| COVER STORY
Training: The Management Imperative - - U Jawaharlal
Education and training are two of the most essential management prerequisites for any successful corporate entity. When it comes to a niche domain like insurance, the importance is all the more pronounced. While there are instruments to measure the extent of training imparted to the staff, is it just sufficient to accomplish the required quantum of training in letter?
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
COVER STORY
Finding Work-site Success - - Heather D Mitchell
Work-site training, i.e., on the job training is available in all businesses. The insurance industry has different work-site training programs with an aim to hire, train and upgrade individuals who lack specific skills and need experience for a particular job. Work-site training is appropriate for occupations where classroom training is not available or not appropriate and for which specific job skills can be learned while engaged in productive work.
© 2005 Pfingsten Publishing, LLC. Originally published in Volume 80, No. 6, LIFE INSURANCE SELLING (www.lifeinsuranceselling.com). Reprinted with permission.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Insurance Frauds: Is Anybody Watching? - - Jangaiah Paladi and A Srujan
Fraud hasn't received as much attention recently as the other causes of spiraling premiums. Big claims losses, rising costs and poor investment returns by insurers are among the most cited reasons why homeowners', auto and health insurance premiums are rising. Fraud is a rapidly growing menace in the insurance industry. This is undoubtedly not a new issue, but has existed since the industry's beginnings in the seventeenth century; however, it received little attention until the 1980s.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Bridging the Gap: Arch Offers Fresh Ideas on Ways to Restore Positive Relationships - - Dennis H Pillsbury
Arch offers fresh ideas on ways to restore positive relationships.
© 2005 The Rough Notes Company (www.roughnotes.com). First published in the August 2005 issue of Rough Notes Magazine. Reprinted with permission.
GENERAL INSURANCE
Faulty Work and the CGL- - Craig F Stanovich
We all make them (even if we don't admit to them). Mistakes, that is. It's just a matter of what, when and how. Lives can be defined by a mistake (without always having the benefit of errors or omissions insurance). Take Fred Merkle, for instance. Almost 100 years later, he is still remembered for one misjudgment, just one mistake that will be forever known as the Merkle Boner.
© 2005 International Risk Management Institute, Inc. Reproduced with permission of the publisher, International Risk Management Institute, Inc., Dallas, Texas from IRMI.COM. Further reproduction prohibited. Visit www.IRMI.com for free practical and reliable risk and insurance information.
HEALTH INSURANCE
Are Rising Health-Care Costs Making Your Company Sick?- - Rob Norton
Even at companies where they're not a problemyetdirectors need to know the treatment options.
© Corporate Board Member, May/June 2005 (www.boardmember.com). Reprinted with permission.
MANAGEMENT
Striking a Balance- - Melanie Wright
Giving customers a fair deal involves more than making them happy. Melanie Wright explains why `fair' still seems to be the hardest word.
© The Chartered Insurance Institute, London, 2005 (www.cii.co.uk). Reprinted with permission.
MANAGEMENT
LIC: The Front Runner in Corporate Social Responsibility
- - Rajesh C Jampala and Bh Venkateswara Rao
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is concerned with treating the stakeholders of the organization ethically or in a socially responsible manner. CSR, if implemented in its true spirit, helps in enhancing the quality of life of the stakeholders and the society at large. LIC, having recognized the importance of CSR, has undertaken a number of programs to satisfy their stakeholders. Further, it has introduced various social security schemes such as Janashree Bima Yojana, Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana, Siksha Sahayog Yojana, etc., to uplift the poor and downtrodden. Apart from this, it invests a huge amount of funds in various social and developmental activities. Against this background, an attempt has been made to assess the various Corporate Social Responsibilities undertaken by LIC.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
REGULATION
Record Retention Compliance in a Changing Regulatory Environment
- - Jin J Lee, James Santangelo and Rosalind Conway
Evolving regulations require compliance with a staggering variety of retention periods, storage methods, and other specifics corresponding to the many types of company records generated in the course of doing business. With the market's focus on corporate accountability, the government agencies that put forth these regulations have been increasing their scrutiny in the record retention area, especially electronic records, elevating the risk of non-compliance and ultimately litigation.
© 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com). This article was originally printed in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Americas Insurance Digest quarterly publication (July 2005 edition) and is reprinted here with permission from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
TECHNOLOGY
Business Interruption, Technology Concern Risk Managers
- - Kevin M Quinley
Insurance covering the loss of earnings resulting from and occurring after destruction of property, also known as `loss of profits' or `business income protection insurance', is business interruption. Business interruption is the major risk found throughout the supply chain. Other primary risks lie simply with the ups and downs of the insurance market and the importance of educating carriers to the uniqueness of the electronics industry. Now technology has been added to this list.
© 2005 Claims Magazine (www.claimsmag.com). Reprinted with permission.
RISK AND INSURANCE
Urban Risk Management: An Urgent Need in India- - Arman Oza
Urban system is a complex system where external events that are not always seen in the closed system model are evidenced, and the impact of the internal changes can be seen in the urban area. Usually, when planning for the future, we need to collect information and analyze it rationally in order to control unexpected events. How proper strategies can be developed to deal with external uncertainty and shocks that transcend the imagination of policy makers is an important question in the field of urban planning.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
REINSURANCE
Reinsurance Myths Revisited - - David S Powell and Robin N Murray
There's been a lot of progress in dispelling old myths in the reinsurance industry, but there are still reasons to be on guard.
© 2004 www.towersperrin.com. Reprinted in its entirity from Towers Perrin Emphasis Magazine, Issue 2004/3.
INSURANCE OPERATIONS
A Roundup of Fraud Activities Reported Across the Southeast
Insurance fraud in the United Stateswhether committed by claimants, providers, employees or insurersis pervasive and expensive; its cost to consumers, the insurance industry and governments was an estimated $85.4 bn in 1996. Direct or indirect costs attributable to insurance fraud amounted to more than $1,000 per American family. While insurance fraud is hardly a new problem, not much was known about its impact until fairly recently.
© 2005 Wells Publishing Inc. (www.insurancejournal.com). Reprinted with permission.
SPOTLIGHT
CommInsure- - Jampala Phani Priya
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Human Capital, Asset Allocation, and Life Insurance
This research paper is based on the concept of human capital, presenting a unified framework in order to enable an individual investor to make appropriate decisions on asset allocation and life insurance. Life insurance, in its various guises and incarnations, can hedge the mortality risk that is involved in human capital. This paper is organized into five sections. These are: Demand for life insurance, model and critical valuables, case studies and finally summary and conclusion with remarks.
© 2005 Roger G Ibbotson, Peng Chen, Moshe Milevsky and Xingnong Zhu. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the summary. |
