My Ideal Life Partner free essay sample

â€Å"My ideal partner will be someone who is confident, someone who believes in family values and understands the importance of family. Who has the spirit to take up challenges and overcome them†. â€Å"Understanding between each other and taking care of each other is key to Happy Marriage, My Life Partner should have is love n caring nature†. â€Å"Who is more responsible enough and who can hold me in his Loving and Caring hands. I feel where there is Trust and Understanding there will be the divine existence and happiness throughout the life.Life Partner should not be money minded†. â€Å"I am looking for a good mature life partner who will love me, care for me n understand me†. â€Å"In any relation a good friendship is essential. So partner should be my good friend also, as I will be hope for the best†. â€Å"The special someone to share my life with, Marriage is an institution wherein both the husband wife learn everyday from each other and the entire universe around them to get to a level wherein the sanctity is achieved. We will write a custom essay sample on My Ideal Life Partner or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A happy marriage is a heaven for anyone on earth.All his thoughts, beliefs and convictions transforms to success with a happily married life†. â€Å"Together we can enrich each other’s life, laugh together, and face challenges together. All in all, Lets enjoy this beautiful journey called LIFE TOGETHER†. â€Å"Looking for an understanding and caring man who will love me for what I am†. â€Å"I believe that the chemistry between two people has to work out for a smooth, strong long term relationship. I believe in respecting everyones individuality†, â€Å"I think marriage is a beautiful journey which re-quires Compromises and understanding between partners†. I want a friend who understands me, a friendly soul who can add a meaning to my life and to whom I can say -You make My Life simple†. â€Å"I am looking for a partner who will be a friend, willing to stand by me at every stage of my life.It is two lives so entwined into one that when people speak your name. .. theirs follows It is having someone you love to laugh with, cry with, and grow old with.. . It is a life built together with precious memories It is waking up beside your love and wondering what memories you’ll make together today It is accepting each other just the way you are It is two people who have goals set to achieve together never having to face life alone. .. a loving hand to hold, a smile ; tears to share and a life to truly enjoy living. †

Organize Your Digital Genealogy Photos Files

Organize Your Digital Genealogy Photos Files If you use a computer in your genealogy research- and who doesnt!- then you likely have a large collection of digital research files. Digital photos, downloaded census records or wills, scanned documents, emails... If youre like me, however, they end up scattered in various folders throughout your computer, despite your best efforts. This can really complicate matters when you need to locate a specific photo or track down an email. As with any organization project, there are several different ways to organize your digital genealogy files. Begin by thinking about the way you work and the types of files that you collect in the course of your genealogy research. Sort Your Files Digital genealogy files are easier to organize if you first get them sorted by type. Spend some time searching your computer files for anything related to genealogy. Look in your My Documents (or Documents) folder and sub-folders for text files, photos, downloaded files, and other genealogy documents. Use your file explorer (e.g. Windows Explorer, Finder) to search for documents using keywords such as surnames, record types, etc. A number of free file search tools are also available that offer additional search features. Check My Pictures, or other folder where you store your photos, for any digital or scanned photos or documents. You can also search using common image file extensions such as .jpg, .png or .tiff. Open your genealogy software program to learn where it stores its related files. They may be in the same folder as your genealogy software program (often under Program Files). This may include your genealogy software file, as well as any reports youve created or photos or documents youve imported into your software program. If you have downloaded any files, they may be in a Downloads, or similarly named folder.Open your email program and do a search for genealogy-related emails as well. These are often easier to organize if you copy and paste them into a word processing document or your genealogy software. Once youve located your digital genealogy files you have a number of choices. You can choose to leave them in their original locations and create an organization log to keep track of the files, or you can copy or move them into a more central location.   Log Your Digital Genealogy Files If you prefer to leave your files in their original locations on your computer, or if you are just the super-organized type, then a log may be the way to go. This is an easy method to maintain because you dont really have to worry about where things end up on your computer - you just make a note of it. A digital file log helps simplify the process of locating a particular photograph, digitized document, or other genealogy file. Use the table feature in your word processing program or a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel to create a log for your genealogy files. Include columns for the following: file name (including its extension) and datelocation on your computera brief description of the filenames of the primary individual(s) or geographical area(s) in the filephysical location of the original document or photo (if applicable). If you backup your digital files to DVD, USB drive, or other digital media, then include the name/number of and physical location of that media in the file location column.   Reorganize the Files on Your Computer If a file log is too hard for you to keep up, or doesnt meet all of your needs, then another method of keeping track of your digital genealogy files is to physically reorganize them on your computer. If you dont already have one, create a folder called Genealogy or Family Research to contain all of your genealogy files. I have mine as a sub-folder in my Documents folder (also backed up to my Dropbox account). Under the Genealogy folder, you can create sub-folders for places and surnames you are researching. If you use a particular physical filing system, you may want to follow the same organization on your computer. If you have a large number of files under a particular folder, then you may choose to create another level of sub-folders organized by date or document type. For example, I have a folder for my OWENS research. Within this folder I have a subfolder for photos and subfolders for each county in which Im researching this family. Within the county folders, I have subfolders fo r record types, as well as a main Research folder where I maintain my research notes. The Genealogy folder on your computer is also a good place to keep a backup copy of your genealogy software, although you should also keep an additional backup copy offline. By keeping your genealogy files in one central location on your computer, you make it easier to locate important research quickly. It also simplifies backup of your genealogy files.   Use Software Designed for Organization An alternative to the do-it-yourself method is to use a program designed for organizing computer files. Clooz  An organization program designed specifically for genealogists,  Clooz  is billed as an electronic filing cabinet. The software includes templates for entering information from a variety of standard genealogical documents such as census records, as well as photos, correspondence, and other genealogical records. You can import and attach a digital copy of the original photo or document to each template if you wish. Reports can be generated to show all documents contained in Clooz for a specific individual or record type. Photo Album Software  If your digital photos are scattered across your computer and on a collection of DVDs or external drives, a  digital photo organizer such as Adobe Photoshop Elements or Google Photos  can come to the rescue. These programs scan your hard drive and catalog every photo found there. Some also have the ability to catalog photos found on other networked computers or external drives. The organization of these images varies from program to program, but most organize the photos by date. A keyword feature allows you to add tags to your photos such as a specific surname, location, or keyword to make them easy to find at any time. My tombstone photos, for example, are tagged with the word cemetery, plus the name of the particular cemetery, the location of the cemetery and the surname of the individual. This gives me four different ways to easily find the same picture. One last method of organization for digital files is to import them all into your genealogy software program. Photos and digitized documents can be added to many family tree programs through a scrapbook feature. Some can even be attached as sources. Emails and text files can be copied and pasted into the notes field for the individuals to which they pertain. This system is nice if you have a small family tree, but can get a bit cumbersome if you have a large number of documents and photos which apply to more than one person. No matter what organization system you choose for your computer genealogy files, the trick is to use it consistently. Pick a system and stick to it and youll never have trouble finding a document again.  One last perk to digital genealogy - it helps eliminate some of the paper clutter!

Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan

Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan One of the greatest explorers of the Age of Discovery, Ferdinand Magellan is best known for leading the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. However, he personally did not complete the route and perished in the South Pacific. A determined man, he overcame personal obstacles, mutinies, uncharted seas, biting hunger, and malnutrition during the course of his voyage. Today, his name is synonymous with discovery and exploration. Early Years and Education Ferno Magalhes (Ferdinand Magellan is an anglicized version of his name) was born in approximately 1480 in the small Portuguese town of Villa de Sabroza. As the son of the mayor, he led a privileged childhood, and at an early age, he went to the royal court in Lisbon to serve as page to the Queen. He was very well educated, studying with some of the finest tutors in Portugal, and from an early age showed an interest in navigation and exploration. The De Almeida Expedition As a well-educated and well-connected young man, it was easy for Magellan to sign on with many of the different expeditions departing from Spain and Portugal at the time. In 1505, he accompanied Francisco De Almeida, who had been named Viceroy of India. De Almeida had a fleet of 20 heavily-armed ships, and they sacked settlements and established towns and forts in north-eastern Africa along the way. Magellan fell out of favor with De Almeida around 1510 when he was accused of illegally trading with Islamic locals. He returned to Portugal in disgrace and offers for him to join new expeditions dried up. From Portugal to Spain Magellan was convinced that a new route to the lucrative Spice Islands could be found by going through the New World. He presented his plan to the King of Portugal, Manuel I. He was rejected, possibly because of his past problems with De Almeida. Determined to get funding for his trip, Magellan went to Spain. Here, he was granted an audience with Charles V, who agreed to finance his journey. By August of 1519, Magellan had five ships: the Trinidad (his flagship), Victoria, San Antonio, Concepcià ³n, and the Santiago. His crew of 270 men was mostly Spanish. Departure, Mutiny, and the Wreck Magellan’s fleet left Seville on August 10, 1519. After stopovers in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, they headed for Portuguese Brazil. Here, they anchored near present-day Rio de Janeiro in January of 1520 to take on supplies, trading with locals for food and water. It was at this time that serious troubles began: the Santiago was wrecked and the survivors had to be picked up. The captains of the other ships attempted to mutiny. At one point, Magellan was forced to open fire on the San Antonio. He reasserted command and executed or marooned most of those responsible, pardoning the others. The Strait of Magellan The four remaining ships headed south, searching for passage around South America. Between October and November 1520, they navigated through the islands and waterways on the continent’s southern tip. The passage they found was named the Strait of Magellan. They discovered Tierra del Fuego as the sailed. On November 28, 1520, they found a tranquil-looking body of water. Magellan named it the Mar Pacà ­fico, or the Pacific Ocean. During the exploration of the islands, the San Antonio deserted. The ship returned to Spain and took too much of the remaining provisions with it, forcing the men to hunt and fish for food. Across the Pacific Convinced the Spice Islands were only a short sail away, Magellan led his ships across the Pacific, discovering the Marianas Islands and Guam. Although Magellan named them the Islas de las Velas Latinas (Islands of the Triangular Sails), the name Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of Thieves) stuck because locals made off with one of the landing boats after giving Magellan’s men some supplies. Pressing on, they landed on Homonhon Island in the Philippines. Magellan found he could communicate with the people, as one of his men spoke Malay. He had reached the Eastern edge of the world known to Europeans. Death Homonhon was uninhabited, but Magellan’s ships were seen and contacted by some locals who led them to Cebu, home of Chief Humabon, who befriended Magellan. Humabon and his wife even converted to Christianity along with many of the locals. They then convinced Magellan to attack Lapu-Lapu, a rival chieftain on nearby Mactan Island. On April 17, 1521, Magellan and some of his men attacked a much larger force of islanders, trusting their armor and advanced weapons to win the day. The attack was fought off, however, and Magellan was among those killed. Efforts to ransom his body failed. It was never recovered. Return to Spain Leaderless and short on men, the remaining sailors decided to burn the Concepcià ³n and return to Spain. The two ships managed to find the Spice Islands and loaded up the holds with valuable cinnamon and cloves. As they crossed the Indian Ocean, however, the Trinidad began to leak. It eventually sank, although some of the men made it to India and from there back to Spain. The Victoria kept going, losing several men to starvation. It arrived in Spain on September 6, 1522, more than three years after it had left. There were only 18 sickly men crewing the ship, a fraction of the 270 who had set out. Ferdinand Magellan Legacy Magellan is credited with being the first to circumnavigate the world in spite of two somewhat glaring details: first, he died halfway through the journey and second, he never intended to travel in a circle. He simply wanted to find a new route to the Spice Islands. Some historians have said that Juan Sebastin Elcano, who captained the Victoria back from the Philippines, is a worthier candidate for the title of first to circumnavigate the globe. Elcano had begun the voyage as master on board the Concepcià ³n. There are two written records of the journey. The first was a journal kept by an Italian passenger who paid to go on the trip, Antonio Pigafetta. The second was a series of interviews with the survivors made by Maximilianus of Transylvania upon their return. Both documents reveal a fascinating voyage of discovery. The Magellan expedition was responsible for several major discoveries. In addition to the Pacific Ocean and numerous islands, waterways and other geographic information, the expedition also sighted a great many new animals, including penguins and guanacos. The discrepancies between the log book and the date when they returned to Spain led directly to the concept of the International Date Line. Their measurements of distances traveled helped contemporary scientists determine the size of the earth. They were the first to sight certain galaxies visible in the night sky, now aptly known as the Magellanic Clouds. Although the Pacific had been first discovered in 1513 by Vasco Nuà ±ez de Balboa, it is Magellans name for it that stuck. Balboa called it the South Sea. Immediately upon the return of the Victoria, European sailing ships began trying to duplicate the voyage, including an expedition led by surviving captain Elcano. It wasn’t until Sir Francis Drake’s 1577 voyage, however, that anyone managed to do it again. Still, the knowledge gained from Magellans voyage immensely advanced the science of navigation at the time. Today, Magellan’s name is synonymous with discovery and exploration. Telescopes and spacecraft bear his name, as does a region in Chile. Perhaps because of his untimely demise, his name does not have the negative baggage associated with it like fellow explorer Christopher Columbus, blamed by many for subsequent atrocities in the lands he discovered. Source: Thomas, Hugh. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. Paperback, Random House Trade Paperback, May 31, 2005.

Violence Against Women especially on Dowry Murder and Honor Essay

Violence Against Women especially on Dowry Murder and Honor Killings.The Agents That Control Women's Reproductive Choice and health, especially on Government and the Global Economy - Essay Example In chapter 2, when discussing violence against women, Burn discusses two key points as the very underpinnings of dowry murder and honor killings. Particularly, Burn is categorical that dowry murder has its underpinning in male’s greater economic power. To Burn, men are more economically endowed than women, so most societies have socioeconomic systems that are patriarchal in nature. Thus, the tradition of paying dowry is one of the starkest manifestations of male economic domination. Upon entering marriage, a couple does not start from a point of equality, since dowry has been paid. Thus, Burn sees the dowry as a subtle signifying of ownership of the man over the woman. This becomes a breeding ground for domestic violence and murder. The other factor that underpins honor killings is men’s greater political power. This inordinate concentration of power in the hands of men makes men control institutions and use the same institutions to oppress women who go against the grain. In highly patriarchal and undemocratic societies, men control the instruments of coercion to subject women to honor killings. In chapter 3, Burn contends that the government holds a large sway on women’s reproductive choices through legislation. For instance, many states have legislations that proscribe abortion, while there are others which provide very meager funding for women’s reproductive health. Secondly, Burn states that the global economy undercuts women’s reproductive choices when policies touching on demography and reproduction are mooted and implemented without the consideration of women, who are the child bearers. There are several shreds of evidences that Burn uses to underscore her point. For instance, she uses statistical provisions to show how the government can derail the exertion of women’s free will in reproductive matters. For instance, Burn quotes the UN statistics which show that in 2003, there were 35

Different throught processes during World war 2 and vietnam a contrast Essay

Different throught processes during World war 2 and vietnam a contrast in thinking - Essay Example The speed at which life changed and the number of social issues that were in conflict made the world a very different place, thus supporting a citizenry that was in conflict with its government, a nation that was in a social civil war trying to change what would lead toward a more enlightened society. The 1940’s was a time that marked the beginning of world in which the oppressed would stand tall and the domination of the white male social group would come into challenge. However, this was not seen from inside this time, only from the retrospective point of view that represents the changes that took place during this time. The social control of the world before this time resided deeply within the group defined by white Western males who dominated in the economic and social spheres from which the world was primarily defined. However, this group had taken some damage during the press of the economic pressures during the 1930’s that had whittled away both pride and resources. As World War II took those same men far from the shores of the United States, a new world would blossom during their absence. During World War II, the support for the war extended into most aspects of life within the United States. The first sacrifice was made by the men who enlisted in droves to support the end of tyranny within the world by participating in the military efforts. However, there was a great deal of sacrifice made on the home front because of the participation of men and the use of resources that might not have been required without the existence of the war. The entry into World War II came on the heels of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which incited the passions of the citizens towards revenge and preservation of the way of life that was the American culture. According to Hormats, â€Å"On the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed his confidence that the

The power of tweens Essay Example for Free

The power of tweens Essay Like no other time in history, the purchasing power of children ages nine to fourteen has increased to become a force to be reckoned with.   With celebrity tweens like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen paving the way into the massive tween audience, today it is the likes of Miley Cyrus who is well on her way to becoming a billionaire off the incredible spending power of the tween population.   While music and movie stars benefit largely from the new purchasing power of tweens, many other industries benefit as well, including the electronics industry, the clothing industry, and the food industry. As tweens spend their allowance money, as well as their parents’ money on items often marketed directly to them, there also remains differences in the purchases of male and female tweens that influences not only how companies market their products, but how tweens spend their money.   And, while tweens’ spending power continues to increase at a rate previously unseen in society, they still lack the spending freedom afforded to their older teenage counterparts as well as adults. To truly take advantage of the tween market, it is necessary to create a credit card designed especially for tweens that will allow them to purchase as they like, while simultaneously being overseen by their parents.   Through this creation, tweens could learn how to become more experienced in spending money, and parents could be more involved in the consumer life of their children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The power of tweens in the marketplace can no longer be ignored by industries, who are now making a greater effort than ever to reach the profitable demographic.   In just a decade, the influence of tweens on marketing has become significant, as not only do they possess purchasing power of their own, but they also influence the purchasing decisions of their parents.   Between the years of 1990 and 2000, industry spending on advertising to tweens exploded during the decade, increasing from a mere $100 million to more than $2 billion (â€Å"How Marketers Target Kids†).   This huge increase in spending on advertising to tweens speaks better than anything else in showing how powerful a market they have become.    In the essay, â€Å"The Selling of Rebellion† it is demonstrated how the marketing world has attempted to sell the ideas of breaking loose of boundaries through consumerism to young tweens.   â€Å"Breaking the rules† has become desirable, after decades of advertisers suggesting those that break the rules transcend the boundaries of the common world.   This tactic is especially useful on young consumers like tweens.   In his essay, John Leo points out how Madison Avenue targets the youthful desire for freedom and individuality, and coopts its rhetoric for purposes that are uniquely conformist (Leo).   This marketing strategy manages to sell the illusion of freedom, while encouraging â€Å"transgression† on the part of tween consumers.    To Leo, transgression allows tweens to break the boundaries while staying within the greater circle of conformity, to rebel and while conforming.   To a tween, both of these concepts are extremely important and have led to significant spending in recent years on products that appeal to both needs.   The total income that tweens had to spend in 2003 was reported to be upwards of $42.3 billion dollars, with marketing analysts predicting increases of around 2 percent a year in both the United States and Europe (â€Å"Tween Teen Trends†).    While the total income tweens spend on items reflects some of their purchasing power, the true extent of their purchases is far greater and tween spending worldwide is higher than ever at an estimated $170 billion (â€Å"Tweens Empowered and with Money to Burn†).   With such obvious purchasing power, the massive tween market has become a priority of advertisers that spend increasing amounts of money to reach them, often with very profitable results. The unique age of tweens has many of them considering themselves no longer children, and advertisers capitalize on this fact.   Industry analysts have found that children eleven and older no longer consider themselves children, and the Toy Manufacturers of America have changed their target market from birth to fourteen years old to birth to ten years old (â€Å"The ‘Tween Market’†).   This shows that tweens’ tastes have grown more sophisticated in just a few decades, due in no small part to the efforts of advertisers and market research groups.    A 2000 report from the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. revealed how Hollywood routinely recruits tweens to evaluate its story concepts, commercials, theatrical trailers and rough cuts for R-rated movies, which has gone a long way in instilling a sense of adulthood in the young children, and helping to instill a greater sense of independence and separation from their parents, especially in the way they spend their money (â€Å"The ‘Tween’ Market†). While many adults and parents question the motives of industries that target their children, as well as the methods used, it has become an irremovable fact of society that tweens are being treated more as adults than children, especially when it comes to taking full advantage of their purchasing power.   However, despite the fact that their purchasing power is treated with the same level of respect as adults, the products that tweens continue to purchase reflect their young age.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of the most popular products that tweens spend their money on continue to be the same things children have always spent money on.   It is estimated that spending on food accounts for roughly 17.0% of tweens’ disposable income in 2008, which includes things like candy, fast food, and soft drinks; in the U.S. alone there will be a reported 1.1 billion extra tween snacking occasions in 2008 relative to 2003, which means tweens will be spending more money than ever on candy and junk food (â€Å"Tween Teen Trends†).    Even though tween spending has grown more sophisticated in recent years, the overwhelming total of tween pocket money goes to confectionery goods and snacks, with an estimated $18.2 billion in tween money spent on confectionery in 2004, with a further $8.9 billion and $5 billion spent on soft drinks and sweet or savory snacks (â€Å"Tweens Empowered and with Money to Burn†).   These numbers reflect the common purchases of both male and female tweens, both of which spend indiscriminately on candies and sodas often marketed straight to them.   However, there have been more efforts made in recent years to target to the specific genders of tweens, and the purchases they make have reflected specific preferences by each group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Females have long been known to mature faster than males, and the tween age is a representation of this.   Female tweens spend far more money on certain items that are not necessarily toys or candies, but rather things that help reflect their move into adulthood.   Fashion and cosmetics are extremely important to tween girls, and according to recent research of a three-month period in 2003, 90 percent of tweens and parents of tweens reported spending money on clothing items, averaging roughly $100 per purchase in most cases; shoes and sneakers also ranked considerably high on the list, reflecting the importance tweens place on fashion and staying trendy (Clack). Even more so than their male counterparts, female tweens use their purchasing power to develop their unique sense of identity and attempt to cultivate an older self-image.   This is reflected in the advertising by the fashion industry geared towards tweens, which often uses provocative marketing campaigns that feature very young models and sell a very adult concept of sexuality to the young tweens (â€Å"The ‘Tween Market’†).   With role models like Britney Spears and the Miley Cyrus, the adult sexuality portrayed by such stars also goes a long way in influencing tween girls to emulate such behavior. This has led to makeup becoming another major growth area in the tween girl market, though instead of the expensive adult cosmetics, tween girls prefer to purchase products such as shimmer, eye shadow, and lip gloss (Clack).   The emphasis on fashion is not to say that tween girls do not make some similar purchases to boys, as both genders spend a great deal of money on entertainment such as CDs and movies, but when it comes to technology, tween boys far outpace the girls in their spending habits. While cellphones, PDAs, and Ipods have become standard purchases of both tween boys and girls, one of the most significant burgeoning markets in the past decade has been the videogame market.   Due largely to the male tween population, the video game industry became the most profitable entertainment industry in the United States, outpacing both music and movies.   U.S. annual shipments more than doubled from 69 million in 1996 to 159 million in 1998, and during this time, U.S. sales increased from 3.6 billion dollars to 6.2 billion dollars; in 1996 video games represented 2% of toy shipments and 15% of sales dollars, and by 1998 it grew to 4% of toy shipments and 22% of sales dollars. Today, total video game sales grew 43 percent in 2007, up from $12.53 billion in 2006, and in December, historically the industrys strongest month, Americans spent $4.82 billion on video games, up 28 percent from a year earlier and up 83 percent from $2.63 billion in November, helped by the success of handheld units like Nintendo DS and the latest generation of home consoles (Ortutay). The tween demand for sophisticated toys, as well as the constant introduction of new games consoles, has been good news for the video games industry, as research shows that tweens spent $4.3 billion on video games, which accounted for over 13% of total videogames sales, where tweens’ spending on traditional toys and games dwindled to only 6% of total sales (â€Å"Tweens: Empowered with Money to Burn†).   The popularity of video games and the purchasing power of tweens have combined to create a situation in which male tweens spend far more money on technological items than ever before, especially in the form of videogames. Despite the hefty price tags, new video game systems bring tweens and adults alike together in front of the television to partake in the videogame fun, proving that videogames remain an aspect of popular culture that brings all ages together like few others can.   The shared interest and purchases that tweens have with adults, often their own parents, seems to suggest that a greater effort should be made to educate and control their purchasing power. Credit cards are used more than ever, and their popularity is reflected in the massive credit card debt that has been racked up in the United States over the past few decades.   It is estimated that at the end of 2002, Americans carried over $750.9 billion in outstanding credit card debt (Weston).   While some consumers are successfully managing to pay off their debt, many are in trouble and forced to make changes in their spending.   For tweens, having a highly regulated credit card could possibly lead to preventing many of the credit pitfalls experienced by the older consumers.   By introducing a credit card aimed directly at tweens and controlled by their parents, tweens would be able to continue their purchasing habits while under the guidance of their parents. While the common tween may feel this to be restricting their newfound purchasing power, as it is, few tweens have their own source of income to begin with and get the majority of their money from their parents.   It only makes sense that this also reflects in the fact that the vast majority of tween purchases, around 72 percent, are made with decisions made jointly by both the parent and the tween; a smaller margin of purchases, around 19 percent, are made solely by the parent on behalf of the tween, while only 8 percent of tween purchases are made by the tween alone (Clack).   By presenting tweens with a credit card that was controlled by the parents, they could be made more independent and make more purchases on their own. This way, tweens would be given the benefits of having to learn the value of money and parents could better regulate and discover what their children are purchasing from the invoices.   They could even place limits on their child’s spending on the card, which would prevent the tweens from making any costly spending mistakes.   Instead of relying on a profit-motivated bank that makes money on interest rates and penalty fees, tweens could instead rely on their parents to help educate them to such things, proving a considerably more cost effective means of learning the system of credit cards rather than the way that many adults often do, which is to fall into a massive hole of debt. The new purchasing power of the tween market cannot be denied, but it is in the best interests of their parents to make sure it can be controlled.   The fact that the majority of tween purchases are made jointly by tweens and their parents, a tween credit card regulated by their parents could be an ideal way of ensuring that their children avoid spending too much money on things they do not really need, and also avoid falling into the trap of overwhelming credit card debt.   A tween credit card could teach them the value of money at an early age, as well as make them feel more independent and grownup.    Feeling more independent and grownup is very important to tweens, and if parents fail to do the job, hungry marketers are more than happy to do it for them, gearing complex marketing campaigns towards tweens with disposable income.   If anything, a credit card designed for tweens and controlled by their parents will allow them to each take the power back from marketers that target the tweens youthful ignorance and the parents’ ignorance to their children’s purchases.   In the end, the purchasing power of tweens may be a global phenomenon, but they are still children and the responsibility for their actions should continue to remain with their parents, which a tween credit card could most assuredly do. Works Cited: Clack, Erin E. â€Å"What a Tween Wants Now: Market Research Experts Reveal Whats New With This Important Demographic.† Reach Advisors. 1 Apr 2004. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.reachadvisors.com/childrensbusinessarticle2.html. â€Å"How Marketers Target Kids.† Media Awareness Network. 2008. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/ marketing/issues_teens_marketing.cfm. Leo, John. â€Å"The Selling of Rebellion.† Exploring Language, 10th Ed. Longman: 2003. Ortutay, Barbara. â€Å"Nintendo tops video game sales in 2007.† MSNBC. 17 Jan 2008. 29 Apr http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22718374/. â€Å"Tween Teen Trends.† Datamonitor. 19 Jan 2005. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?productid=1094144g=1. â€Å"Tweens: empowered and with money to burn.† Euromonitor International. 10 Mar 2006. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.euromonitor.com/ Tweens_empowered_and_with_money_to_burn.     Ã¢â‚¬Å"The ‘Tween Market’.† Media Awareness Network. 2008. 29 Apr 2008. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/marketing/marketers_target_kids.cfm. Weston, Liz Pulliam. â€Å"The Truth About Credit Card Debt.† MSNBC. 2008. 29 Apr 2008. http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/creditcardsmarts/P74808.asp.

The Immortal Heroes of Homer’s Iliad Essay -- Iliad essays

The Immortal Heroes of Homer’s Iliad In Homer’s Iliad, a warrior can only attain heroism and immortality by embracing an early death. Jean-Pierre Vernant describes this paradox in his essay, â€Å"A ‘Beautiful Death’ and the Disfigured Corpse in Homeric Epic.† According to Vernant, heroes accept the fact that life is short and â€Å"devote themselves completely and single-mindedly to war, adventure, glory, and death† (53). 1 Curiously, this is because heroes overcome death only when they embrace it (57). The importance of death stems from the fact that the individual is defined by his reputation and esteem among others, as Vernant points out when he argues that . . . real death lies in amnesia, silence, demeaning obscurity, the absence of fame. By contrast, real existence—for the living or the dead—comes from being recognized, valued, and honored. Above all, it comes from being glorified as the central figure in a song of praise, a story that endlessly tells and retells a destiny admired by all. (57) He made on it a great vineyard heavy with clusters, lovely and in gold, but the grapes upon it were darkened and the vines themselves stood out through poles of silver. About them he made a field-ditch of dark metal, and drove all around this a fence of tin; and there was only one path to the vineyard, and along it ran the grape-bearers for the vineyard’s stripping. Young girls and young men, in all their light-hearted innocence, carried the kind, sweet fruit away in their woven baskets, and in their midst a youth with a singing lyre played charmingly upon it for them, and sang the beautiful song for Linos in a light voice, and they followed him, and with singing and whistling and light dance-steps of their f... ...g death —and this is what makes a hero. Perhaps the final proof of this heroic immortality lies in the fact that the exploits of Achilleus and the other heroes of the Trojan War remain to this day the subject of passion and controversy. In this way, they have purchased a measure of fame and glory beyond anything they could have imagined. Truly, these heroes are immortal. NOTES 1 Jean-Pierre Vernant, â€Å"A ‘Beautiful Death’ and the Disfigured Corpse in Homeric Epic,† in Mortals and Immortals: Collected Essays (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991). 2 Homer, Iliad, trans. Richmond Lattimore (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951), . 3 Homer, Odyssey, trans. Richard Lattimore (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1965). 4 Homer, Iliad. 5 Edith Hamilton, Mythology (New York: Mentor, 1969), 294. 6 Homer, Iliad. 7 Vernant, 60. 8 Homer, Iliad.

The Important Role of the Auditor

Auditors play an important role in the ensuring the integrity and reliability of the financial statement for public companies. Recently (in the United Sates especially) the independence and objectivity of auditors has been a major concern, and has been brought to the forefront. A new rule was then proposed to deal with these concerns. This eventually led to the adoption of new requirements that must be followed by auditors in the United States. Many user groups had economic consequences at stake and lobbied the Securities and Exchange and Commission (SEC) to what they believed would be the best solution. This was mostly performed through submitting comments to the SEC and through participating in the public hearings held by the SEC to allow discussion on the proposed rule. This report will briefly describe independence as it relates to accounting profession, identify and describe the new requirements presented by the SEC and then describe the events and circumstances that led to the new requirements being proposed. It will also describe and assess the validity of the concerns that were stated at the various public hearings by the affected user groups. First a simple but important definition of independence and how it relates to the accounting profession will be presented. â€Å"Independence is generally understood to refer to a mental state of objectivity and lack of bias.† An auditor must perform the audit without allowing external factors to alter or effect his or her decisions. Douglas Carmichael goes on to relate independence to an auditor directly by stating â€Å"the auditor must be without bias with respect to the client since otherwise he [or she] would lack that impartiality necessary for the dependability of his [or her] findings, however excellent his [or her] technical proficiency may be.† This definition looks easy to interpret but it becomes hard to determine when an auditor is acting independently. Often, an auditor does not even realize when their own actions have been influenced by other factors. Objectivity is a state of mind and is more often than not is hard to prove. Of critical importance is the notion of independence in fact and independence in appearance. Ultimately auditors can be independent in fact but if a reasonable investor observes all relevant facts and circumstances and concludes auditors as not being independent then the whole profession suffers. An extreme consequence that could result is if investors and other financial statement users looked elsewhere for information when they are looking to invest. This would make financial reporting useless and would ultimately lead to its demise. This demonstrates the importance of auditors remaining independent of managers and reiterates the point that investors must be able to trust and rely on the financial statements. These issues directly relate to the two goals that the independence function seeks to achieve. The first goal is supply high quality audits without letting any external factors sway an auditor's judgment (objectivity). The second goal is to achieve a high level of investor confidence in the audited financial statements. The difficulty in measuring the first objective has led to more concentration and focus on the second objective. It is this decreased investor confidence that has driven the new rule requirements, because there has not been a great amount of evidence that proves there is lower quality audits being performed. Commission's Auditor Independence Requirements The release of this new rule establishes four principles to evaluate when assessing if an auditor is independent. â€Å"An auditor will not be independent when (1) has a mutual or conflicting interest with the audit client(2) audits his or her own work (3) functions as management or an employee of the audit client, or (4) acts as an advocate for the audit client.† These four principles are to be used when trying to determine if the actions of an auditor will impair the independence of an auditor and were the basis for forming the new independence requirements. They are rooted in the belief that an auditor must be independent in fact and appearance. The new rule considerably alters the number of people related to the auditor that can invest in the auditor's clients because this would violate the independence requirements released by the SEC. It also limits the number of non- auditing services that can be provided by auditors to their audit clients, but at the same time puts no restrictions on the non- auditing services that can be provided to non-audit clients. The new requirements also call for proxy disclosure in the financial statements of a company. These proxy disclosures state information on certain non-audit services performed by the auditors in the last fiscal year. â€Å"The new auditor independence rule will revise the rules for auditor independence in primarily three areas: (1) investments by auditors or their family members in audit clients; (2) employment relationships between auditors or their family members and audit clients; and (3) the scope of services provided by the audit firms to their audit clients.† ! Investments by Auditors and Family Members in Audit Clients The new rule restricts an auditor or a family member from investing in a firm's audit client. It also restricts an auditor's partner from investing in the client only if the auditor can directly influence the audit work. This new rule is left open for interpretation since if an auditor does not work on the audit he is not restricted as long as he is considered not to be influencing the audit in any way. The subjectivity is in the determining of who can or who does influence an audit. The new rule defines the auditor, family members and certain partners as â€Å"covered persons†. The new rule establishes certain situations that would find an auditor not to be independent if any covered persons participated in these situations. The rule specifically outlines that an auditor is not independent if a covered person has a direct investment in an audit client or affiliate, has a direct investment of more than five percent in an audit client, has an indirect investment in an audit client of more than five percent, and if they own more than five percent of an entity of which the audit client owns an interest. There are certain other financial relationships with an audit client that can restrict an auditor from being independent. These relationships include having loans to or from an audit client, certain savings, checking, brokerage accounts and holding certain individual insurance policies. The rule also put restrictions on certain audit clients investing in audit firms. Under the new rules an audit firm must be cautious of whom they hire and whom the client's firm hires in order to remain independent. The new rule outlines specific instances in which the auditor would be declared as not being independent. â€Å"An accountant will not be independent if a close family member of a covered person is employed by an audit client in an accounting or financial reporting role, if a partner is employed by an audit client in an accounting or financial reporting role, and if a former employee of an audit client becomes a partner of a the accounting firm.† Scope of Services Provided by the Audit Firms to Their Audit Clients This is the area of the new rule that caused the most controversy when it was first introduced. The new rule greatly reduces the number of non-audit services that an auditor can perform for audit clients. The new rule identifies certain non-audit services that cannot be provided without damaging an auditor's independence. These non-audit services are consistent with the four principles that the rule was based on. I will now highlight the certain services that an auditor cannot perform to an audit client and how these services relate to four principles that measure an auditor's independence. Services related to the audit client's accounting records or financial statements such as bookkeeping cannot be performed to an audit client. This service is restricted because it undermines the basic principle that auditors cannot audit their own work. Other non-audit services that are restricted because an auditor would end up auditing their own work are appraisal or valuation services, and actuarial services. An example of an appraisal service is when auditors are asked by their clients to value assets during the year, and then at the end of the fiscal year they are asked to perform the audit. This results in the auditors auditing their own work using their own underlying assumptions, which would directly result in bias. The same problem arises with actuarial services. When an auditor makes estimates for policy reserves and related accounts it affects the amounts that are reported on the balance sheet and will again result in auditors auditing their own work. The problem of an accountant having a mutual or conflicting interest with the audit client results in the restriction of non-audit services such as internal audit outsourcing, human resource services, broker or investment services, and financial information systems design and implementation. Internal audit outsourcing can cause managers and auditors to become a team when creating an internal control system and therefore they will both be responsible for its failure or success. If an auditor supplies a human resource service such as hiring they create a mutuality of interest because they have to accept some responsibility for ensuring the success of the employee. Supplying broker or investment services creates an interest for the auditor in increasing the value of the securities. Helping design information systems creates a mutual interest between the client and the auditor based on the success of the information system. Management functions performed by the auditor for their audit client are also restricted in the new rule. This allows the auditors to perform a management function for their clients and will inherently decrease objectivity in the audit and increases bias in the audit since the auditors are part of the firm that they are auditing. The last non-audit service that is restricted to audit clients is expert services. These include legal, administrative, or regulatory filing procedure advice. These are restricted because they give the appearance that when auditors provide these services to audit clients they are acting as an advocate for the audit client. Decisions to restrict these services were decided on using the four main principles presented earlier that evaluate an auditor's independence. The creation of these principles was due to increasing concern that auditors were not remaining totally independent when performing the audit. Circumstances Leading to the Concern for an Auditor's Independence There are a number of events in the accounting profession that led to the need for rules to obtain independent auditors. Accountants are in a profession that is seeing dramatic changes in the way firms are structured, the services they are providing, as well as increased competition. These events are creating situations that may seriously hinder the independence of auditors by giving them opportunities to act in the interests of their clients. There has been increased competition for auditing business among accounting firms. This tough competition has led to competitive pricing which in turn has led to decreased profits on audits. This tough competition has also led to auditors relying on audit clients for business more and could possibly lead to auditors acting in the best interests of management to keep their audit work instead of in the best interest of the public. Decreased profit margins are forcing accounting firms to cut costs, and some believe that the quality of audits are decreasing because of accountants are using less resources on their audits. There has also been an increasing array of services being performed by every accounting firm. Since auditing profits are decreasing many firms are looking to more profitable consulting services to help increase profits. â€Å"This has been a true metamorphosis for accounting firms, and particularly for the big firms, which some estimate now get 30 to 40% of their revenues from consulting and under 40% from accounting and auditing. Some of these firms have come to offer virtual one-stop shopping for all a client's business consulting needs.† This has caused concerns that the audit function is becoming a loss leader and is being used to pursue additional business opportunities. This causes beliefs that the quality of the audit is being harmed and that investors are seeing a lower level of confidence in this new relationship. Richard Walker, a director of the SEC's enforcement division, stated these beliefs are based not just on speculation, but on what we're seeing in our invest igations and other contacts with the profession. Walker went on to give researched examples of when an auditor has been persuaded by clients to act in the interest of the clients firm. One example he showed was a situation where the auditor was pressured to falsely improve the financial performance of the clients firm in order to receive additional consulting contracts. This should cause great concern because it is a great restraint placed on auditors to remain independent. There has also been increased pressure on managers to meet earnings expectations, and many professionals say this pressure has intensified, especially for certain types of firms. If firms miss their earnings expectations even by a slim margin the result is an immediate decrease in stock prices. This puts increased pressure on managers to do anything they can to artificially increase earnings. This puts increased pressure on the auditors to help management meet these expected earnings. The new emerging structure of accounting firms is also causing independence concerns. Over the last decade accounting firms have become bigger in size due to increased mergers, and there has also been an increase in the number of national and multi-national firms emerging. Many firms have prided themselves on being â€Å"one stop† shops for their clients. This gives the accounting firms control over many aspects and decisions of their clients firms. The problem with this is achieving independent decisions when trying to perform the audit. This causes all the problems discussed in the four principles of evaluating the independence of an auditor. There have been many circumstances emerging that have been causing independence concerns, and hopefully the new rules will be able to prevent these potential problems. However there were many people that strongly opposed many aspects of the new rule. This report will now discuss some of the concerns against the implementation of the rule as well as some strong opinions for implementing the rule immediately. Concerns Addressed at The Public Hearings Public hearings were held in New York City for all concerned parties to voice their opinions on the proposed new independence rules. Different parties that were represented were Chartered Public Accountants (CPA's), professors, officers of major non-accountant companies, and regulators. Not all their comments will be examined, only their main concerns will be highlighted and evaluated. The first comment that will be examined is from Michael Daggett, who is a director at large of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and a CPA. Daggett expressed the common concern that independence is critical in appearance and fact in order to retain the integrity of the accounting profession. However he had two main problems with the rule. His first recommendation was that the SEC should take a more cautious view and try not to overreact to the situation at hand. He goes on to explain that often regulatory agencies are too quick to regulate in the time of crisis and controversy. He believes that the SEC has become too focused on trying to change the â€Å"nuts and bolts† of the auditor's behavior, and has thus not been able to appropriately deal with the expansion and changing times of the profession. The SEC was faced with a potential crisis and even Daggett alluded to that idea in his testimony. The main crisis is maintaining quality audits, and to achieve this there must be independence on the auditor's part. While the SEC is trying to control an auditor's behavior in certain circumstances it is at the same time trying to deal with the changing profession and the expansion of services that are emerging. The SEC is not rushing to regulate because they see a potential crisis emerging and are simply dealing with it in advance. This is crucial and is a better solution than waiting for a number of huge audit failures to occur, and then trying to deal with it appropriately. Daggett's second problem was with the restriction put on auditors to perform human resource services of an audit client. He stated, â€Å"It's important to remember that auditor's already have an interest in its clients success. He suggests that such services would create relatively little risk and an unyielding prohibition would seem to be excessive.† Employee performance is not likely to impair an auditor's mindset and would not result in any bias. If an auditor helps choose human resource policies such as recruiting Evaluate this comment further Another CPA, Kalman Barson, gave comment on the proposed rule. He is a strong opponent to the new rule and he made sure his feelings were heard. He believes that the new rules are contrary to the best interests of the accounting profession, is counterproductive to the best interests of audit clients, and would not accomplish the goal of the reason for this rule being proposed. He believes that the new rule should be totally withdrawn because it will result in the opposite of what the SEC is trying to accomplish. He backs up his case by saying that there has not been one instance of impairment in audit quality as a result of an accounting firm also providing a consulting and auditing role simultaneously. He believes that the SEC is trying to fix something that is not broken. There are a couple of points that need to be addressed in his statements. The first is that audit quality is about more than just avoiding major audit failures or fraud cases. It must be addressed at a lower level before it becomes a major problem. This is the level that the SEC is trying to address presently. An audit failure is often a combination of several factors not just an independence issue. Trying to address the separate issues that can cause an audit failure is the first step. â€Å"To demand, as a predicate for commission action, evidence that each loss of independence produces an audit failure is a bit like demanding proof that every violation of a fire safety code results in a catastrophic fire.† Also there has been at least one instance where a firm has broken independence issues. â€Å"Price-Waterhouse Coopers was censured for improper professional conduct and violating auditor independence rules early this year (2000).† One other point that must be addressed is that with all the concerns of auditor independence that were raised while the economy is doing relatively well, what will happen when an economic hardships exist? Imagine the concerns and the pressure on auditors that will be raised when the majority of firms fall short of their earnings. This pressure could be huge and unbearable; this is why it must be dealt with now. The second major point that Barson addressed is that consulting for an audit client helps produce a higher quality audit. Understanding the clients operations and procedures more thoroughly helps the auditor to obtain a better understanding of the company and therefore the auditor is able to perform a better service for the client. This he argues is in the best interests of the client and society as a whole. He argues that inefficiencies would result by splitting up the consulting and auditing functions between firms, and would end up costing the client more in the long run. Inefficiencies would result because one firm would perform the audit and the other firm would have to perform all the consulting. This would result in the splitting of knowledge of the firm and would result in lower quality audits. The SEC does not believe that the quality of the audit will be lost and officers of Ernst and Young also carry this view. They believe that this argument is flawed in many areas. The first flaw is the inherent assumption that all knowledge obtained from non-audit services is relevant to an audit. It also assumes that the auditor receives all information received from non-audit services. Often a consulting division is reluctant to transfer information over to the auditors. Other times the consulting professionals will have little or no interaction with auditors especially in large firms. Ernst and Young recently sold their consulting business and therefore separated their auditing practice from the consulting area. Ernst and Young officials were stated as saying that as the result of the sale they see no reason why the quality of the audit would suffer in any way. They believe that the skills necessary to carry out an audit are inherently different than the skills you need to carry out consulting services. The SEC also made the point that only 25% of accounting firms audited by the big five firms also receives advisory services. This proves that 75% of the audits performed now are of considerably high quality. If it is not possible to perform audits without consulting for the firm at the same time we would have seen a huge amount of low quality audits or perhaps audit failures. A more neutral view will now be presented from the academic side of the debate. Douglas Carmichael is a professor at Baruch College and is a strong advocate for the new rule and his comments are based on research over the past thirty years. His first comment backs up the four principles that are used by the SEC to measure auditor independence. He believes that the basic principles are comprehensive and appropriate. The principle of conflicting and mutual interest is essential because without it the auditor could be too easily persuaded by clients to act in the client's interest and therefore would reduce the reliability of the financial statements. His research has also showed that there has been evidence that consulting has resulted in impaired independence. His conclusions were based on thorough investigation of the actual underlying evidence. He also argues that the quality of the audit is not improved by consulting services. † He found that in many cases of auditor malpractice, the auditors have not made use of the knowledge of consultants providing services to the clients.† His last point is that the proposed restrictions are practical and they appropriately relate to the basic four principles. He believes the new rules appropriately relate to those principles, which is key since most of the professionals can relatively agree on the principles. Since there is agreement on the principles the controversy is mostly based on the restrictions, and Carmichael believes that these restrictions already adequately relate to the principles and need to be implemented immediately. A Canadian perspective will be presented next, from the point of view of the Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). He underlines the importance of the auditor being independent in fact and appearance. He also mainly agrees with the new rules and their restrictions on non-audit services to audit clients. His main concern relating to auditor independence in Canada is the growing concern that the audit is becoming a loss leader to achieve more profitable consulting revenues. He believes that it would be natural for shareholders and other investors to perceive the auditor as losing confidence in the quality of the audit. He also expresses his concern that firms are placing more importance on the consulting side of the business compared to the audit side. He believes that this will cause firms to make strategic decisions based on this concern and will cause employees to strive towards being consultants because the firm places more value on the consulting side. While this could result in more talented professionals leaning towards the consulting side, especially if salaries are higher there are many other concerns that affect the recruitment of professionals. Other concerns that could affect recruiting are the attractiveness of the work to the individual, as well as the number of graduates to choose from. Brown had concerns that were related to the implementation of the new rules as a whole. He expressed concern that the regulation of the new rule cannot be sufficient by itself. The audit committee will have to play an important role in the process. It is key that the audit committee identifies independence violations, because they are on the front line and are closest to the action. The SEC is only one organization and will need a critical amount of help in finding violators. He also recommends that the SEC becomes an active participant in recommending or implementing similar rules in other countries. He stresses this importance because the United States constantly interacts with all other countries and the new rules will significantly affect interactions. This is important, but it will they will have to convince the SEC to spend time on this task. It would be much easier for the SEC to recommend other countries to adopt the same requirements as the U.S. Brown goes onto illustrate this point by showing that in Canada we are looking at the SEC's proposal closely and extensively and † will formulate our regulatory response partly on your experience.† The concerns of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) will now be addressed. They totally agree with the four basic principles that were outlined by the SEC. The IIA also generally agrees with the underlying objectives of the SEC in releasing these requirements (improving quality and improving investor confidence). Their main concerns have to do with the technical aspects of the rules. Their main concern is that the SEC has restricted services in the wrong manner. They believe that â€Å"not all non-audit services need to be restricted unless their fees are sufficient enough to trigger independence concerns and as long as there are no management or operating considerations that hinder independence.† They also believe the Independence Standards Board in the U.S. should be responsible for determining and updating the list of services that would impair independence. The objective list allows for easier regulation by allowing for the subjectivity to be removed. The certain restricted services were chosen because they related back to the four basic principles. This ensures that the SEC remains consistent by following a dependable framework for making decisions regarding auditor independence. One last comment to look at is from CPA, Norman Manley. He submitted comments on behalf of all forty employees of Dellinger & Deese, PLLC. They are totally opposed against the new ruling and voiced many of the same concerns that were seen from other CPA's. Their concerns can be summarized by their opening comment, â€Å"We firmly believe the proposal is unwarranted and not supported by facts, or requested by the financial and business community we both serve. Non-audit services offered by audit firms simply have not compromised auditor independence or audit failure. Focus will be on their additional concerns that were voiced at the public hearings. One concern they voiced was that the broad restriction on the non-audit services will place too much reliance on audit fees for accounting firms and this will not serve the public interest. The public interest is always an important consideration to keep in mind, but in this instance the public interest will still be served by providing high quality audits backed with investor confidence. There will still be plenty of opportunities to perform audits and the new rulings will not decrease the number of firms that require audits. They are also concerned with the quality of talent that will be recruited and retained by accounting firms. They believe that accounting professionals will have 25-40% of their market blocked by the restrictions. They further believe that this will cause professionals to choose a career where their market is wide open. They also had some economic issues that they were concerned about. The first being the inability for accounting firms to combine and obtain the economic benefits of mergers and joint ventures. Their ability to merge will be due to concerns about violating independence requirements. A firm could merge with another firm and would then become an affiliate of the accounting firm. They also believe that the SEC has interfered with the work of the Independence Standards Board (ISB) in the USA. The believed the SEC originally assigned the issue to the ISB and then jumped in and regulated prematurely. However, the SEC worked more in conjunction with the ISB by taking their research and many of their recommendations. They also agreed more with recent disclosure and audit committee requirements that were adopted by the ISB, SEC, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and the American Stock Exchange (ASE). They believe that these requirements would have of solved the independence problem if given time to mature and work. To conclude their concerns with the new rule one more point will be issued. They know and thoroughly understand the problems associated with a lack of independence, and they stated that they always put independence rules at the top of their priorities. They do not see a problem with non-audit services impairing this independence because auditors have the ability to remain independent using their own professional judgment. This report will conclude by drawing on comments given by chairman of the SEC, Arthur Levitt. He believes â€Å"in this environment of conflicting interests, the investing public relies on the accountant to stay true to his or her fiduciary duty, to never lose sight of the precious franchise that is theirs to guard so vigilantly.† He is aware that the perceived value of the audit is being put at risk and for this and other reasons he is strongly committed to keeping the public's interest first, and will not let new circumstances interfere with his task. He also realizes that the SEC cannot do it alone and is willing to work with the profession to continuously improve the situation. He is dedicated to continuous improvement of financial statements to better serve investors, the market, and the public. He stresses that he will leave the communication lines open between the SEC and CPA's in order to retain a strong respect and teamwork between the two parties. The majority of opposition seems to be coming from a main source. The CPA's seem to be the only interest group that is opposed, and this strengthens the validity of the new rulings. If there was strong opposition stemming from other interest groups it would be easier to challenge the new ruling. The point to remember is that being an accounting professional entails looking out for the best interests of the public, and this is what the new requirements are striving to achieve. The new requirements will not be able o achieve this alone, but they are an important aspect in the battle for independence. The main concern from the opposition of the rule has to deal with the scope of services that are restricted. Limiting non-audit services to audit clients still leaves plenty of opportunity open to perform audits and still makes it attainable to perform high quality audits while at the same time retaining investor confidence. We must remember, â€Å"It's not enough that audit quality is maintained and that the numbers are right. It's also necessary that public investors-the users of financial reports-perceive that the numbers are right.†

5.1. Critical Discussion of Findings in Relation to Literature and Theory Essay

5. 1. 1. Over Restrictive Regulatory Environment The respondents to the question of whether the environment of overly restrictive regulations was a challenge indicated almost without exception that indeed the restrictive aspect was stifling to at least some extent. This indicates that the regulatory environment currently being experienced in the Kuwaiti banks surveyed is in keeping with the general view of Islamic banks as reported in the literature reviewed. The banking environment created has proved to be unsound, and it accords with the ideas of Windy (2003) demonstrating that it has not been conducive to the effectiveness and efficiency of nine of the ten financial institutions surveyed. The current state of the Kuwaiti banking system, though improving, demonstrates that reporting and the monitoring of capital and risk have suffered due to the heavier restrictions placed on the Shariah compliant banks. See more: Old Age Problem essay Since the restrictions are greater for these banks in comparison with the conventional banks, the Islamic banks have indeed been placed at a disadvantage within the market and this has caused them to be less efficient and therefore less attractive to prospective customers. This lack of attractiveness makes it even more likely that these banks will remain niche focused and relatively small in comparison with the competition. 5. 1. 2. Uniform Regulatory and Legal Framework The respondents to the survey indicated unanimously that the lack of a uniform regulatory and legal framework poses a challenge to the current Islamic financial state. The response to this question might seem enigmatic in light of the previous one. However, though the Shariah imposes restrictions on the types of transactions that might be performed in Islamic financial institutions, it is the regulation of these restrictions that have proven to be without uniformity. This lack of uniformity has been shown to have crippling effects on the Kuwaiti institutions surveyed. The fact is that once regulations become uniform, this serves as a support mechanism to the institutions that follow the regulations (Dudley, 1998). The problem with this lack of regulation is that Islamic institutions have been trying to conduct business according to Shariah, yet this has to be done within the conventional Western financial framework which does not lend the proper type of support to Shariah banking policies. This has been especially problematic in Kuwait since so many of its banks are Islamic and yet the uniform regulations that govern are often at odds with the Shariah principles by which these banks are run. There apparently still continues to be problems despite the 2005/06 regulation attempts by the Central Bank of Kuwait, and it makes it clear that the mere addition of a separate Shariah section to the regulatory laws is insufficient. What is needed, apparently, is full and complete integration of the Shariah into the regulatory system at every pertinent level so that financial institutions will know how to act in a wide array of situations. 5. 1. 3. Underdeveloped Regulatory and Supervisory Regime. Akin to the aforementioned problem, and perhaps stemming directly from it, is the fact that all respondents agree that the supervisory system of regulations is underdeveloped in their financial institutions. When no systematic regulatory doctrines have been formulated, the difficulty arises because supervisory activity has no clear knowledge of what to supervise or guard against. Because of the underdeveloped nature of the supervisory elements, Islamic financial institutions in Kuwait continue to fumble as it regards the attainment of success and customer satisfaction. Customers in these institutions cannot be secure in receiving fair treatment from institutions that have no active and systematic supervision. The respondents did not consider the current state of regulation supervision to be completely inadequate, as their responses hint toward the acknowledgement that the IFSB’s efforts at establishing co-operation among standard-setting bodies have had some favourable impact on the Kuwaiti situation. However, capital adequacy and risk management represent only two of the many areas in which supervision is necessary to the health of Kuwait’s Islamic financial institutions. The responses also indicate that the IFSB’s intentions of extending supervisory cooperation to the areas market transparency and discipline as well as corporate governance are warranted. 5. 1. 4. Capital and Liquidity Requirements The requirements of capital and liquidity within the financial market sector have been theorized as having the potential to be damaging to the Islamic financial institutions around the world. However, the reasons given for this potentially problematic effect reflect a division among theoreticians and those employed within the financial sector. This existence of controversy is confirmed within this research of the Kuwaiti institutions, as three respondents considered liquidity and capital issues to be of medium to high importance, while the others considered the issue to be of very little importance. One side of the controversy identifies the issue of capital and liquidity as stemming from the Basel Committee’s over-estimation of the risks that might accrue to (or as a result of) the assets of Islamic institutions. These theorists indicate that they believe the risks are not as great as others might believe, and it is with this view that those respondents agree—who indicated that liquidity and capital were not an issue. The alternate theoretical view, with which the survey shows three respondents agreeing, is that Islamic financial institutions present more risk than other banks do. The fact that these banks are generally smaller and carry a narrower capital base seems to reflect a large part of what these respondents refer to when they consider liquidity and capital to be a risk in such institutions. The respondents do not, however, indicate any aversion to the establishment of a capital market that would trade in Sukuk and other instruments, and even deepen the market so that additional liquidity might be created. 5. 1. 5. Accounting Standards Harmonization According to the responses given, the issue regarding the standardization and harmonisation of accounting practices ranks highly on the list of things that need to be dealt with within the Islamic financial institutions of Kuwait. The importance of this harmonization has made itself clear within the institutions being studied, as the lack thereof has contributed to the existence of a shallow capital market that lacks fairness, efficiency, and transparency (IOSCO, 2004). The credibility granted Islamic financial institutions as a result of recent work by AAOIFI has improved operations enough to emphasise the importance of accounting harmonisation. As it now stands, the harmonisation initiative has improved the ability for Kuwaiti financial institutions to communicate with other non-Islamic banks as accounting standards have been expressed in harmony to a greater degree. This appears to have also accorded the banking system a reasonable amount of credibility in the estimation of other institutions and accorded to Islamic bank workers a higher level of respect among their peers. Yet more needs to be done, as has been indicated by the interviewees’ responses. Continued efforts to broaden the scope of harmonisation promise to improve the status of Kuwaiti banks within a financial situation in which the majority of institutions do work according to international accounting standards. 5. 1. 6. Standardization of Shariah The respondents were universally agreed that the proper standardization of Shariah was necessary not only to the proper understanding of the Islamic banking principles, but ultimately to the proper governing of all financial institutions in Kuwait. The survey highlights the confusion that currently exists within the market and the formation of a common platform, as suggested by Kahf, does have the potential to improve the existing problem. The standardization of the Shariah would have the added benefit of making it easier for non-Islamic bankers to understand the provisions and requirements of the Shariah as it regards banking. The facilitation of Halal transactions might then be put into effect between such banks and Islamic institutions in Kuwait. Such standards will help non-Islamic members of the banking community understand such ideas as the necessity that an underlying asset exist as the subject of any financing contract, so that institutions will be better prepared to provide more than just a debt paper when conducting Shariah transactions . Therefore, any transaction that resembles Riba, Maisir or any other action prohibited by Shariah may be avoided. Halal practices might be set up even within non-Islamic banking institutions, and this may facilitate increased competition and better practice all round. 5. 1. 7. Competition from Conventional Institutions Competition is itself considered by theoreticians to be a problem for Islamic financial institution as these businesses are usually small and possess a smaller capital base than their competitor institutions. The respondents themselves have also indicated that competition is an important consideration for the Islamic banks of Kuwait. However, the degree of importance to which these respondents have admitted have varied across the spectrum from low to high. The Islamic institutions of Kuwait appear also to have gained a vast amount of capital (via Sukuk and other methods) by appealing on religious grounds and the establishment of a capital market through those means (Iqbal, Ahmad and Khan, 1998). This would indicate why some respondents consider the threat of competition to be low, especially since the Islamic institutions have a religious claim to customer loyalty that competitor institutions may not possess. However, the importance of competition between Islamic institutions appears not to be overlooked by those respondents who considered the threat of competition to be high. Still, though competition may be high, the actual threat it poses may still be low as competition has the advantage of presenting a barrier to the entry of further banking institutions. Furthermore, the existence of non-Islamic financial institutions within the Islamic sector may have been considered favourable by those persons who responded that the threat is low. This may be because the presence of these institutions validates the viability of the Islamic banking sector (Al Omar & Abdel-Haq, 1996). 5. 1. 8. Availability of Data The issue of data availability rates highly within the Kuwaiti Islamic financial sector according to the respondents. These interviewees appear to understand and have had problems arising from the difficulty with which data and statistics are obtained regarding the Islamic capital markets (IOSCO, 2004). The necessity of scientific research and the indispensability of such statistical market data are also addressed in this response by the interviewees; such research has rarely been undertaken by Islamic banks. The unavailability of data is a major reason for this lack of valuable research, and it appears that respondents realize that this has prevented Kuwaiti banks from reaching their fullest potential. The current information possessed for banks on a broad Islamic scale is lacking, inadequate and subject to qualifications. This appears also to be the case for the banks in question represented by the respondents. 5. 2 Micro Level Changes 5. 2. 1. Liquidity Management All respondents considered liquidity management to be of high importance, and this is in direct contrast to the controversial nature of the issue regarding liquidity and capital requirements. This is in keeping with the literature and theory prevailing within the Islamic banking community, which identifies this to be of major importance, especially in light of Islamic banks’ bid for global expansion. In Kuwait too this proves to be of interest to the Islamic bankers, and the many challenges which face the market are likely to be the reason respondents invariably indicated it to be of high concern. Certainly ideas abound regarding how to manage the liquidity within the Islamic market. Methods as have already been identified such as the shuffling (unbundling and repackaging) of assets in order to make them more marketable and liquefiable (Iqbal, 1997). These methods, along with the identification of potentials for inter-bank market development (El Qorchi, 2005), are ones that would doubtless prove valuable within the Islamic financial market represented by these respondents. The depth of the market would be increased in such a situation, and this would prove to be beneficial in the Kuwaiti market that is expanding both within the country and on a global scale. However, these measures would depend on further developments that may present difficulties materializing, and the gravity of this is also reflected in the response to the questionnaire. Such developments would include the installation of a facility that provides a lender of last resort. It would also involve securitization for the purposes of managing the spectrum of risk as well as maturity issues (El Qorchi, 2005). 5. 2. 2. Maturity Mismatch The maturity mismatch issue appears to have contributed to a division among the respondents regarding their responses. While some considered this problem to be of high importance, these opinions were balanced by those who considered the issue to be of medium or low importance. Those respondents who identify maturity mismatch as a low-ranking problem gain assurance from the possibility of using Tawarroq (debt rollover) as a method of financing maturities. The fact that the Kuwaiti Islamic banks they represent have the ability to finance the debt of the ultimate creditor using customer money allows these respondents to feel secure (Al-Suwailem, 2006). However, those who consider maturity mismatch to be a high-ranking issue do so likely because, as has been indicated in the literature, questions do exist concerning the extent to which debt-rollover can be used to finance or match maturity. Other problems, too, lie in the fact that in order for these policies to perform freely, other things previously mentioned would have to be put into place—such as accounting harmonization (for the smooth running of the capital market). Since these systems are not fully up and running in the Kuwaiti market, then this might explain the apprehension that some of the respondents have concerning the maturity matching issue (IOSCO, 2004). 5. 2. 3. Personnel Competence, Qualifications and Training The issue surrounding personnel competence and training in the area of Islamic and Shariah institutional banking has been determined to be of high importance by all but one of the respondents—who still considered it to be quite relevant within the Kuwaiti situation. In order to continue its expansion within the local and global markets, the banking system within Kuwait needs to facilitate the training of its personnel in all areas—including the areas concerned with Shariah banking (Iqbal, Ahmad & Khan, 1998). This necessity has been reflected in the responses, as incompetence has no doubt been the issue within the banks they represent—judging from the fact that most consider it to be of high priority. The problem arises because (among other things) customers are generally more accustomed to the conventional style of banking. Where, as in Kuwait, the majority of banks are westernized and traditional, it becomes absolutely imperative that the personnel be thoroughly familiar not just with the practices pertaining to Islamic banking but also with the Shariah doctrines that govern them. Without this knowledge, it is likely that employees do not possess the expertise necessary to explain to customers the meanings and Islamic implications of certain banking or investment practices. The respondents to the questionnaire, being banking personnel themselves, have first-hand knowledge of the problems that may arise when personnel are untrained or unqualified. Their response also points toward the need for more scholars who specialize in both finance and Shariah, as well as the need for focussed development of courses in Shariah designed specifically for the economist (IOSCO, 2004). 5. 2. 4. Financial Products and Innovation Innovation and the development of financial products appear to rank highly in the estimation of Kuwaiti bankers and investors, as is indicated by the responses to the questionnaire regarding this issue. The idea behind this wide-spread adoption of the innovative process by these Kuwaiti respondents stems from the theory that the viability of these Islamic institutions as an alternative to conventional banking rests on the ability of the bankers to provide a wide variety of new methods of investment for potential investors. The respondents, being high-level investment personnel working in Kuwait, are at least aware of the plethora of ways that Islamic and Shariah banking methods differ from the conventional methods of banking. These differences offer a variety of ways in which innovation might be brought to bear upon the Kuwaiti financial market and be made to attract newer investors. Such ideas as Mudarabah and Musharakah are likely to draw prospective investors previously deterred by the prospect of bearing the entire losses of their ventures. Furthermore, such persons as the respondents represent are in touch with the needs that customers have, and this knowledge allows them to realise the necessity of developing financial products that cater to these needs (Al-Suweilem, 2006; Bacha, 1999). As a result, supply will work toward creating an equilibrium with the demand that exists. Concerns may arise from the fact that these persons are also aware of the need for an in-depth understanding of the array financial instruments in order to put into effect many of the innovations necessary within Kuwait’s Islamic financial institutions (1999). 5. 2. 5. Products and Services’ Marketing The imperative nature of the marketing of products and services is reflected to some extent within the responses to the questionnaire. Though most consider this to be of importance, one person did offer a dissenting voice. Those who did agree were also divided as to the extent to which product marketing is necessary. It is likely that the dissenting person places the innovative development of products in a more prominent place, arguing that until products are developed no marketing will be necessary. This is certainly true. However, the fact that so many of the respondents acknowledge the necessity of marketing makes it clear that they understand one of the major issues facing Islamic financial institutions: customers are largely unaware of the services that are offered and the ways that these services could be of benefit to them. Clearly this is as much the case in Kuwait as anywhere else since so many respondents in the affirmative concerning the issue. 5. 2. 6. Size of Institutions Institution size is an issue on which most respondents again agreed. These Kuwaiti investment professionals appear also to face challenges which are similar to those faced by all banks—that of garnering a sufficiently wide investment base in order to ensure security and to maximize their competitive strength within the market. Since the questionnaire specifically asked whether size posed a challenge, the answers indicate that even in Kuwait, smaller banks tend to suffer from a higher level of risk on the financial market. What is also probable is that these smaller banks are represented mainly by the Islamic and Shariah compliant banks within the country. The earlier replies concerning the need for marketing and innovation therefore apply to this question of size, as development of strategies along these lines would enable growth and deepening of the institution as well as the market. It is likely, therefore, that (regarding the question of the challenging nature of institution size) the concurring responses demonstrate the need for expansion of Kuwaiti Islamic financial institutions. 5. 2. 7. Institution Rating and Instruments Theory, literature, and this survey concur on the question of the importance of institution rating. Though the matter is brought up as a subject of relevance within the Islamic banking community, it has not been treated as a major issue. This is seen especially in the fact that it remains a question whether or not such ratings should be made obligatory for financial institutions. The respondents to this question gauged the importance of ratings to be of low or medium range, indicating that in the Kuwaiti Islamic banking system, though ratings are also relevant, it is not the question of utmost importance to anyone concerned. The importance of ratings has however been established by the respondents within the Kuwaiti market. Despite the fact that they consider it of low importance, they do indicate that it is considered a pertinent issue. One reason for this would be that the IIRA does exist as a body to assess (among other things) the Shariah compliance of Kuwaiti financial institutions. This may have a bearing on the consumer loyalty that might be considered important to the continued operation or wellbeing of many of these institutions, especially in light of the fact that many Kuwaitis choose Islamic banks (over the competition) precisely for reasons having to do with Shariah compliance. 5. 2. 8. Inadequate Sensitivity to Customer Satisfaction While almost all respondents identified inadequate sensitivity to customer satisfaction as a challenge, of some concern is the fact that only a few Kuwaiti banking personnel identified it as a highly important one. It is evident that Kuwaiti bankers understand the situation of competition that exists within that nation’s financial market, especially since in Kuwait only three of its 15 banks are Islamic. It becomes imperative that consumers are satisfied within such a market where (with 76 other investment companies) alternative banking institutions about. What the Kuwaitis may be counting on is the fact that consumers who use Islamic financial institutions already have their primary needs met in a bank that is Shariah compliant. Still, as represented earlier, Kuwaiti’s banking personnel recognize the need for creating innovative banking products that cater to the desires of the consumer. They also recognise that in order to cater to these needs, sensitivity to customer satisfaction is indispensable. 5. 2. 9. Inability to Communicate Uniqueness The challenge faced in identifying the unique attributes of Islamic financial institutions is admitted by the majority of banking professionals surveyed. However, the importance of this issue seems to be only minimally appreciated in Kuwait—according to the data collected. This idea goes back to the question of marketing, and in which it was also evident that Kuwait felt no major compulsion toward pushing the Islamic banking product to consumers. Concerns about the future of Kuwaiti Islamic banking might here be expressed as it has been shown through the theory and literature reviewed that the ability of these institutions to become strong, viable, and known alternatives to traditional banking depends on its differentiation within the market (Khan & Ahmed, 2001). 5. 3. Critical Engagement with Areas of Convergence 5. 3. 1. Convergence on Shariah Compliance Issues In some very critical areas, it was found that the responses made by these Kuwaiti financial professionals strongly support the theories found in the literature. The strength of this support points in many cases toward not only the importance of the question but also the extent to which changes are necessary within the Kuwaiti finance environment. The unanimity with which the respondents answered the question of uniform regulation challenges leaves no doubt that the lack or inadequacy of regulation dealing specifically with Shariah compliance has a crippling effect on the Kuwaiti banking system. Since the Shariah’s restrictions and requirements may often be intricate, the lack of uniformity within the Kuwaiti market (as has been predicted by literature) has led to problems. Such problems have the potential of ranging from simply an inability to properly execute in the Shariah-compliant areas of banking, or the inability to detect and prevent the inappropriate actions of institutions that claim Shariah compliance. What the Kuwaiti banks have demonstrated is a convergence between theory and practice in that without a proper regulation system, the Shariah support mechanism for the institutions has also proven to be substandard (Dudley, 1998). Islamic institutions in Kuwait, while trying to conduct Shariah compliant business, have the added problem of working within the sometimes contradictory framework of conventional Western banking. Furthermore, the problem proves more crippling in the Kuwaiti finance environment as the Islamic banks are many, yet are lost in a world of regulations that prove more hospitable to the competition. The fact that problems still exist despite the 2005/06 attempts at regulation by the Kuwait’s central bank (CBK) only points to the magnitude of the problem as represented by Shariah regulation and the necessity of uniformity within these regulations/. It also demonstrates the inadequacy of simply tacking on a Shariah amendment to existing law. What this research has shown to be truly necessary is a thorough review of current regulations that culminates in the full integration of Shariah. This will facilitate the continued running of Islamic (as well as conventional) banking institutions within the financial environment. 5. 3. 2. Convergence on Competence and Training in Shariah The importance of personnel competence and training in Shariah banking is also an area that demonstrates convergence of practice in Kuwait with the theory. It highlights the immense need for scholarship and training in both Shariah and banking (IOSCO, 2004; Iqbal, Ahmad & Khan, 1998). The lack of thorough understanding of the key Shariah concepts (as introduced earlier on in this research) is shown to be a deterrent to optimal practice in the Kuwaiti financial environment. Since consumers are more used to conventional banking, this makes it all the more necessary for banking personnel to be fully equipped with knowledge and expertise in Shariah financial management so that all consumer queries might be dealt with thoroughly and professionally. 5. 4. Critical Engagement with Areas of Divergence 5. 4. 1. Divergence on Marketing and Innovation Issues Despite the concurrence of the responses with the theories presented in the literature, there were also some areas where responses disagreed with theory or amongst themselves. The areas represented are product/service marketing, inadequate sensitivity to customer satisfaction, and inability to communicate uniqueness. As regards the imperative nature of product and service marketing, the disagreement was occasioned in the area of the extent to which product and service marketing is necessary within the Kuwaiti Islamic banking environment. The connection that this question of product marketing has with innovation is undeniable, and it is likely that disagreement stems from the fact that persons place a higher priority on innovation. Products must be created before they can be marketed after all. However, it appears to be problematic that even some institutions within the Kuwaiti Islamic banking sector do not place importance upon marketing, as this strategy is precisely the method through which customers become aware of the services that any bank has to offer. Those who consider marketing to be of high importance understand that customer ignorance can have a damaging effect on the viability of a financial institution. Lack of knowledge prompts potential consumers to ignore the services available, and business that might otherwise be gained is lost. Marketing allows customers to become aware of these services, and it is consumer centred as it promotes the benefits that might accrue to the customer as a result of using that service. 5. 4. 2. Divergence on the Question of Sensitivity to Customer Satisfaction The other area of divergence deals with inadequate sensitivity to customer satisfaction. While the theory explored highlights this as an important area, it was surprising to note that some of the respondents considered the challenge to be of high importance. Evidently, the Kuwaiti banking personnel do comprehend the gravity of the competition that exists between Shariah and non-Shariah financial institutions. The fact that non-Shariah banks are set up so that losses to the institution are minimized at the expense of the customer leaves such banks in a relatively more secure position. The necessity of being sensitive to the satisfaction of clients becomes that more important, as the relationship with the customer is possibly the area that offers an Islamic bank the greatest amount of competitive advantage. In order that consumers who may not be completely loyal to Shariah be induced to work with the institution (or to continue as a customer), the satisfaction of these persons (on whom the institution rests) must be ascertained and guaranteed. Marketing plays a big role in this, but before marketing can take place banking professionals must become aware of the areas that would most satisfy these consumers. It must also be aware of areas in which satisfaction is not being granted (whether within Islamic banks or the alternative banking system) and changes made promptly to improve these conditions. 5. 4. 3. Divergence on the Issue of Communicating Uniqueness By far, the divergence of opinions between theory and practice as it regards the inability to communicate uniqueness is most surprising. The reason for this is that it is precisely the uniqueness of the Islamic bank that defines the necessity for all other areas of this research. Its compliance with Shariah principles is what sets it apart from the competition, and it is this that also contributes to the difficulties as well as the advantages of the Islamic bank. Though challenges of identifying the Islamic banks’ uniqueness is acknowledged by the majority of banking professionals surveyed, the minimal appreciation of its importance within Kuwait is of great concern for aforementioned reasons. The idea of uniqueness also reverts to the question of marketing. Though it does make sense that institutions that disregard marketing somewhat would also disregard the importance of product differentiation, this lack of interest on the part of so many managers gives cause for alarm. It gives cause for the expression of concerns about the future of Islamic financial institutions in Kuwait if no effort is made at demonstrating how their services differ from the traditional services of the competition (Khan & Ahmed, 2001). 5. 5. Reflection on personal learning As a student who is relatively new at empirical research, I found the experience of collecting and ordering data very intriguing. It was very interesting to find that the research carried out during the literature review demonstrated that though different researchers had essentially been studying the same phenomenon in different countries, the ideas extracted were able to come together to form a cohesive body of knowledge. This became even more evident when the empirical data collected within this research began finding support in the literature and theoretical concepts identified within the literature review. As it regards Islamic and Kuwaiti banking, I learned that the Shariah system of banking in many ways embodied ideas that exist for the improvement of the financial condition of the country which it serves. It caters to the needs of the institution, yet appears to be much more client centred than traditional banking. It also seems to favour the growth of the economy in its determination that financial transactions be done expressly in conjunction with the creation of real and tangible wealth. Finance is therefore not divorced from real work and real investment or enterprise. I also learned that Islamic banking does face many challenges, however.