3 Trends in the banking Industry

Your initial meeting with your new boss went very well and you are now working in a department that supports the company's strategic planning for growth in the banking industry. Your department head has asked you to do research from a newcomer's perspective to inform existing company marketing directions.  He has asked you to write a short paper detailing the three top trends in the banking industry, and focus on what you think is the most important issue in these trends.  He is hoping to use your research to position your department to launch a new strategic plan.  However, your immediate task is to do the research, write a short, focused paper with correctly cited sources to enable further study. 

This is your first real task and you are excited and a little nervous about the assignment. You think you have a sense of the industry but know you need to do more research to be spot on. The ability to spot trends in your industry is an important skill. enabling you to spend energy on new growth areas, products, and services.  Spaeder (2007), writing for Entrepreneur, offers ideas about how to Spot the Latest Trends.

Your assignment is to produce an essay of 1,000-1,300 words in which you discuss THREE trends in your profession. You are to provide citations for at least SIX RESOURCES to support your ideas. You will give credit for ideas in your sources in proper APA "in - text" and complete citations in the References page. You will identify three trends, discuss them briefly, and then focus on a single issue that is especially important.  

• Include at least six (6) references; a minimum of three (3) must come from the UMUC library.
• Follow best practices for structuring the paper: 
  • An effective introduction grabs the reader’s attention and sets the tone and direction for the rest of the paper.  In reading an introduction, the reader should have a clear idea of what will follow.  Supporting paragraphs move the reader from the general introduction to the more specific aspects of your analysis in the paper.  
  • The body paragraphs show how the information you are providing supports and relates to your thesis.  Paragraphs across and within sections need to effectively transition from one to the next.
  • Each paragraph should include a topic sentence, which contains the main point of the paragraph. 
  • The conclusion brings to a close what you have presented in your paper.