of women into the work place. In 1970, 20.2% of women worked outside the home. That figure grew to 73.8% in 1995. The increase in two career couples has assisted families in reaching financial stability and filled a need for personal satisfaction. It has also, however, created a void in care giving that was traditionally a woman†s role. Another major cause of family issues impact is the increasing number of single parent homes. Single parent homes have grown from 12% in 1970 to 49.8 % in 1995. (10) As the sole burden of child rearing is placed on a worker, childcare arrangements, school obligations, and childhood illnesses are far more likely to interfere with attendance and productivity. Another social phenomenon, which strains workers and, in turn, disrupts the workplace, is increasing longevity. As the population grows older the phenomena of living longer allows workers the luxury of postponing marriage and having children. It†s relatively common today for couples to postpone their first child until their late thirties or early forties, a time formerly used for the preparation of an empty nest. Instead of retiring to grandparenthood these later in life parents are dealing with teenagers and how to get them through college. A large percentage of the workforce now finds itself in the position of not only having children to care for, but elderly parents as well. Add to the list of family pressures the moral and financial obligation workers must contend with in providing for the wellbeing of two generations. The American worker is now faced with a double whammy in the attempt to meet family needs. When looking at the increasing longevity of the workforce, one must consider that piece of the big picture which has to do with the rate that people retire. It†s estimated that within the next twenty to thirty years the retirement age in developed countries will, by necessity, move up to seventy-nine or so. Seventy-nine, in terms of health and life expectancy, correlates with the age of sixty-five and the health and life expectancies of 1936, when the United States, the last western country to do so, adopted a national retirement plan (Social Security). (11) As America continues to gray, a significant percentage of the work force will develop unprecedented needs that are geriatric in nature, impacting worker expectations of benefit packages. The question facing business in the future is determining what that age and experience are worth in terms of monetary compensation and benefits. This is a dilemma currently being faced by the Armed Forces, with many branches finding themselves to be top heavy with senior officers. The funding resources dedicated to personnel are not distributed in a fashion that attracts and retains military members, seriously jeopardizing the productivity of military organizations. (12) This is relevant in that many private organizations as well as public and government agencies are finding themselves in the same position. Retirement Incentive bonuses have become common place and are a primary tool used by organizations to cull the workforce. Will this remain a viable means of thinning an aging workforce? In addition to family pressures, and salary and benefits needs, there is a growing concern throughout the nation†s work force concerning quality of life. While benefits and compensation are key to employee satisfaction, and therefore productivity, a strong value is placed on the emotional satisfaction one finds professionally. These emotional perks come out of all areas, and are as solid as additional training and added responsibility or as intangible as recognition, appreciation, and creativity. (13) Business must take into account the social implications of such information, as it becomes essential to address staff needs and to determine successful strategies that should surround any HRM policy. The management of human resources centers on a single basic function of the management process: staffing. The HRM professional is charged with matching the right person to the job. While recruitment is an exacting area of HRM, a more significant piece of employee productivity lies in motivation. Motivation methods are key to fashoning successful HRM models. Motivation is a deceptively simple concept but probably one of the most complex components of human resource management. Motivation is simple in terms of human behavior. People are basically motivated or driven to behave in ways that they find rewarding. So the task seems easy; just find out what they want and hold it out as a possible reward or incentive. It becomes complex when trying to find a universal incentive in a very diverse workforce. What has value to worker A may be meaningless to worker B. And what has value at one point in time may become insignificant at another. For example, everyone has a need to eat. A big steak dinner, as an incentive to succesful completion of a task, is motivation – as long as your hungry! Had you just eaten, a steak dinner would hold no interest . An additional factor in the motivation equation has to do with the reality of obtaining the reward. Telling a person that they will be promoted to sales manager if sales in that jurisdiction increase is empty if that task is percevied as virtually inpossible. Two conditions must be met for motivation to occur, according to Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation. First the value of the particular outcome (such as recieving a promotion) is very high for the person and, secondly, the person feels that there is a reasonably good chance of accomplishing the task at hand and obtaining the outcome. This is the process of motivation. (14) Theories of motivation center on a a single basic question: what do people want? Abraham Maslow states that humans have five basic categories of need; physiological, safety, social, ego, and self-actualization. These needs have been arranged in order of there importance to humans. When the basic physiological needs, food, drink, etc., are met, they no longer serve as motivation. Instead, those urges toward safety, i.e., protection and security, become the driving force. Human beings move up this needs ladder as basic needs are met. Frederick Herzberg has divided Maslow’s hierarchy into two planes, the lower meeting physiological, safety and social needs, and the higher meeting those needs surrounding ego and self actualization. Herzberg believes that the best motivation lies in satisfying those higher level needs. Based on his studies, Herzberg believes that factors that satisfy lower level needs, which he identifies as hygiene factors, are markedly different from those, reffered to as motivators, that satisfy higher level needs. Herzberg states that if hygeine factors are inadequate workers will become disgruntled, but once satisfied there is no incentive to perform. Therefore, hygiene factors are necesary for preventing dissatisfaction, but very inefficient in encouraging motivation. Job content, however is the source of motivating factors. Opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility, and more challenging jobs motivate employees. Motivating factors work because they appeal to higher level needs that are never completly satisfied. According to Herzberg, the best way to motivate employees is to build challenge and opportunities for achievement into their jobs. Herzberg reffers to this method of applying his theory as job enrichment. Basically, job enrichment consists of building motivators like opportunity for achievment into the job by making it more interesting and challenging. How to cite The Human Resource Management, Essay examples

Thick Evaluation in Decision Making †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Thick Evaluation in Decision Making. Answer: Introduction In the given case, a research report has to be prepared on the commercial banking technologies that have emerged off late and have become immensely important. The same has been discussed in the below report where is shows that the technologies have not only helped in increasing the net interest margins and other incomes of the financial institutions but also resulted in improving the profitability and productivity as a whole(Alexander, 2016). The issue to be discussed here is whether the technological improvements being taken in a positive way and how it has impacted the US and Australian financial institutions in particular. Given the topic, the discussion has also been done with respect to operating performance, inherent risks and difficulties in introducing any financial innovation, how it results in economies of scale and its impact on risks of fraud and crime(Belton, 2017). The recent technology changes have impacted not only the retail banking market but also the commercial banking, be it cash management services or working capital management. Corporates have recognised that they are losing interest due to idle cash and thus now they find the need to know the working capital and cash balance on real time basis. FIIs are investing big time in technological investments to help corporates improve the efficiency of the business(Chaudron, 2018). Banks and financial institutions are in the process of overhauling the back end activities through digitization and automation of most of the jobs. They are using data analytics to bring in new services like customer and vendor financing to help the mid and small sized businesses and help growing the revenue and profitability of the bank. Some of the major innovations that have come way in the US financial institutions are Block chain technology: This has emerged as one of the greatest innovation of the era removing the paper based trade finances. It is secured, transparent and gives the authorization to the approved intermediaries over the network. It also reduces the counter party default risk(Raghupathi Wu, 2018). Digitization of the back office: With the advent of innovative technologies, banks and financial institutions are trying to do away with the paper records and processing and making it all digitized so that the entire process can be streamlined. This is not improving productivity but helping in cost cutting(Davis, 2017). Automation: This has made the most news as banks are now trying to limit all the human interventions and manually driven processes in order to avoid scams and leverage the work by improving the speed and accuracy of the operations and transaction processing. Marketplace lender concept: In US, market place lenders are using various online platforms to connect the borrowers or corporates in need of funds with the lenders or investors of money which is enabling the transaction to be processed quickly and with limited risks. This also enables the bank to increase its revenue by the way of commission(Choy, 2018). Hybrid Cloud technology: The cloud data services have helped the banks and financial institutions to be agile and improve in terms of operational efficiency, faster processing of payments and receipts, easy retrieval of data and customer master, security, innovation, collaboration in ecosystem and finaly revenue and profit growth. Impact of the innovative technologies in Australian based financial institutions The Australian banks and financial institutions have been other parties who have witnessed multiple opportunities and risks with the growing technological advancements. The long term growth has been targeted which involves mitigating the cyber risk, practising regulatory recalibration under the umbrella of Australian laws, focusing on customer eccentricity and redefining the workforce. The impact has been directly in the form of growth in GDP and interest rates(Timothy, 2004). This has been sustainable and customers now are the only target of the banks in terms of offering excellent and speedy services. Some of the innovative technologies being used are: Online banking and Mobile banking: This has helped the end customer off late to get the funds anywhere at any time. This has also helped in reducing the risk of siphoning of funds. The Android marketplace has introduced multiple applications and digital wallets that help the customers to do online business as well(Goldmann, 2016). Data back up and disaster recovery: Due to the use of the cloud computing services, it has become easier for the bank to store millions of GBs of data securely which is creating a trust in the marketplace. The recovery of the data, the data back ups to the remote server, ect have become ever so fast and cheap since the advent of cloud services(Gerlach, et al., 2018). Lockbox and electronic based services: It is based on online collection of the data for payments for the corporates to reduce the unusual delays in clearing and is known as float. In this type of lockbox arrangement, the bank sets up lock boxes at the post offices for corporates which are situated in the remote areas. The bank staff then collects these cheques and deposits the same in the customer account on the same day and this activity is being done multiple times a day(Kuhn Morris, 2016). The information about the same is wired to the client. Treasury management software: The banks have been using the treasury management softwares which is much faster and accurate as compared to the manual means. As this is risky and very sensitive area and involves a lot of investments and funds, banks have installed a dedicated system to handle all the secure transactions. This is helped in enabling ease of business services(Linden Freeman, 2017). Installation of ERP products and keeping it up to date: The ERP systems have brought about a great deal of changes in the banking products and it helps in consolidation of the data and thereby reporting of the profitability. This financial innovation has helped the banks to derive economies of scale and reduce the cost incurred(Marques, 2018). Ethical issues and common good analysis on the technological advancements With the rising advent in the area of technology and agility is services, there also comes ethical concerns and the risks of misusing the customer data. When the clients data and ultra sensitive information is being stored on the common server and on cloud, it also enhances the risk that the same may be unutilised or may be leaked or may be used for unwarranted things. It is the responsibility of the bank to make secure the same and protect it as the cloud technology as well as the blockchain technology are something that is guided by logic and therefore, it can erupt and cause leakage of data anytime. Besides this, there are many data which are kept or stored in the common server and the same is accessible to a number of users therefore the banks needs to be extra careful whie dealing with the same. This has also given rise to the crimes and the risks of the fraud as it was seen that the debit and credit cards were hacked through other card material and lots of funds were absconded through this. Therefore, online and mobile banking, the debit and credit cards are need to be more secured and authenticated so that the security cannot be breached easily. However, there have been more positives than the quantum of risks and uncertainities being offered by the innovations in technology. It has improved the services of the bank, the ease of service for the customer, introduction of the various new banking products and services, the agility and the speed of the services with which it is being offered. The commercial, retail as well as personal banking has been boosted with all these technological advancements and thereby increased the margins and net interest income for the banks and the financial institutions. Also, it has helped the banks to increase the customer base by reaching out to the areas where there are connectivity issues. Conclusion From the above discussion and analysis on the varied technological innovations and introductions in the banking and financial sector, it can be concluded that the same has had dual effects. While it has brought about disruptive changes in the financial world with the blockchain technology and cloud computing, it has also brought about the risks of hacking and cyber security issues. The beneficiaries of all these have been the banks who have improved on the balance sheet as well as the profit and loss statement over the years by increasing the customer base and thereby net interest margin and other net income. It has resulted in economies of scale all around the banking industry and is expected to bring further changes going forward. References Alexander, F., 2016. The Changing Face of Accountability. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(4), pp. 411-431. Belton, P., 2017. Competitive Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. London: Macat International ltd. Chaudron, R., 2018. Bank's interest rate risk and profitability in a prolonged environment of low interest rates. Journal of Banking and Finance, Volume 89, pp. 94-104. Choy, Y. K., 2018. Cost-benefit Analysis, Values, Wellbeing and Ethics: An Indigenous Worldview Analysis. Ecological Economics, p. 145. Davis, P., 2017. Value Investing: Do Quant Strategies Measure Up?. Financial Analysts Journal, pp. 1-172. Gerlach, J., Mora, N. Uysal, P., 2018. Bank funding costs in a rising interest rate environment. Journal of Banking and Finance, Volume 87, pp. 164-186. Goldmann, K., 2016. Financial Liquidity and Profitability Management in Practice of Polish Business. Financial Environment and Business Development, Volume 4, pp. 103-112. Kuhn, J. Morris, B., 2016. IT internal control weaknesses and the market value of firms. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 30(6). Linden, B. Freeman, R., 2017. Profit and Other Values: Thick Evaluation in Decision Making. Business Ethics Quarterly, 27(3), pp. 353-379. Marques, R. P. F., 2018. Continuous Assurance and the Use of Technology for Business Compliance. Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, pp. 820-830. Raghupathi, W. Wu, S., 2018. The Strategic Association Between Information and Communication Technologies and Sustainability: A Country-Level Study. IGI Global, disseminator of knowledge, p. 26. Timothy, G., 2004. Managing interest rate risk in a rising rate environment. RMA Journal, Risk Management Association (RMA), November.