The Future of Banking Sector Compensation

In the aftermath of every 'boom and bust' that has occurred within the global financial system throughout history, policymakers and stakeholders have proposed and implemented financial reform as a means to prevent future financial failures. In many cases the lobby from the big investment banks is to strong, and many reform acts don't make it through congress. The ones that do like the Glass-Steagall Act end up being repealed, and therefore we end up with a financial system that is vulnerable. Thus, when it is exposed to free-market forces such as profligacy, irrational exuberance, and greed, it cracks at the seams, and if not rescued, it breaks down completely.

Nothing has exhibited this better than the recent financial crisis. There is a fair amount of rhetoric circulating at the moment surrounding financial reform, and reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act has been one such mention. Compensation has been another. These, as well as many other areas within the financial system need be to critically evaluated, and recommendations for reform reform put forward. If we are to stave off future financial crisis, it is imperative that all loopholes are blocked up, necessary regulation is implemented, and a healthy financial system is created as a result. Moreover, we must be careful not to over-regulate, as this could also be to the detriment of the system. Constrained capital markets are as good as price-fixing in closed economy.

5 Tasks You Can Outsource Now To Attract New Business

The following are five tasks that can be outsourced immediately in order to reduce your businesses costs while remaining committed to increasing the productivity of your existing team. Outsourcing is often an easy way to expand a business while still maintaining a conservative focus towards costs. While many small business owners are hesitant to utilize overseas talent, there are many jobs that overseas labor will excel in with a high level of dedication and quality of work when the right employees for the business are found.

A well trained and focused international marketing support team can assist your day team in executing marketing campaigns and provide sales support roles that ensure the business is on track to expose the brand to the right number of people in order to attract new business. The first person may or may not be the right person. It's best to make sure and start with small projects and build up trust prior to hiring outsourced employees for large projects. I never hire someone for a big job first and am very happy I set this policy for myself a long time ago.

Graphics Design

If you have an in-house graphic designer, it's also wise to have another person that supports their activities in the evening. Even if it's just creating additional color samplings or new pictures or being available to execute rush items overnight. If supporting a joint venture partner that has frequent product changes and specials it may be necessary to adjust marketing collateral and online graphics quickly and an outsourced graphics designer can be the best choice.

Critical Questions You Must Ask About Paper Shredding

Ever heard of corporate intelligence, corporate security, and counterespionage? Well, there are people whose main business is to mind your business by scavenging through your garbage, undermining your privacy and stealing corporate information. Just when you think having your own paper shredder and performing in-house shredding is enough - think again. There are pitfalls to this practice, and you are as endangered as when you didn't have a shredder.

Who is doing the shredding?

Have you gone a comprehensive background check on the staff you've assigned to oversee in-house shredding? The job may be too basic but many of your organisation's secrets are right there in the hands of this person. Are your shredding personnel trustworthy and competent enough to perform reliable document destruction? Do they know the importance of their job? Is their work audited and documented, or at best certified?

How is the shredding done?

There's a reason why shredding services provider provide certificate and documentation every time they render shredding. It's important for the shredding of records to be witnessed, documented, and done professionally, with consideration for the protection of the environment. It's not enough to have those records cut into pieces. There should be a records management and destruction program designed to ensure utmost safety.

Where do the shredded materials go?

There is a proper and safe way to dispose of shredded paper. Shredding companies guarantee this by partnering with reliable paper mills, providing well-documented shredding services, even combining shredded materials from various clients. The shredded materials are then recycled to make eco-friendly paper products. How are those pieces disposed? If they end up in the standard dumpsters, they could fall into the hands of spies.

What happens when your shredder malfunctions?

Too many times, employees don't bother with a shredder that doesn't work nor has overflowing bin. Many forget security protocol, or aren't aware of one, and simply crumple paper and throw them in the garbage like an ordinary candy wrapper. This practice is not just environmentally unsound but it also puts the organisation in great danger. Documents which are supposedly shredded and disposed properly - where are they stored while the shredders are down?

What's your other option?

Your organisation will have many things to worry about, but some problems can be avoided. Designing and implementing a reliable records management and destruction program is a good preventive approach against counterespionage and information theft. It's good to have your own shredder and do in-house shredding. However, your methods may not offer the level of protection that you require. To ensure maximum security and safety, leave paper shredding to specialists.

Solar Cables

The sun is a renewable source of energy that has become increasingly popular over the last 10 years. Photovoltaic systems are being installed all over the world and the components used to build them need to endure extreme temperature ranges and UV exposure. Photovoltaic systems are also growing in the UK, but there's confusion over which materials and solar cables to use, as some systems have been installed with unsuitable products, such as Rubber cables.

Rubber Solar cables will perform their functions, but after exposure to severe temperature variations they will eventually become brittle, in some cases leading to arcing which can generate temperatures in excess of 2,500 degrees C.

Solar cables need to be durable and resilient to withstand and survive in the harshest of conditions. The cables will need to be certified to national and international approvals by independent testing institutes, as well as being tested in their own laboratories. Quality solar cables have many benefits including UV resistant and the fact that they can withstand extreme temperature variations and weather.

Managing Digital Files With A Digital Asset Management System

Digital Asset Management systems are the most effective way for companies to manage, distribute, and update all of their digital files and brand assets over the internet. Through such systems, not only images, but documents, videos, logos, and guidelines can be distributed, organized, and shared seamlessly. The process is dynamic and allows for companies and organizations to save both time and money through the increases in efficiency they can expect from such systems. This article will discuss the benefits and features of using a Digital Asset Management System to manage one's digital files.

Perhaps the most direct benefit of using such software is that it makes it far simpler to manage the consistency of one's brand. Through asset management systems, everyone can finally have the digital assets they are interested in having in formats that are correct and up to date. They will also receive the guidelines that are necessary for them to apply the digital assets correctly. This is a huge advantage for businesses and clients, as consistency and simplicity means less time has to be spent revising information and resending files, and more time can be spent generating profits, reaching out to clients, and conducting other vital processes of one's business.

Marketing time and resources are freed up dramatically when one switches toward using a Digital Asset Management system to manage their digital files. Productivity can then increase as a result. People such as customers and clients who are looking for brand assets that have been approved can then go straight to the hub to receive what they need, rather than repeatedly going to the head of the organization or to the design team. When such teams do not have to spend excess amounts of time fielding the same questions over where to find particular files and how to convert them into legible formats, they can spend more time doing what they do best, including designing additional assets and steering the company toward progress.

Brand asset management costs can easily drop in excess of 30% once one switches to a Digital Asset Management System for managing digital files. There will no longer be a need to manually send out brand elements or guidelines; that time can be devoted to more useful purposes. People who need such information are now empowered to find it on their own, which results in lower amounts of overhead and higher amounts of productivity.

When the process of making the most of one's brand becomes cost effective, fool proof, quick, and easy, it is hard to imagine a business becoming anything but better. When all of one's digital brand assets become available in a single place on the internet and when they become organised efficiently, only good things can happen for one's business efforts.

Of course, access to such information must be controlled, and this is why a high quality Digital Asset Management System will put the owner in control of what material is downloaded so sensitive artwork and documents remain confidential. The service is fully customizable and designed for practical businesses.

The Easy Way to Open Source

There has been a revolution in home electronics in recent years, not least because of the increasing sophistication of open source technology. Open source is a production and development environment that aims to give access to the technology underlying internet and electronic devices.

Along with the increasingly high quality of electronic components that are readily available on the open market, the open source development model has made it much easier for hobbyists and enthusiasts to develop their own software and hardware. The number of people developing their own devices at home is growing rapidly, whether they are keen amateurs wanting to learn more about electronics, or trained engineers working to develop their own prototypes for products that might one day have commercial applications.

For these enthusiasts, the availability of open source technology has been a huge catalyst to invention and creativity, and they have made the process of learning about or developing new equipment far easier.

A look at some of the electronics components available from the growing number of online suppliers quickly reveals the sophistication and simplicity of the boards that you can buy. Take, for example, the Fez Panda. Behind the cute name lies a.NET micro framework that allows users to program and debug using Microsoft's free Visual C# Express. It allows applications to be loaded via a USB cable with full featured debugging capabilities, such as stepping in code or inspecting variables.

Testing Time for the Home Electronics Beginner

There are few hobbies that are rising in popularity as fast as home electronics. Every day more people decide that they want to learn about electronics, either to understand the technologies that they encounter every day, or to design their own cool gadgets at home. There are even trained engineers out there who work on prototypes of their own inventions at home with the aim of creating a new device that will one day make it to market.

There are many components that the beginner needs to understand in order to have a good working knowledge of electronics, and one of these is the oscilloscope - an electronic test instrument that allows you to view constantly varying signal voltages.

Oscilloscopes generally display data on voltages as a 2-dimensional graph, with a voltage on its vertical axis, and on the other axis any other parameter that can be converted into a voltage. They show the wave shape of an electrical signal and are vital to many devices in the medical, scientific, engineering and telecommunications industry.

Some of that may sound complex to anyone who does not have a solid grounding in electronics, but never fear, there are easy ways to learn what an oscilloscope does and how it functions.