Financial markets are witnessing an unprecedented explosion in the availability of data, and the firms that survive will be able to leverage this information to increase their profit and expand their opportunities in a global world. Large firms must build their own datacenters to manage this data. In such an environment, the CIO s ability is crucial to lead an effective data strategy to capture, process, and connect data to all the relevant lines of business. At the core of this strategy lies the datacenter - the repository of all information. While there are books that discuss the mechanics, hardware and technicalities of datacenters, no book has yet made the connection between enterprise strategy and datacenter investment, design and management. Next Generation DataCenters in Financial Services is a solution driven book for management that demonstrates how to leverage technology to manage the seemingly infinite amount of data available today. Each chapter offers cutting-edge management and technology solutions to effectively manage data through datacenters.
Presents cutting-edge technology solutions not available in one place until now
Includes step-by-step instructions on how to implement a datacenter strategy based on the author s recent success with Wachovia s datacenter
Demonstrates how business and IT can be aligned in financial services"

`The Handbook of Innovation and Services is an exceptional volume. Its contributors, including Faiz Gallouj, William Baumol, Jean Gadrey, and Pascal Petit, are among the major thinkers in both the fields of the economics of services and the economics of innovation. Selected topics include the "cost disease", services innovation in the global economy, social innovation in the services, and innovation and employment in services. The book, I am sure, will become a standard reference volume in both these fields in the ensuing years.'---Edward Wolff, New York University, USAThis Handbook brings together 49 international specialists to address an issue of increasing importance for the world's post-industrial economies; innovation as it relates to services. Contemporary economies have two fundamental characteristics. Firstly, they are service economies in as much as services account for more than 70 per cent of the wealth and jobs in most developed countries. Secondly, they are innovation economies as recent decades have seen an unprecedented development of scientific, technological, organisational and social innovations. This Handbook expertly links these two major characteristics in order to investigate the role of innovation in services, an issue that until now has been inadequately explored and one that poses many theoretical and operational challenges. This comprehensive volume encompasses the views of eminent scholars from a range of disciplines including economics, management, sociology and geography, and draws on a number of different analytical and methodological perspectives. With its multi-disciplinary approach this Handbook will be an invaluable reference source for academics and students in the fields of economics, management and the geography of services and innovation. Public authorities and managers in the service sector will also find this book fascinating.

The cooperation and contamination between mathematicians, statisticians and econometricians working in actuarial sciences and finance is improving the research on these topics and producing numerous meaningful scientific results. This volume presents new ideas, in the form of four- to six-page papers, presented at the International Conference eMAF2020 - Mathematical and Statistical Methods for Actuarial Sciences and Finance. Due to the now sadly famous COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was held remotely through the Zoom platform offered by the Department of Economics of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice on September 18, 22 and 25, 2020. eMAF2020 is the ninth edition of an international biennial series of scientific meetings, started in 2004 at the initiative of the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Salerno. The effectiveness of this idea has been proven by wide participation in all editions, which have been held in Salerno (2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014), Venice (2008, 2012 and 2020), Paris (2016) and Madrid (2018). This book covers a wide variety of subjects: artificial intelligence and machine learning in finance and insurance, behavioral finance, credit risk methods and models, dynamic optimization in finance, financial data analytics, forecasting dynamics of actuarial and financial phenomena, foreign exchange markets, insurance models, interest rate models, longevity risk, models and methods for financial time series analysis, multivariate techniques for financial markets analysis, pension systems, portfolio selection and management, real-world finance, risk analysis and management, trading systems, and others. This volume is a valuable resource for academics, PhD students, practitioners, professionals and researchers. Moreover, it is also of interest to other readers with quantitative background knowledge.

Research Methods in Service Innovation provides an essential methodological toolbox for researchers, students and practitioners interested in better understanding innovation and improving innovation processes in service organisations. Each chapter presents a specific method, introduces its theoretical foundations, explains its practical application, and provides examples and suggestions for its implementation. The methods described include original and innovative methodological approaches, such as technology-oriented scenario analysis, experiments and laddering, as well as critical incident techniques, social network analysis, blogs, visual techniques, narratives and future workshops. Together, the chapters encourage readers to understand service innovation research as a process that requires creative methodological thinking. The book adapts various methods and processes from different areas of research, and evaluates their strengths, limitations and possible applications in specific areas of service innovation. Researchers and academics will find this collection to be an essential state-of-the-art resource for research in the fields of service innovation and innovation in general. The book will also appeal to practitioners and consultants dealing with both public and private service organisations. Contributors include: C. Forder, L. Fuglsang, N.N. Grunbaum, A.V. Hansen, F. Lapenta, J.K. Moller, A.R. Olesen, A. Scupola, F. Sorensen, J. Sundbo

The negative impacts associated with conventional tourism has occasioned more sustainable forms of tourism including community-based tourism (CBT). Among the benefits of CBT are the improvement of rural economies, empowerment of the local community, and poverty alleviation. In as much as CBT has been promoted as being more beneficial to local communities, its implementation is not without challenges. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, destination marketing organizations and managers of CBT projects have to adopt different marketing strategies including shifting to target new demographics in an effort to remain sustainable. Prospects and Challenges of Community-Based Tourism and Changing Demographics provides theoretical and empirical insights in the prospects and challenges associated with CBT, critically examining issues of structure, impact, management, marketing, support, changing demographics, challenges, sustainability, and implications for the future of CBT. It also highlights critical lessons and trends in CBT from both established and new CBT initiatives to inform the design, management, marketing, and sustainability of CBT projects. This book will be a useful addition to the literature on CBT with its coverage of topics such as conservation, cultural tourism, and sustainable rural livelihoods. This book provides an excellent resource for students, academicians, researchers, tourism and hospitality practitioners, managers, destination managers, stakeholders, tour operators, and policymakers.

Bill Gates' quote, "Banking is necessary, but banks are not," showcases the opportunity for financial services digital transformation. The next transition from industry 4.0 to 5.0 will impact all sectors, including banking. It will combine information technology and automation, based on artificial intelligence, person-robot collaboration, and sustainability. It is time to analyze this transformation in banking deeply, so that the sector can adequately change to the 'New Normal' and a wholly modified banking model can be properly embedded in the business. This book presents a conceptual model of banking 5.0, detailing its implementation in processes, platforms, people, and partnerships of financial services organizations companies. The last part of the book is then dedicated to future developments. Of interest to academics, researchers, and professionals in banking, financial technology, and financial services, this book also includes business cases in financial services.

Despite all the medical and media attention focused on the rate of overweight and obesity in the African American population, African American images and body types are greatly influencing changes in the fashion, fitness, advertising, television and movie industries. This is because overweight, like beauty, can be in the eye of the beholder. Most research studies investigating attitudes about body image and body type among African Americans have shown they are more satisfied with their bodies than are their white counterparts and that there appears to be a wider range of acceptable body shapes and weights, and a more flexible standard of attractiveness, among black Americans as compared to whites. That fact is not being lost on leaders of industries that might profit from understanding this wider range of beauty, as well as playing to it. In this book, medical anthropologist Eric Bailey introduces and explains the self-acceptance and body image satisfaction of African Americans, and traces how that has spurred changes in industry. His book fills the void of scientific evidence to enhance the understanding of African Americans' perceptions related to body image and beauty-and is the first to document these issues from the perspective of an African American male. Despite all the medical and media attention focused on the rate of overweight and obesity in the African American population, African American images and body types are greatly influencing changes in the fashion, fitness, advertising, television, and movie industries. This is because overweight, like beauty, can be in the eye of the beholder. Most research studies investigating attitudes about body image and body type among African Americans have shown they are more satisfied with their bodies than are their white counterparts. Most black women, for example, are of course concerned with how they look, but do not judge themselves in terms of their weight and do not believe they are valued mostly on the basis of their bodies. Black teen girls most often say being thick and curvaceous with large hips and ample thighs is seen as the most desirable body shape. Thus, there appears to be a wider range of acceptable body shapes and weights, and a more flexible standard of attractiveness, among black Americans as compared to whites. That fact is not lost on leaders of industries that might profit from understanding this wider range of beauty, as well as playing to it. Voluptuous supermodel Tyra Banks is just one African American who's broken the mold in that industry. The effects have been seen right down to department and local clothes stores, where lines of larger and plus-size fashions are expanding, becoming more colorful and more ornate. In the fitness industry, health gurus Madonna Grimes and Billy Blanks have been revolutionizing how people get fit and how fitness needs to be redeveloped for the African American population. Advertising has taken a similar turn, not the least manifestation of which were the major campaigns Dove and Nike ran in 2005 with plus-sized actresses (who continue to appear in promotions for both companies). In movies and on television shows, the African American beautiful body image has followed suit. In this book, medical anthropologist Eric Bailey introduces and explains the self-acceptance and body image satisfaction of African Americans, and traces how that has spurred changes in industry. His book fills the void of scientific evidence to enhance the understanding of African Americans' perceptions related to body image and beauty-and is the first to document these issues from the perspective of an African American male.

This text provides critical information to help organizations improve their emergency communications, including the tools, automation technology, and processes of crisis notification. To grasp the importance of emergency notification, imagine this scenario: A shooter is on the loose at a college campus. Chaos reigns. To contain the situation, campus personnel need to communicate immediately and efficiently, not only with the students, faculty, and staff, but also the local police, federal law enforcement, and media. Effective emergency notification makes things "right," it allows the right message to reach the right people at the right time—facilitating the right response. Emergency Notification explains how. This book offers must-know information for business security, senior management, human resources staff, government policymakers, and emergency planners, examining what, when, how, why, and with whom to communicate during crises. This text also covers risk communication, message mapping, information loading, audience comprehension, and practical issues like testing emergency notification systems.

Tourism is one of the most rapidly evolving industries of the twenty-first century. The economy of many countries all over the world depends on their ability to attract visitors and maintain a distinct edge in a highly competitive market. International Tourism and Hospitality in the Digital Age brings together the best practices for growth, development, and strategic management within the tourism and hospitality industries. Highlighting comparative research that explores the cross-cultural contexts and societal implications of tourism, this book is an essential resource for professionals, researchers, academics, and students interested in a contemporary approach to promoting, managing, and maximizing profitability of leisure and recreation services.

This book provides an overview of the historical financial reforms and regulatory changes in China, highlighting the background to and causes of changes in the income structure of China's banks. It also investigates ongoing concerns with regard to banking diversification in China, and its consequences, amid the global trend of banks' shift to non-traditional businesses. Focusing on three critical aspects of bank-income diversification, namely the effects on profitability, risk level, and efficiency, it employs the concept of systemically important banks, which describes the scale and degree of influence a bank has in global and domestic financial markets. More importantly, rather than replicating techniques employed in the research on developed markets, it applies several improved methodologies to address bank diversification in the specific context created by China's unique institutional background and data characteristics, such as GMM-type threshold models and stochastic frontier analysis with the within maximum likelihood estimation. Shedding new light on the current status of income diversification in the Chinese banking sector, this book is a valuable resource for readers in fields such as banking and financial stability. It will also help banking professionals and financial regulatory authorities to better understand the reform of China's financial industry and the future direction of banking.

This book gathers the proceedings of the 7th International Conference, with the theme "Culture and Tourism in a Smart, Globalized and Sustainable World," held on Hydra Island, Greece, on June 17-19, 2020, published with the support of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism. Highlighting the contributions made by numerous writers to the advancement of tourism research, this book presents a critical academic discourse on sustainable practices in the smart tourism context, improving readers' understanding of, and stimulating future debates in, this critical area. In addition to the knowledge economy and the concept of smart destinations, the book addresses new modes of tourism management and development, as well as emerging technologies, including location-based services, the Internet of things, smart cities, mobile services, gamification, digital collections and the virtual visitor, social media, social networking, and augmented reality.

Database technology can be used for various ends, ranging from promotion of democracy to strengthening of nationalism to shoring up authoritarian regimes through misinformation. Its use affects every layer of society: from individuals to households to local governments, and is a consuming issue in the United States Governments stance on privacy, security, and technology.

This practical reference provides the basics for instituting a corporate anti-fraud program that helps prepare corporate security professionals and other corporate managers for fighting corporate fraud from inside the company. It provides an exceptional foundation for security professionals or business executives involved in developing and implementing a corporate anti-fraud program as part of a corporate assets protection program.
The author's intent is to provide the reader with a practitioner's guide (a "how-to" book), augmented by some background information to put it all in perspective. The approach used should enable the readers to immediately put in place a useful anti-fraud program under the leadership of the corporate security officer (CSO), or other corporate professional.
* Shows professionals how to save their companies money.
* Provides a roadmap for developing an anti-fraud program.
* Allows security professionals to tailor their anti-fraud program to their own corporate environment.
* Explains how fraud is costing corporations a competitive edge in the global marketplace.