Barclays Bank Retail Banking Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Barclays Bank Retail Banking Strategy - Essay Example Some of these are helpful for every firm in the industry and are called opportunities, while others bring bad news for everyone and are regarded as threats. Besides these forces in the external environment, a particular firm may have internal strengths such as the skill and experience of its staff, or weaknesses such as frequent labor disputes because of lack of clearly defined polices for staff and workers. In sum the fortunes of the firm are dependent on how well its management deals with business opportunities and threats, while using the strengths of the firm to take advantage of the opportunities and minimize the effect of the threats through clever planning and strategic implementation of its vision for the company. This is what is called strategic management- or the planning and implementation to achieve its desired plans in the marketplace in the face of these internal and external forces. The legal, political, sociological, economic and other environments may pose a number o f challenges that must be overcome by the business if it is to survive and prosper in the marketplace. Barclays Bank PLC is one of the key players in the worldwide banking industry as well as in India and this paper will discuss how successfully it has managed to meet the challenges faced by the banking sector in India. II. Overview of the Banking Sector in India The major Indian banks can be classified under three categories in terms of ownership:(1) Public sector banks such as State Bank of India, the Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank; (2) Private sector banks such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank; and (3) Foreign Banks such as Citibank, Barclays Bank of India and Standard Chartered Bank. By December 2008, there were 28 public sector banks, 29 private sector banks and 30 foreign banks, in addition to other regional and cooperative entities. The banking sector in India is one that is full of intense competition. Lately the banking sector, which had been hit by the worldwide 2007-2008 economic recession, has been in recovery mode and efforts are still being made to put the sector back on track. The recessionary trend saw a decrease in the percentage of consumer lending from 29.9 percent in 2007 to just 17.1 percent in 2008. The major contractions were seen in the autos, housing, personal loans and consumer durables sectors. III. Supervision and Control As in most nations of the world, the outlook on monetary policy and regulation of the financial system lies with the Central Bank. In India, this is the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In keeping with the special functions of a central banking institution, it is also the issuer of local currency as well as the manager of foreign currency reserves and regulations in India. In the same fashion, the Securities and Exchange Board of India is the regulatory body that monitors stock market transactions and compliance with the rules. India also has an Insurance Regulatory & Development Authori ty like the FDIC in the USA that is responsible for protecting the interests of the policyholders. Â   IV. The State of the Retail Banking Sector in India Retail banking has been the major hub of activity in recent years. The banks have classified their customers into three major groups- consumer, small business and corporate. It has been acknowledged that the progress of retail banking would most likely rest of four pillars: innovative offerings, distribution optimization, quality of management and shared system/back-office. Barclays has adopted an innovative strategy upon its entry into India in 2008. Banking today can be characterized by the different products that are being dealt with, such as investment banking, asset management or debt management, or by the type of customer dealing, such as Wealth Management

Climate Change and Socioeconomic Development Relationship

Climate Change and Socioeconomic Development Relationship Climate change has been discussed since over 200 years ago but has only gained relevance and been taken seriously in the 1950s (Harding, 2007). As states come to realize the possible disastrous consequences of global climate change and attempt to tackle it by implementing certain policies, they are invariably confronted with a dilemma. To prioritise climate change, states would have to reduce their focus on socio-economic development, at least in the short run. Many are hesitant to do so for fear that intra-generational inequalities would be exacerbated (Heil Selden, 2001). However, we believe that climate change should in fact be prioritised over socio-economic development as climate mitigation enables both intra and inter-generational inequalities to be addressed concurrently. Conversely, we might not achieve the same if we were to prioritise socio-economic development over climate change. It has been argued that the only way to reduce income disparity is to promote further economic growth. Unfortunately, this single-minded focus on improving a country’s global economic standing has resulted in large disparities between the rich and poor, be it within or between nations. This is because rich countries can afford to invest in machinery and labour to increase output and seize market shares while poorer countries lose out in such comparative advantage. However by taking charge of climate change, this inequality can be alleviated. To start off, organic agriculture could be adopted as a climate mitigation strategy. The various farming systems used in organic agriculture can diversify income sources and reduce the susceptibilities of agriculture to impacts of diseases and climate change such as higher frequencies of droughts or flooding. Additionally, it is able to improve soil water absorption and retention capacity which reduces soil erosion. Consequently, less CO2 and N2O would be emitted from less soil erosion and the non-usage of harmful farming system inputs fertilisers and pesticides (Muller, 2009). This effort can be further supported by implementation of free-trade movements (Carter, 2007), which enables consumers to buy products directly from the producers in less developed countries. This eliminates cash flow to middlemen and allows smaller farms from less developed countries to earn higher incomes. Not only are we mitigating climate change by encouraging more environmentally friendly methods of farming, we are actually also allowing producers, who would otherwise be disadvantaged due to their inability to gain comparative advantage, sustain their business. Hence, tackling climate change would allow to address both climate change and socio-economic inequalities concurrently which we would not be able to achieve should we only focus on socio-economic development. Moreover, pursuing socio-economic development would become counterproductive if the consequences of climate change, which will hinder socio-economic development, are disregarded. One increasingly pronounced consequence is ocean acidification the uptake of carbon dioxide in the oceans. This phenomenon reduces shellfishes’ abilities to form their carbonated shells and subsequently lowers their survivability (Fabry et al, 2008; Holman et al, 2004). These adverse effects are subsequently translated to economic losses in our marine fisheries which rely heavily on the harvests of these commercially valuable marine organisms (Gazeau et al, 2007). In addition, these effects combined with global warming are damaging and bleaching the reef-building corals which are homes to remarkable numbers of marine animals (Phinney et al, 2006, Lumsden et al, 2007). With their disappearance, the productivities of fisheries are further reduced. For cities like New Bedford which depends greatly on fisheries revenues, the revenue losses would adversely alter its main economic activities and demographics, and worsen income disparities (Cooley and Doney, 2009) Coral reefs also provide coastal protection (Moberg and Folke, 1999) which buffer some of the highest global population densities and poorer populations located at the coastal regions from becoming environmental refugees of natural calamities (Shi and Singh, 2003). Moreover, severity and frequency of natural disasters such as droughts and floods have increased due to changing weather patterns, leaving Small island Developing states (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs) extremely susceptible to significant economic losses in productivity and expenditures in recovery (Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, 2009). Furthermore, changes in rainfall patterns and temperature rise may also alter current land use for food crops, resulting in novel plant pathogen or pest problems. This could potentially reduce global food supplies (Cannon, 1998; Coakley et al., 1999; Parker Gilbert, 2004) and worsen famines in developing countries. The temperature rise also encourages the spread of malaria and other diseases resulting in dire health problems. Hence, the consequences of climate change would hinder nations from achieving socio-economic development if one does not approach socio-economic development with climate change in mind. By prioritising socio-economic development in the name of alleviating intra-generational inequalities, we are then ignoring another form of equally important inequality and it is none other than inter-generational inequalities. As moral and rational human beings, we have the capacity to plan ahead and empathise with others. Therefore, since we are able to foresee the possible future of our descendants and empathise with their plight, we should definitely act on climate change rather than simply consider fulfilling our own current wants and depriving them of their future needs. There is sufficient and strong evidence that the globe is facing severe depletion in energy-producing resources (Hartmann, 2004). Furthermore, our indiscriminate use of Earth’s resources is contributing to climate change at an alarming rate (Halsnaes, 1996). Humans residing in Europe and Asia began burning coal for consumption after they unearthed it approximately 900 years ago. This marked the start of humans’ use of ancient sunlight, which is stored energy during ancient times, or around 400 million years ago. Later, humans also unearthed oil and it exponentially increased our ability to sustain life and consume as compared to before, where we could only survive on current sunlight, that is, energy stored in plants (Hartmann, 2004). These discoveries are particularly significant for the human race as it is through the use of ancient sunlight to sustain life that we are able to alter the environment for our other uses. Since then, we have been able to produce more clothes and food. This is because a lot of land that should have been used to trap current sunlight has now been converted for other purposes such as mass growing of cotton and food crops. All of this would not have been possible if humans had not discovered ancient sunlight that they could tap on (Hartmann, 2004). Humans’ ability to sustain life grew dramatically and so did the human population in terms of its sheer number. According to Hartmann, â€Å"In less than a tenth of a percent of the total history of humanity, we have experienced over 90 percent of the total growth of the human population† (2004). However, these finite resources would one day be depleted. Sources unanimously agree that the oil supply is draining at an extreme rate. In 1996, oil industry experts predicted that we have only an â€Å"almost† 45-year-supply of oil left. Other experts in the industry are way less optimistic. Furthermore, due to accelerated population growth in the Asia’s developing countries, global energy demand is expected to double by 2020 (Hartmann, 2004). Should we lose this important source of energy, we risk having seven billion starve in the 2050 (Hartmann, 2004). This highlights how dire the situation is and how imperative it is for us to address the problem. If we were to simply prioritise socio-economic development, there is almost no incentive for us to reduce our use of these resources. On the contrary, we might end up devising methods to better tap on them to increase economic growth. However, should we decide to place climate change at the fore, we would inevitably have to reduce our oil and coal consumption since using them would only contribute to climate change (Le Quà ©rà © et al., 2012). In other words, we would be addressing two problems just by giving one attention. While it is true that intra-generational inequalities are severe at the moment, inter-generational inequalities would be as well if we fail to address the issue of depleting resources and climate change. It definitely would not be fair for us to leave a globe that our future generations would not be able to enjoy living in with all the devastating climatic conditions and lack of resources. Therefore, climate change should be prioritised over socio-economic development before it is too late for us to. Socio-economic development is undeniably an important goal for all nations. However, if we ignore climate change and continue to use our resources in an unsustainable manner, the potential destruction of the environment and depleted resources would prevent us from moving forward in achieving socio-economic development for the present and the future. It is hence essential that nations collaborate and commit themselves in mitigating climate change. As mentioned by Pew Center (2002), â€Å"Climate mitigation is not the goal, but rather an outgrowth of efforts driven by economic, security, or local environmental concerns.†

How To Communicate In A Relationship Essay -- essays research papers

How to Communicate in a Relatioship   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 Henry Roose Marion Fekete Writing 151 6 December, 1996   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hardest skill to master in order to maintain a successful, loving relationship is communication. Being unable to express one's thoughts clearly and accurately is a heavy burden to bear when trying to hold a conversation. It often causes misunderstandings and unnessary arguments. Plainly expressing one's thoughts is a lesson that many do not learn. The staggering number divorces in recent years may be the effect of ill-communication. Even with all the conveyances of modern day (cellar phones, modems, pagers), important ideas, somehow are not being expressed. In a relationship one can easily misinterpret a statement and become upset. Openly expressing full thoughts, and carefully listening to what your mate is saying are two worthy and helpful tips on holding up the communication bridge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many times, people become frustrated at their partner's lack of understanding. Unfortunately, no one can read minds. That fact makes it of the utmost importance to be able to let your mate in on what you are thinking. How can he or she possib...

Symbols and Symbolism Essay - Role of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

The Crucial Role of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby The critic Harold Bloom once wrote, "Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby." The dictionary defines the word symbolism as, "The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships." The novel takes place during the summer of 1922, in Long Island and New York City. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful female golfer who cheats at the game; Nick and she begin a relationship. Not long after they meet, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick later learns more about his mysterious neighbor. Gatsby's extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. After an awkward reunion, Gatsby and Daisy restore their connection. Tom soon grows suspicious of his wife's relation ship with Gatsby. Daisy realizes that her marriage is to Tom, and Tom sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him. When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby's car has hit and killed Myrtle, Tom's lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The next day, Tom tells Myrtle's husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George then goes to find Gatsby; he finds him at his mansion and shoots him. An excellent example of symbolism in The Great Gatsby can be found in many places including, the ash heap, Gatsby's silk shirts, the green light, The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, and Gatsby's library. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, "bespectacled" eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes, "But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment the eyes of Doctor T.

Ikea Invades America

IKEA has definitely made great strides since coming to America in 1985. The case study points at many areas where idea has made huge impacts on the American furniture retail industry. Looking at Exhibit 1 you can see steady growth in sales, Exhibit 3 shows the United States as the third largest buyer of IKEA’s goods, Exhibit 4 shows the Unites States as having the second most number of IKEA outlets in the world and Exhibit 8 shows them as being 14 in sales in America. Looking around at my friends places there is definitely tons of things bought at IKEA.While all these statistics show a very successful movement into the United States for IKEA I feel that there could be some obstacles IKEA could encounter in the future. As it said in the case study generally IKEA’s products don’t last more than a couple of years and that normally don’t have the endurance to survive a move to a new apartment. With how American’s historically purchase furniture, â€Å" change their spouse as often as their dining room table, about 1. 5 times in a lifetime. † (Moon, 2004), this would seem at odds with the type of product that IKEA offers.The idea that you have to assemble the furniture yourself is something that would seem to turn a large percentage of Americans away from buying an IKEA product. I personally have found some of the things I have bought from IKEA to be very challenging to put together. Another aspect of IKEA is their lack of product depth; it seems that a lack of selection would hurt IKEA in the American market. Outside of these differences in what IKEA has and American tastes there is a lot that IKEA has done very well with in America. IKEA seems to have established itself as the low price leader in the minds of most consumers.As we find ourselves in a time of economic downturn and everybody seems to be trying to save a little here and there that is huge for a retailer. The childcare aspect of the retail outlets is a huge plus to get families to come shopping and buy from you. If you can drop the kids off to play and you end up getting your shopping done in half the time I would have taken if your kids were with you than is a major factor in where you decide to shop. The restaurant in the store is great and the menu items they offer are unique the setting they offer them in.I can remember my parents saying â€Å"let’s go to IKEA and get some Swedish meatballs. † Also the idea that you can walk away with what you bought that day leaves the consumer with a sense of satisfaction that next day delivery doesn’t achieve. Solutions to some of the problems seem to be easily attainable. When looking at the issue of durability you would say that many of their customers don’t go to IKEA to buy a product that lasts generations, so conveying to their customers that they shouldn’t expect to be buying a product that you can hand down to your children would help.The idea that consumers in this generation solve problems by just buying a new product to replace the broken one really helps externally to solve that problem. IKEA could offer an group like â€Å"geek squad† to consumers, for an extra charge, that would bring the product to your home and assemble it could help to attract â€Å"lazy† Americans who don’t want to assemble the furniture themselves. Ultimately the consumers that they market to don’t need any changes to what IKEA does. IKEA provides the experience of buying what is perceived to be a high quality product for an affordable price.It would seem the IKEA experience is something that people line up to do and it seems to be a very successful model for IKEA. I wouldn’t recommend any changes to what IKEA does. Why would you change something that is working so well? Overall IKEA seems to have done a very good job in creating a sector where they can carve out a profit. You are always going to have price conscious consum ers looking for something that looks nice and is affordable and IKEA can offer people that hands down. Ikea Invades America 1. What factors account for the success of IKEA? Three factors account for IKEA’s success in the furniture retailing industry: First, their Scandinavian designs are simple but unique. In the past, IKEA’s designs were functional at best, ugly at worst (Moon, 2004). The company had gradually but deliberately adopted a more distinct design aesthetic (Moon, 2004). Second, IKEA is cost efficient. As back as 1956, IKEA began testing flat packages. IKEA designs products so that they can be packed flat and then, customers can assemble the furniture, thus reducing costs.It also creates extra storage space and the capability of shipping more items, while labor costs are reduced and transport damages are avoided (Moon, 2004). Third, their product strategy provides IKEA with a competitive advantage. IKEA has a product strategy council that establishes product priorities and a product developer that uses â€Å"the matrix† to set targets for their retail prices, that are usual ly 30-40% lower than its competitors (Moon, 2004). 2. What do you think of the company’s product strategy and product range? Do you agree with the matrix approach described in Figure B of the case?What is most important about IKEA’s product strategy and product range is their matrix, which is simple enough, yet very useful at creating market opportunities. The matrix also creates a way of accepting or declining a product, manufacturer, or designer, thus cutting costs (Moon, 2004). 3. Despite its success, there are many downsides to shopping at IKEA. What are some of the downsides? IKEA’s vision statement in Figure C of the case describes how the company seeks to build a partnership with its customers. What do you think of the vision statement?Probably the most important downside is the life span of the furniture. When you shop at IKEA, you know that their furniture would not last more than a couple of years (if you are lucky). Another downside is that the custom er has to assemble the furniture themselves. IKEA does not offer an assembly service as many other furniture stores and this can be troublesome. As for their vision statement, it seems a little too far out. The company wants to create a long lasting relationship with its customers, but many of them will not come back for more. This is due, as explained above, because the ustomer has to assembly the furniture with the help of instructions that sometimes can be hard to follow for the beginner. The company should implement an assembly team, for those that may need that extra help. 4. IKEA plans to grow in the United States by 50 stores in operation by 2013 which is an indication of how optimistic the company is about the viability of its value proposition in this country. Do you think IKEA is being overly optimistic in its growth plans? How would you improve IKEA’s value proposition to make it even more attractive to Americans? 0 stores by 2013 do not seem to be an overly optimi stic number. By opening more stores, the company will be reaching more customers, will be closer to existing ones, and will be in the minds of more people. I would also say that Americans have a long history of purchasing products that last, so placing more attention to durability can help the company. They can also offer more services, better customer service for their stores, and easier to find merchandise (their system may say that a chair is found on section 4, when in reality, the chair is in another section). 5.To achieve the kind of growth IKEA is hoping for, should the company change its product strategy? If so, in what way (s)? What about its product range–are there limitations to the matrix approach? Should the company expand its product lineup to include a greater number of styles and price points? In what other ways should the company change its product lineup? I believe that their strategy has been working for a while and its core should not be changed. The produ ct matrix does not specifically state what qualifies a product as a high, medium, or low price, there can be percentages applied for the price ranges (Moon, 2004).Subcategories can be added to the matrix. The company can expand its product lineup to include a greater number of styles and price points, thus providing the company with complete reports to help them gain advantage over their competitors. 6. If you had to predict, what do you think IKEA’s value proposition and product lineup will look like in 10 years? In ten years, their value proposition can encompass more services to buyers after their purchases. They have to keep with new trends in the industry as well as more products for its customers. 7. Some industry observers have suggested IKEA open a umber of smaller, satellite stores across the United States in shopping malls, strip malls, etc. offering a limited range of IKEA products. These IKEA â€Å"lite† stores would give the consumers who do not have acces s the full-size IKEA stores the opportunity to experience the brand. In addition, consumers who live near a full-size IKEA store could use these smaller stores to make minor purchases such as mugs or dishes as opposed to an entire living room. Do you agree with the idea? Why or why not? The idea of opening smaller or satellite stores across the US can help IKEA to reach more customers.Some customers live in areas where the closes IKEA store is miles away, and these smaller stores can be of great convenience to them and more profits for the company. Some items, as the Ticka alarm clock and clothes hangers (Moon, 2004) are items that are used daily by households and that if offered in more places, the revenues for the company should go up. Both parties will benefit from this idea. 8. Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Honda, and other automobile companies have built manufacturing plants in the United States. IKEA imports all of its furniture from sources outside the United States.Does IKEA have a r esponsibility to add the manufacturing of furniture in the United States, assuming its store expansion takes place? IKEA does not have the responsibility to add manufacturing of furniture here in the United States, but it is an idea that will benefit not only the company and its customers (by having lower prices for production and thus, for the final product) but also will generate much needed jobs. 9. People are used to buying furniture that lasts a long time. Do you think it is ethical for IKEA to sell furniture that doesn’t last a long time?What if the customer of IKEA is not aware of the position IKEA takes that furniture is not forever? Should they make the customer aware that their furniture is not intended to last a long time? I do not believe that it is unethical to sell lower quality products, if the price matches what you are paying for. Most consumers are aware that if they pay low prices, the quality is going to be compromised. IKEA can include on their product in structions a prediction of the life span of it, reducing the risk of being looked as cheap and of bad quality.

IBM’s Multicultural Multinational Teams Essay

When someone thinks of a well-established and traditional company, they may think of IBM. IBM is well known for its written and unwritten rules. IBM likes to focus on individual promotions and achievement and the expectation of lifetime service at the company. But times have changed in this day and age. The company’s new focus is on teamwork. The total amount of hours that IBM devoted to management time for team projects is a great idea and has shown that teams can improve a company for the better. Their human resources department did an excellent job in dedicating those hours to team projects. The teams of employees that IBM sends overseas will bring them new clients but will also widens the opportunity for new clients through helping other companies or organizations. By developing teams, IBM will be able to prepare an extremely strong and varied team. The teams can coup-up with any culture and get the job done successfully. By developing teams IBM will get a leader or problem solver, the team members can work together globally and become sensitive to another culture and their traditions or customs, it will build trust and understanding amongst the team members to complete a project, and any experience team can support a team that does not have a leader or someone who is an affective communicator. Working in teams will benefit both IBM and the employees. IBM’s culture had to change to keep up with society and the changing times. Not only will that but team focused companies have skills variety, diversity, a common purpose and goal. So, essentially companies that are focus on teams rather than individual work are better companies. There are five stages to forming an effective team. These developing steps are forming, storming, and norming, performing and adjourning. The first stage, forming is when the team members will get together to meet each other professionally and hear about goals and any information that the managers have given to help them. The second stage, storming is the adverse phases of the group stop progress. This phase is when members of the group may become unwilling to abide by the rules and regulations that where agreed upon during the forming stage. In some instances, management may have to set in and resolve the issue. The third stage is norming, in which disagreements are resolved Rules, regulations and leadership may have been changed to better suit the group. During this phase more constructive work and assignment completion may happen. The fourth stage is performing; this is when the group is at the top of performance.

History after world war †II Essay

The Jim Crow segregation can be described as one of the low points in the history of America which preached inhumanity legally. The Jim Crow segregation consists of legal laws that segregated the white people from the black, making the white race a superior one. The segregation preached preference to whites in all walks of life which included separate entrance in a restaurant and punishable inter-race marriage. This was legalised in the nineteenth century and the African-Americans fought for over hundred years to earn back their civil rights. It was in 1964 after a decade long intense African-American civil rights movement from 1955 that overturned the oppressive laws and instead conferred equality to the African-Americans. The trigger for the whole movement was the landmark victory in the case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 which made segregation based on colour impermissible. The African-Americans who till then had been escaping, surviving and tolerating the humiliating acts of the whites were overjoyed. However, their happiness was short-lived as there was absolutely no change in reality. This prompted many individuals and African-American political groups like NAACP and CORE to conduct protests that were both effective and dramatic in nature. The first cry of protest came from the 42 year old lady Rosa Park, also known as the mother of the Civil Rights movement, when she refused to vacate her seat for a white in a bus. This led to her arrest and eventual trial at court, but this act of her gave birth to what is called as Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. This protest was one of the first successful movements which united the blacks in a major way. This protest continued for 382 days till a local ordinance legally ended the segregation in the buses. The next major movement which called the attention of the nation were the various â€Å"Sit-ins† that black students had started in 1961. Students professionally dressed started sitting quietly in local stores without any segregation. The silent protests were often met with force wherein they were forcibly evacuated. However, it did make a loud noise at a national level and its cause did not end on deaf ears. Another equally important movement was the freedom rides that were taken in the Deep South to desegregate those areas. Nonetheless, this movement turned out to be very violent that resulted in the use of brute force. The march to Washington in 1963 was a huge success where Martin Luther delivered his famous speech â€Å"I have a dream† though the demands that were met were not that effectively implemented. The Civil rights movement by then had reached a critical stage where protest for civil rights for the African-Americans was not a surprise anymore. This was followed by many important campaigns like Albany Movement, The Birmingham campaign, the violent and the last nail on the coffin, Mississippi Freedom summer, which eventually led to the conferment of civil rights to the African-American in 1964. The act was signed on July 2nd that almost ended the segregation of the blacks. The role of Bayard Rustin, the civil rights activist, was largely behind the scenes but nevertheless a very important one. An avid follower of Gandhian principles of non-violence (the tallest leader in the Indian Independence from the Great Britain), he had played a major role in planning of the hugely successful march to Washington in 1963 though he was never given any form of recognizition for the same. Bayard Rustin was the one who introduced martin Luther to the non-violent tactics in the civil movement which was implemented to a large extent. After the civil rights were conferred in 1964 and the voting rights in 1965, Rustin had stood for greater proximity between the civil rights movement and the Democratic Party. The Black Panther party, on the other hand, was established on the principles of armed resistance which was quite opposite to what Bayard believed. In fact, its history is mostly violent with it being also referred to as a militant group. The civil rights movement for Black Panther, in actuality, intensified after 1965. The period, 1966-1972, saw lots of Black Panther action. They had become the vanguards of the black in many areas where they followed cops in black areas and protected the inhabitants from their brutality. This often resulted in violent confrontations and also death of many policemen and the Black Panther activists. This party was very popular because of the direct action approach that they had adopted. This is quite unlike the peaceful tactic that Bayard had adopted. Basically, Bayard and the Black panthers represented two opposite forces that determined the course of life for millions of African-Americans – one that believed non-violent resistance as the key and the other violent protests as the only answer. The Policy of Containment is a major foreign policy in the history of America that guided many decisions that America as a country took. As the name suggests, the policy of containment aimed at containing the growth of Communism in general, and Soviet Union in particular by isolating it from everyone. The containment would check the growth and expansion of the targeted object by cutting off its basic needs or forming alliances that would effectively contain its augmentation. The policy of containment was a brain child of George Kennan who was then the head of the State Department Policy Planning Staff. This doctrine was developed as a strategy that would stop the Soviet from spreading Communism throughout the world and had prescribed a simple pill: the need to confront â€Å"the Russians with unalterable counter-force at every point where the Soviet Union shows signs of encroaching upon the interests of a peaceful world. † This theory came at the right time as President Truman had just spelled out the changed foreign policy of America that talked more about â€Å"freeing people from oppressive regimes†. Though not the official line of the White House, it was quickly taken in to the fold to cushion the effect of the â€Å"Truman Doctrine† had on the nation. Since then, the policy of containment was applied and used as the main guiding light in determining many of the future foreign policy events till the fall of Soviet Union in 1991. During this period, the containment policy saw many changes and modifications to its original state by different Presidents. The first major implementation of the policy of containment was the Korean War. This war is also known as the hardest test this policy had to go through. The origin of Korean War was quickly blamed on Stalin and was touted as the expansion of communism by America. Thus, America had the right to intervene and eventually joined the war in support of South Korea against the other raging part of Korea – North. Truman had specifically targeted at complete containment wherein every nook and corner of Korea would be protected against the onslaught of communism. The period saw the policy of containment acting as a military option. A major shift in the Containment policy occurred in 1955 when Eisenhower met Soviet Premier Nikolai A. Bulganin, and Nikita S. Khrushchev, the head of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party. This was a huge change in the original tone adopted when the containment policy came to into effect, that of isolating Soviet Union. Eisenhower sought better relations with Soviet as he believed that negotiation with communists would be desirable. Kennan endorsed this view though he was criticized for this stand and was accused of â€Å"futile and lethal attempt to crawl back into the cocoon of history. What followed this was a dangerous implementation of this policy in 1962 what, we today know as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Russians had moved its missiles at the Cuban border for reasons still unexplained. This step was seen as a great threat of Communism to America and the free world. America, immediately, resorted to armed confrontation, though by some good sense, a major confrontation wa s avoided. This crisis was believed to be the most tensed moment in the period of Cold war where fears of another world war spread all over the world. Another mis-utilization of this policy also occurred in the Vietnam War which was fought in the name of containing the spread of communism in Asia. Though properly warned against the great expenses and possible losses if involved in a war in Indochina, United States had marched in to Vietnam with its troops. This had definitely weakened the policy of containment, though it was not dismantled completely. It was in the mid-1970s that the containment policy seemed to have distanced itself from the then foreign policy adopted in America. Communism was weakening in many parts of the world and the war of Vietnam ended with America bearing far more losses than anticipated. All this increased the unlikliness of the use of that policy. However, the 1970’s also saw the overthrow of Chile’s communist government and worldwide military alliances that did suggest influence of the containment policy. This policy officially met its end with the disintegration of Soviet Union. To conclude, this policy alone played a role of paramount importance in shaping the various events in the history of world post world war – II that has defined the borders we see today.