HRD Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HRD - Case Study Example s in which the acquired companies used when going into market but also rethinking how various business parts could be integrated on a global perspective. Specifically, Mr. Grunewald required finishing market research so that the organization can acquire adequate information prior to entering the market, simplifying the existing production design, rationalizing the distribution channels, and most importantly overcoming regional differences. The company’s recent improvements were the result of a commitment that was met. This involved a four-part strategy that concentrated the organization’s resources as well as energies on a clear set of objectives. These objectives incorporated building the organization’s core profitability, strengthening its management, broadening the returns, and improving returns on equity. Through application of such managerial aspects, the organization’s direction was reversed from the verge of collapse due to customer dissatisfaction and tarnished reputation to a global power surpassing most of its previous performance records. The organization’s current performance is being driven by several factors. First, the urge to re-establish its reputation and its market share in the global perspective is pushing the organization to shift the mode of thinking from the local perspective to global. Second, competition in most segments of the local market has also pushed the organization to improve its practices and focus on bigger and broader opportunities in the global arena. Black & Decker has taken the issue of competition seriously to the point that it has even reverse engineered some of the competitor’s products to manufacture better products with respect to technology and security. One of the strengths include that the proposal had accounted for the major aspects that would be essential to establish the organization in the projected markets. The proposal had catered for communication among the branches and established an idea of the

With diagrams compare Essay Example for Free

With diagrams compare Essay This type of communication is between the sender and the receiver is known as connectionless (rather than dedicated) Contrasted with packet-switched is circuit-switched, a type of network such as the regular voice telephone network in which the communication circuit (path) for the call is set up and dedicated to the participants in that call. For the duration of the connection, all the resources on that circuit are unavailable for other users. Voice calls using the Internets packet-switched system are possible. Each end of the conversation is broken down into packets that are reassembled at the other end. The principles of packet switching are as follow. Messages are divided into data packets, which are then directed through the network to their destination under computer control. Besides a message portion, each packet contains data concerning. The principles of packet switching are as follow. Messages are divided into data packets, which are then directed through the network to their destination under computer control. Besides a message portion, each packet contains data concerning: Â  The destination of the address; Â  The source identification; The sequence of the packet in the complete message; Â  The detection and control of transmission errors. Â  Pre-determined routing. With this method, the routing details are included in the packet itself, each switching exchange forwarding the packet according to the embedded instructions; Â  Directory routing. Each switching exchange has a copy of a routing table to which it refers before forwarding each packet. The appropriate output queue is determined from the table and the packet destination Diagram shown below: Identify three types of cabling used in data communication. State which one you would recommend in an implement requiring high security consideration and why? The three types of cables used in data communication are: Optical Fiber Coaxial Coaxial cable is a copper that is used by TV companies between the community antenna, and also the user homes and businesses. At times these cable are also used by telephone companies from their central office to the telephones near users. This is also widely installed for use in business and corporation Ethernet and other types of local area network. Coaxial cable is called coaxial this is because this includes one physical channel that carries the signal surrounded (after a layer of insulation) by another concentric physical channel, both running along the same axis. The outer channel serves as a ground. Many of these cables or pairs of coaxial tubes can be placed in a single outer sheathing and, with repeaters, they can carry information for a great distance. This is a diagram shown below: UPT UPT stands for Unshielded twisted pair. This cable is the most common kind of copper telephone wiring. Twisted pair is the ordinary copper wire that connects home and many business computers to the telephone company. To reduce crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires, two insulated copper wires are twisted around each other. Each signal on twisted pair requires both wires. Since some telephone sets or desktop locations require multiple connections, twisted pair is sometimes installed in two or more pairs, all within a single cable. For some business locations, twisted pair is enclosed into a shield that functions as a ground. This is known as shielded twisted pair (STP). The twisted pair is now frequently installed with the two pairs to the home, with the extra pair making it possible for you to add another line (perhaps for use of a modem) when you will need it. These twisted pair comes with each pair uniquely colour coded when it is packaged in multiple pairs. Different uses such as analogue, digital, and Ethernet require different pair multiples. Although twisted pair is often associated with home use, with a higher grade of twisted pair is often used for horizontal wiring in LAN installations because it is less expensive than coaxial cable. The wire that you buy at a local hardware store for extensions from your phone or computer modem to a wall jack is not twisted pair. It is a side-by-side wire known as silver satin. The wall jack can have as many five kinds of hole arrangements or pin outs, depending on what kinds of wire the installation you expects that will be plugged in (for example, digital, analogue, or LAN) . (Thats why you may sometimes find when you carry your notebook computer to another location that the wall jack connections wont match your plug. ) This is a diagram shown below: Optical Fiber. Optical fiber (or fiber optic) refers to the medium and the technology associated with the transmission of information as light pulses along a glass or plastic wire or fiber. Optical fiber carries much more information than the conventional copper wire and is in general not subject to electromagnetic interference and the need to retransmit signals. Most telephone company long-distance lines are now of optical fiber. Transmission on optical fiber wire requires repeaters at distance intervals. The glass fiber requires more protection within an outer cable than copper. For these reasons and because the installation of any of the new wiring is labour-intensive, few communities yet have optical fiber wires or cables from the phone companys branch office to local customers (known as local loops). A type of fiber known as single mode fiber is used for longer distances; multimode fiber is used for shorter distances. This is the diagram shown below: By analyzing and researching the three above cable I would recommend the Fiber Optic cable this is because I believe it has a high security and also has the following. Fiber optic cables have a much greater bandwidth than metal cables. This means that they can carry more data. Â  Fiber optic cables are less susceptible than metal cables to interference. Fiber optic cables are much thinner and lighter than metal wires. Data can be transmitted digitally (the natural form for computer data) rather than analogically. Identify the alternative forms of communication media and provide examples of their use in different forms of network. Microwave Microwave frequencies require a direct line of sight between sending and receiving station to operate. Microwave systems were the preferred method of communications transmission before the introduction of fiber optic. Radio The lowest-frequency domain that needed to name. This extends from wavelengths of a kilometre or so, the longest that will propagate through the interstellar medium, down to about a millimetre. The detection of radio radiation is often done using wave techniques rather than photon-counting, this is because of the low photon energies, and this offers distinct advantages for such applications as interferometer which astronomers working in the infrared and optical regimes view with some envy. From active nuclei, we often detect the synchrotron radiation in this range radiation produced energetic charged particles (mostly electrons) produce when they are deflected by the magnetic fields. a) Define the basic signal theory with the aid of diagrams? 1) In electronics, a signal is an electric current or electromagnetic field that is used to convey data from one place to another. The simplest form of signal is a direct current (DC) that is switched on and off; this is the principle by which the early telegraph worked. More complex signals consist of an alternating-current (AC) or electromagnetic carrier that contains one or more data streams. Data is superimposed on a carrier current or a wave this is by means of a process called a modulation. Signal modulation can be done by two main ways: analogue and digital. In recent years, digital modulation has been getting more common, while analogue modulation methods have been used less and less. There are still plenty of analogue signals around, however, and they will probably never become totally extinct. Except for DC signals such as telegraph and base band, all signal carriers have a definable frequency or frequencies. Signals also have a property called wavelength, which is inversely proportional to the frequency. 2) In some information technology contexts, a signal are simply that which is sent or received, thus including both the carrier and the data together. 3) In telephony, a signal has a special data that is used to set up or control communication. Almost everything in the world can be described or represented in one of two forms: analogue or digital. The principal feature of analogue representations is that they are continuous. In contrast, digital representations consist of values measured at discrete intervals. Digital watches are called digital because they go from one value to the next without displaying all intermediate values. Consequently, they can display only a finite number of times of the day. In contrast, watches with hands are analogue, this is mainly because the hands move continuously around the clock face. As the minute hand goes around, it not only touches the numbers 1 through 12, but also the infinite number of points in between. Early attempts at building computers used analogue techniques, but the accuracy and reliability were not good enough. Today, almost all computers are digital. Analogue and Digital Technology Analogue and Digital are the words we hear when people talk about Communication and Information Technology. What do the words Analogue and Digital mean? Analogy means a likeness between two things that are really quite different. For example the analogy between the brain and the computer or the heart and a pump. Digit means either a finger or toe, or one of the numbers 1 to 9. Some examples might help to explain what analogue and digital mean in technology. A simple example of analogue and digital technology Clocks are examples of analogue and digital technology. An analogue clock face can display the time without numbers. The hands keep moving all the time and they continue to rotate, just like the earth around the sun. This is the analogy between the movement of the sun and earth, and the hands of the clock. The digital clock displays the time in numbers, and the time displayed only changes at each minute. In the analogue clock the hands keep moving all the time, while the digital clock is more like an on and off movement. Each minutes the time moves and then stops for another 60 seconds, when it changes again. Some other examples of displaying information using analogue and digital forms. b) How the signal theory affects the choice of transmission methods and media? Analogue and Digital Signals Sound can be converted into analogue and digital electrical signals. Analogue Signal A microphone or handset of a telephone will convert sound into an analogue signal. The shape of the wave seen on an oscilloscope represents the volume and pitch. The diagram is shown below: This is called an analogue signal because, when the volume and pitch change, so does the shape of the wave. The signal is an analogue of the sound. Digital signal Today we see many sound systems described as digital. This means the sound is converted into digital signals so it can be transmitted or recorded. In the microphone example shown on the diagram above, the analogue signal is converted into a digital signal by electronic circuits. In a digital signal the electricity, this can be either on or off, is combined with a binary code. The voltage of the analogue signal is measured electronically, many thousands of times per second, by an analogue-digital converter. The analogue signal is converted into a 16 bit binary number, which gives 65,536 levels of voltage. In electronics 1 = ON and 0 = OFF. This means the binary number can be converted into an electrical signal. A diagram below shows the process of converting analogue signals into a binary numbers and digital signals. To keep the explanation simple the analogue signal has been converted into a 3 bit binary number, which means there are seven voltage levels. A digital-analogue converter reverses the conversion this is because the speakers (output device) need an analogue signal. Light and sound can be converted into binary numbers and digital signals that are used to record and transmit information. This diagram is shown below: Why are digital systems better than the analogue ones? An analogue signal is affected by changes in the voltage as it travels along a wire. If the voltage changes, so does the signal at the output. The digital signal is not affected by changes in the voltage this is because all that matters is whether it is ON or OFF. How signal affects transmission methods? Noise is any sound on the CD or record that wasnt there at the performance during the recording session. More generally, it is any unwanted signal that adds on to the information that is being transmitted. When a vinyl record is being made, noise is introduced at every step of the recording process, although of course the company makes an every effort to reduce such noise to as low a level as possible. The sound that reaches the microphones is converted into an electrical signal that is then recorded on a wide magnetic tape moving at high speed. This tape is then used to control the cutting of a master disc, from which moulds are then made. These in turn are used to mass-produce the records that are eventually sold in shops. Noise is produced at every step, not forgetting that introduced by your own stereo equipment. It can never be entirely eliminated. The same problems of noise are shared by any method of transmitting information, and are certainly by telecommunications, including telephone calls. In the production of vinyl records, the companies have used purely analogue this means to transfer the information representing the sound of the music from one point to another. That means they use an electrical signal that changes smoothly in strength, exactly modelling the smooth but complex changes in the sound. When a noise is created in the recording process because of tape hiss, dust on the master disc, electrical interference or any other cause this is added on as a random signal on top of the complex electrical signal representing the sound. There is no way that electronic equipment can tell such random noise from the original electrical signal, so there is no way it can be removed again without removing some of the original signal. We can see more clearly if we draw a graph of the level of the analogue audio signal over a period of time (diagram 1a). The shape of this graph represents both the changes in the electrical sound and the changes in the electrical signal that model it. Now if we add to this audio signal some random noise, this affects the shape of the signal, and this degrades the sound that your stereo reproduces (diagram 1b). The trouble with an analogue audio signal is that its exact shape has to be preserved if you are to hear the music exactly as it was when it was played. If there were a means of transmitting the signal so that only the overall shape of the signal mattered, then noise would not be so important. The port authorities used to find the shape of the bottom of the harbour, so that ships could navigate more safely. It certainly wasnt possible to drain the harbour and take a photograph of it, so what they did instead was send out a boat which travelled slowly across the harbour. Every few meters a person at the back of the boat dropped down a plumb-line (a weight at the end of a rope), until it reached the bottom of the harbour. The line had knots tied in it at regular spaces and the person called out the number of knots under water, so indicating the depth of the harbour at that point. A clerk wrote these down, and eventually it was possible for him to draw a graph of the shape of the harbour by using these numbers. The person in the boat had been taking samples of the depth of the harbour at frequent intervals, so that the graph would accurately describe the ups and downs of the harbour bottom.

Understanding Early Man : Scientific Discovery vs. Emotionally Driven Hypothesis :: Anthropology Essays Paleontology Papers

Understanding Early Man : Scientific Discovery vs. Emotionally Driven Hypothesis The ways in which we attempt to determine the history of early man say much more about who we are today, and who we will be tomorrow, and who we want to be today, and who we want to be tomorrow, than they do about who we were in the past. This statement comes from a person who knows little about science, and less about the specific scientific techniques used in archeological excavation and analysis. But it seems to me that much of the observations that are made in the study of early man are predicated as much on new theory as they are on old observation, and much of the old observation seems to be based on how humans act now, rather than in the past. For instance, an entire new field of study known as "Evolutionary Psychology" is based on the premise that we can understand who we are today based on how we have evolved, and what we have evolved from. Evolution, is more or less a proven fact, analogous to gravity, it is a theory that we have used to understand countless other phenomena in the world around us. But there is no theory about how early man behaved, how he evolved, or even, what he looked like, that comes even close to being as widely accepted. In other words, this new field of study is based on science that does not yet exist, and might not ever exist, and the thinking behind it is similar to thinking behind the study of early man. Evolutionary psychologists use things we don't know about who we were then to try and understand who we are now, and anthropologists use things we don't know about who we are now to try and understand who we were then. Our debates about these early human ancestors echo our debates about our present and our modern history to such a degree, that in some ways, this echo seems to cast doubts on the entire process of examination.A great debate in history departments around the world who study the Twentieth Century concerns what is known as the "Great Man Theory." This theory supposes that the major events, and major social changes, of the past century were due more to the actions of a handful of men and women (usually those in positions of great power, or those who made important scientific discoveries) rather than to the actions of the majority.

Product Red Case Study Essay

Over the years, businesses have evolved to incorporate consumer views in their practices. As a result, consumer power has become an influential force that directs organizational strategies towards ethical practices. Based on the previously mentioned view, an evaluation of Product red’s strategy provides insight on its strengths, weaknesses, and improvements. Product Red Harvard Business School (2009) argues that numerous challenges face various nations. As a result, business organizations should utilize models that contribute to projects that reduce the scourge. Illustratively, the product red strategy inspired business organizations participate in the production and marketing of RED products with an aim of raising funds for AIDS in Africa. This innovative approach of engaging public and private entities in raising funds has enabled the global fund to fight diseases in Africa. Some of the diseases that the global fund targets include AIDs, tuberculosis, and malaria. According to Harvard Business School (2009), RED partners have managed to attract higher revenues since consumers associate the brands with ethical practices. Strategy Analysis Product red business has made significant gains in inspiring organizations to produce commodities whose revenues can be contributed to ethical activities. As a result, an evaluation of the model’s strengths and weaknesses reveals some improvements that should be made to enhance the model’s efficiency. Strengths of the RED Strategy Harrison (2005) argues that Product RED strategy increases the awareness of consumers and shareholders on the application of ethical practices in their organizations. As a result, consumers and shareholders utilize their influences to demand for social, political, and environmental  responsibility. Given the inadequacies in government policy and challenges in the allocation of funds, multinational organizations may place their emphasis on capitalistic goals thus introducing negative aspects to society. Illustratively, the Red strategy has the strength of inspiring partner organizations to protect and facilitate consumer rights. The above-mentioned strength has advanced the course of ethical consumerism thus enhancing social responsibility among entities. In contrast to the traditional charity model, the RED strategy portrays the company as an equal partner with its associates. The above-mentioned strength is confirmed by the increase in profit in organizations that have participated in RED’s activities (In Healey,2013).The innovative approach has encouraged partner organizations to devote their resources in the development of RED’s products, promote the concept of ethical practice in business and generating additional benefits that simultaneously benefit the needy in society. Additionally, the RED strategy enables organizations to produce ethical products at prices that match their non-ethical equivalents. The RED strategy has facilitated the production of cheap products thus reducing economic pressures on consumers. According to Harrison (2005), high prices associated with ethical commodities have been a hindrance to the adoption of ethical goods. Subsequently, the introduction of ethical commodities with prices equiva lent to that of non-ethical goods has enabled the RED strategy to attract the drifter and conventional groups of consumers In Healey (2013) contends that effective public relations are crucial in the adoption of ethical consumerism within a society. Subsequently, the RED strategy employs concepts of the public relations excellence-theory to develop a suitable communication loop between organizations and consumers. As a result, RED strategy develops a strength that is associated with enhanced co-orientation of messages between environmental, consumer and organizational systems. The above-mentioned strength enhances availability of information among consumers thus promoting ethical consumerism. Weaknesses of the RED Strategy The RED strategy has several strengths that have enhanced it adoption in several organizations. However, the strategy has weaknesses that limit its effectiveness hence an evaluation of each weak spot facilitates the development of suitable recommendations. Foremost, the RED strategy has the  weakness of not regulating organizations based on a set of sustainability standards and social wellness. As a result, RED company certifies organizations that participate in un-ethical practices. For instance, Red’s partner Foxconn received certification despite violating labor standards in its companies. These weaknesses have enabled unethical organizations to paint images of socially responsible entities thus covering their misdeeds. According to In Healey (2013), inadequate certification processes have led to â€Å"red washing† of entities. Secondly, lack of transparency in RED’s activities is a weakness that attracts numerous criticisms to the model. The aforementioned view is supported by market research findings that revealed mismatches between advertising investments and amounts raised for charity activities. Illustratively, market research reveals that RED company invested one hundred dollars in marketing and advertisement but generated eighteen million dollars for charity(In Healey, 2013).The lack of transparency attracts criticism on RED’s efficiency and credibility. This weakness may reduce RED’s influence in the long-run since its opponents hold the view that donating directly to the needy is more effective. Thirdly, the RED strategy has a sustainability related weakness due to the randomness and one-time purchase of RED products. Subsequently, the market based approach is af fected by lack of loyalty among consumers hence its ability to cater for ARV needs in Africa may be jeopardized. Improvements on the RED Strategy Several improvements can be made on product RED’s strategy to enhance its effectiveness. In the first case, Product Red should enhance its screening capabilities to ensure that its partners with organizations with good corporate-social responsibility histories. The aforementioned improvement will enable Product RED to enhance consumer trust thus enhancing sustainability it the company’s activities (Harvard Business School, 2009). In the second case, Product RED should enhance its access to financial reports from partner companies. Improved access to financial data will enhance transparency in associate companies since the right percentage is remitted to the global fund. In addition, Product RED should introduce channels that allow direct donations from individuals to affected individuals in Africa. This will increase revenues raised and reduce overhead costs associated with the transfer of funds (Harrison, 2005). In  the third instance, Product RED should collaborate companies that offer exceptional services on a daily basis. This will enable the entity to enhance consumer loyalty thus improving the sustainability RED projects. Additionally, Product RED should certify competitive and innovative partners to attract and retain consumers. This will promote sustainability the generation of funds. Conclusion Ethical consumerism has led to the introduction of innovative concepts in business organizations. One of the innovative models that was introduced by Product Red with an aim of supplementing government activities in the fight against AIDS is the MBS. The market-based system portrays strengths and weaknesses that determine the adoption of the model among business entities. Some of the weaknesses and strengths include reduction of the prices of ethical goods, increased corporate responsibility among entities, lack of transparency and inadequate screening of partner organizations. Conclusively, an evaluation of Product red’s strategy provides insight on its strengths, weaknesses, and improvements. Reference Harrison, R. (2005). The ethical consumer. London [u.a.: Sage. Harvard Business School. 2009. Product (Red) (A). HBS Case No. 9-509-013. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing In Healey, J. (2013). Ethical consumerism.

Beowulf: Pagan Values Tied with Christianity

The poem titled Beowulf was composed sometime between the seventh and tenth century in a language that is known as Anglo-Saxon. It incorporates many pagan themes and concepts, yet it also contains many references to Christianity. Although paganism and Christianity can be seen as unalike, the two aspects are brought together by the poet in order to show the need for grouping. The pagan themes, such as fate or the common goal of fame and heroism, raise questions in the religious community that could be misleading or misinterpreted without the Christian insight provided in the text.As a result, it is clear that this combination of pagan concepts and Christianity shown in Beowulf is for a Christian audience. In order to enhance the value of the poem Beowulf, the author reconciles pagan concepts such as fame, vengeance, and fate with Christianity. The pagan concepts play key parts in the storyline and are related to the components of Christianity in the poem. One of the pagan concepts dep icted in Beowulf is fame. Other ancient texts, such as The Odyssey and The Iliad, show warriors who venture out far from home to accomplish heroic tasks and build fame.The poem shows Beowulf and other characters in the story to have the same urge. Beowulf is shown early in the story as â€Å"the mightiest man on earth, high-born and powerful† (p. 15). The concept of fame is very important to him and to his people. After hearing of Grendel and his strength, Beowulf declares â€Å"to heighten Hygelac’s fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword†¦: hand to hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend† (p. 31). He wants to maximize not only his own fame but the fame of his king.He will fight Grendel equally matched and â€Å"perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in the attempt, in the fiend’s clutches† (p. 43). The pagan concept of fame is accomplished when Beowulf defeats Grendel and gives the arm of the creature to Hrothgar. Beowulf has proven his skills and strength by ridding the land of Grendel and Hrothgar praises him by stating, â€Å"You have made yourself immortal by your glorious actions† (p. 63). Although the idea of fame at this time conflicts with certain notions of Christianity, the author reconciles the two by adding many references to God with the achievement of fame.The author is able to attribute both Christian concepts and heroism to God through the dialogue of Hrothgar. When Hrothgar arrives in the mead-hall the morning after the slaying, he first thanks God by saying, â€Å"let the Almighty Father be thanked†¦the Heavenly Shepard can work His wonders always†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 63). He praises Beowulf and states that the killing of Grendel was accomplished â€Å"with the Lord’s assistance† (p. 63). Another example of the ties between God and fame is when Hrothgar gives his speech to Beowulf over the dangers of power. He tells the stor y of Heremod, a king who eventually loses everything due to selfishness, to Beowulf. Almighty God had made him eminent and powerful and marked him from the start for a happy life†¦ a change happened, gave no more rings to honour the Danes†¦ he suffered in the end†¦his life lost happiness† (p. 119). The story shows that God is the true beholder of power and when man strays from Him, or lives a life of no values, He has the power to take away happiness and power. The only way to live on earth is through the grace of God. Consequently, the pagan concept of fame ties back to God and is reconciled to Christianity. Another concept of paganism found in the poem is the concept of vengeance.The first sign of vengeance comes clear when Grendel’s mother becomes aware of Grendel’s death. She is infuriated and â€Å"desperate for revenge† (p. 89). She had no interest in the Danes or Geats until the death of her son. She goes to the mead-hall, kills Aesch ere, and takes back Grendel’s remaining corpse. This anger and desire to avenge Grendel’s death also leads to her eventual death when Beowulf meets her at the mere and kills her with the mystical sword. After killing Grendel’s mother and resurfacing to land, Beowulf tells his men, â€Å"if God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal† (p. 15). The author seems to imply that latching onto anger and vengeance leads to the destruction of oneself. It can also be interpreted that Beowulf was aided by God to destroy Grendel’s mother due to her fixed desire to wreak havoc and revenge on the mead-hall. This can be seen as the authors attempt to reconcile vengeance with Christianity. Another example of vengeance can be seen when Grendel’s mother kills Aeschere and Hrothgar mourns over his death. Beowulf tries to console Hrothgar by saying, â€Å"Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning. † (p. 97).This shows the importance of avenging the death of one’s comrade or friend to Beowulf and also the contrast between vengeance and Christian belief. After Beowulf finishes his boast, Hrothgar â€Å"sprang to his feet and praised God for Beowulf’s pledge† (p. 97) This is another attempt by the poet to reconcile the pagan concept of vengeance with Christianity. The desire to seek vengeance is discouraged through Christianity, and in the case of Grendel’s mother, can result in the destruction of oneself. Although, the question rises as to why Beowulf wasn’t corrected for seeking vengeance on Grendel’s mother.This is where a third pagan concept is seen in Beowulf; the pagan concept of fate. The pagan concept of fate in Beowulf is mentioned in association with good and bad fortune. For example, when explaining Hygelac’s death, the author states â€Å"fate swept him away because of his proud need to provoke a feud with the Frisians† (p. 85). The use of fate in this context refers to bad fortune due to Hygelac’s desire to stir up a confrontation with the Frisians. At an earlier point in the story, Beowulf tells Hrothgar, â€Å"no need to lament for long or lay out my body: if the battle takes me†¦Fate goes ever as fate must! (p. 31). Here Beowulf leaves the decision to fate, which is a concept of paganism, but there is no mention of fate being controlled by God. This is in direct conflict with Christianity and the author is does associate fate with Christianity in other portions of the text. For example, when Beowulf is declaring his formal boast to kill Grendel, he states, â€Å"And may the Divine Lord in His wisdom grant the glory of victory to whichever side He sees fit† (p. 47). This example shows Beowulf’s demonstration of his Christian beliefs and acknowledgement that it is ultimately up to God who will win the fight.After the fight with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf makes another declaration of fate when he states â€Å"it was hard-fought, a desperate affair that could have gone badly; if God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal† (p. 115). Beowulf surrenders himself to God and is fully aware that his fate was left to God’s will. Beowulf once again shows his belief in not only the pagan concept of fate but in God as well. Therefore, the author has successfully reconciled fate with Christianity. In order to enhance the value of the poem Beowulf, the author reconciles pagan concepts such as fame, vengeance, and fate with Christianity.These concepts are seen all throughout the poem and act as representation for the relationship between pagan concepts and Christianity. Although in some areas the two aspects of Anglo-Saxon life can be seen in conflict, as in the pagan concept of vengeance, the two seem to be interrelated. Although Beowulf is an epic narrative, it is full of Christian elements t hat show the beliefs of Christians today venture back in time to as early as the seventh century. Christian customs, such as man believing in God and the presence of good in the world, make this pagan story into what is now believed to be a primary Christian story amongst many.

Women Entrepreneurs In Khulna

Women Entrepreneurs In Khulna Free Online Research Papers Existing sex ratio in demographic structure of Bangladesh indicates that women comprise almost 50% of the total population. They are essential part of nation’s human resources. Due to this demographic structure, the issue of the participation of women in the mainstream economy is imperative. Without a meaningful and active participation of women, half of the total population, in regular economic activities, a dynamic and sustainable economy is impossible. A sustainable economy is a precondition for national growth and prosperity including institutionalization of a democratic system. It is also impossible to achieve the target of a poverty-free society without incorporation of women in the mainstream economy. Considering the issue, a special emphasis has been given by the Government, donor agencies, NGOs, business community and all other relevant stakeholders through different interventions to ensure increased women’s participation in formal economic sector, especially in business and industry. The major initiatives undertaken by the Government so far included establishment of a separate ministry on women’s affairs, formulation of the National Policy for Advancement of Women-2008 and the National Action Plan. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which is now the main document for national development in Bangladesh, also incorporated some noteworthy issues to ensure women’s participation in social and econom ic life. The industrial and SME policies 2005 of Bangladesh Government have emphasized women entrepreneurship development, particularly in SME sector. Despite various initiatives from different corner of the state, the level of participation of women in the mainstream economic activities, especially private sector, remains insufficient and the percentage of women in business and industry is still below than that of their male counterpart. Due to govt. budgetary limitations for Khulna city, the once-titled â€Å"Industrial City† has lost its good days and also the business environment is yet to be congenial for business enterprises. Likewise other parts of the country, women in Khulna city have also been engaged in small-scale enterprises for their survival and these enterprises have benefitted their family and life.But here has been too few research efforts carried out in Bangladesh on particularly the women entrepreneurship of Khulna City so far. In this paper an attempt is therefore made to evaluate the nature of the women entrepreneurial ventures and their impact on the socio-economic development of these women taking Kh ulna city as the study area. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Women’s entrepreneurship needs to be studied separately for two main reasons. The first reason is that women’s entrepreneurship has been recognized during the last decade as an important untapped source of economic growth. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and by being different also provide society with different solutions to management, organization and business problems as well as to the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. However, they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Thus there exists a market failure discriminating against women’s possibility to become entrepreneurs and their possibility to become successful entrepreneurs. This market failure needs to be addressed by policy makers so that the economic potential of this group can be fully utilized. While without a doubt the economic impact of women is substantial, we still lack a reliable picture describing in detail that specific impact. Recent efforts initiated by the OECD (1997, 2000) are responses to this lack of knowledge and have focused the attention of policy makers and researchers on this important topic. The second reason is that the topic of women in entrepreneurship has been largely neglected both in society in general and in the social sciences. Not only have women lower participation rates in entrepreneurship than men but they also generally choose to start and manage firms in different industries than men tend to do. The industries (primarily retail, education and other service industries) chosen by women are often perceived as being less important to economic development and growth than high-technology and manufacturing. Furthermore, mainstream research, policies and programs tend to be â€Å"men streamed† and too often do not take into account the specific needs of women entrepreneurs and would-be women entrepreneurs. As a consequence, equal opportunity between men and women from the perspective of entrepreneurship is still not a reality. In order for policy makers to address the situation the report makes a number of recommendations. Many economists, sociologists, psychologists and behavioral scientists have made attempt to define entrepreneurship in their respective fields. The concept in the field of entrepreneurship could be classified into two disciplines: Economic concepts and behavioral concepts. Schumpeter, 1967 clarified entrepreneur as an innovator with potentialities of doing new things, as an economic leader, as a chief conducive function in the process of economic development. McClelland, 1965 views that the supply of entrepreneurship is highly dependent upon the intensity of overachievement motivation, called the â€Å"need for achievement† (n ACH motive). Rahman, 1997 said that, entrepreneurship is the function that is specific to the entrepreneurs’ ability to take the factors of production – land, labor and capital and use them to produce new goods or services. Entrepreneurship is defined as a kind of behavior of a person that includes perceiving economic opportunities, initiat ive taking, creativity and innovation, organizing social economic mechanism to turn resources and situation to practical account and is the acceptance of risk to failure. Women entrepreneurs: A woman entrepreneur is defined as a woman who has alone or with one or more partners, started, bought, or inherited a business, is assuming the related financial, administrative, and social risks and responsibilities, and is participating in the firm’s day-to-day management. Such women are also known as women business owners or women entrepreneurs or self-employed women (LFS, 1996) More recently, a new trend has emerged where women are venturing as entrepreneurs and are contributing to the economic development. Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh represent a group of women who have broken away form the broken track and are exploring new vistas of economic participation. Their task has been full of challenges (Begum 2000). More recent American research examines in great depth both by motivation by female start-up and the problems faced by a woman when starting a business (Hisrish and Brush, 1984). Motivations for business start-up as Bangladeshi were identified as a desire for job satisfaction, independence and achievement (Begum, R 2000).The major problems, identified by the female respondents in this study, were under capitalization and a lack of knowledge and training in business skills. A majority of the respondents reported difficulties in â€Å"overcoming some of the social beliefs that women are not serious as men about business.† A later study (Hisr ish and Brush, 1996) focused on different types of female-owned business and confirmed the lack of support offered to female proprietors in non-traditional sectors. In a more recent study, Goffee and Scase (1999) use a sample of 54 female proprietors to identify a typology of female entrepreneurs. Four types of female entrepreneurs were identified: a) Conventional entrepreneurs; b) Innovative entrepreneurs, c) Domestic entrepreneurs and d) Radical entrepreneurs. Chowdhury (1988) classified ten types of women entrepreneurs in her study as follows: a) Self made women individual entrepreneurs, b) Trained women industrial entrepreneurs, c) Women entrepreneurs who as wives of business people are involved in production, d) Women are share-holder of commercial firms, e) Women as administrative executives of enterprises, f) Women as inheritor of parents or husbands firms, g) Women as partners in business, h) Researchers turned entrepreneurs, i) Rural women entrepreneurs and j) Industrialis ts cum traders. In spite of women taking entrepreneurship in many challenging fields, the present women entrepreneurial activities in Bangladesh is not very high. Women are participating in starting small-scale industries in the country, out of which only 8% of the industries are run exclusively by women entrepreneurs (LFS, 1996). Entrepreneurial Quality: Entrepreneurial qualities are same for men and women to succeed as entrepreneurs. The major entrepreneurial qualities seen in Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs are that they have confidence, commitment, innovative and creative knowledge, need for achievement, profit oriented, hard work driving energy and risk taking ability (Begum R.2000). 3. PROBLEM STATEMENT Our report paper was constructed with a view to analyzing the present entrepreneurial situation of women in Khulna city and how these entrepreneurial ventures have helped to make them self –reliant in their socio-economic life. In recent years, with the growing tendency to flourish businesses, women are not lagging behind in their contribution to their family and self existence. Although there have been researches in area of entrepreneurship, no specific research has been done on women entrepreneurial ventures on Khulna city. So for a detailed knowledge on women businesses and their motivation to be engaged in such ventures have a special concern for the NGOs, micro-credit institutions and for the policy holders. So this is a effort to have a detailed analysis of women entrepreneurial businesses. 4. OBJECTIVES OF THE REPORT As mentioned earlier, the main objective of the study was to evaluate the nature of women entrepreneurship in Khulna city, its socio-economic impact and also to identify problems and suggest guidelines. Following were the specific objectives of the study: i. To analyze the main entrepreneurial ventures run by women entrepreneurs in Khulna. ii. To show how these enterprises are creating an overall positive impact on their family status and for economic solvency. iii. To identify the major constraints for women entrepreneurship development and giving recommendations for the rapid flourishment of women entrepreneurial ventures. 5. SCOPE OF THE STUDY The study was undertaken in Khulna city which is located in the South-western region of Bangladesh. It is the third largest city in the country. Before proceeding to the formal study, a literature review has been covered on women entrepreneurship. For the convenience of time and resources, the main women entrepreneurial ventures in the metropolitan city have been interviewed and questioned. An emphasis was given on hearing the experience of the women entrepreneurs. The policy recommendations have been suggested with regard to the current scenario and also from the research and report papers of national NGOs.. 6. LIMITATIONS OF THE REPORT The study report faced the concrete statistic data regarding the women entrepreneurial activities of Khulna city. There are no updated numerical figures about the entrepreneurial ventures in the internet and in journals. To be authentic and representative, it has to survey a minimum number of women entrepreneurs from each sector, which was time consuming and demands more time and, the survey does not flow such objective, it aims to work out program for women entrepreneurs of the Khulna City. However, a good number of women entrepreneurs were distributed questionnaire for their uses. Being involved in women entrepreneurship development activities we recognize that there should be an all-covering broad-based survey in this regard to gain a concrete idea for supporting and integrating women entrepreneurs in Khulna city. 7. METHODOLOGY For the completion of the report, we used both primary data and secondary data from various sources. 1. Primary data: The main source of primary data was a number of interviews with women entrepreneurs from several entrepreneurial sectors and structured questionnaires which were answered by the entrepreneurs. For every sector, five entrepreneurs were interviewed. The questionnaires included questions regarding their educational background, family background, family support, initial capital, scope of businesses, services, profit margin and the probability of sustaining businesses amidst various problems. Then our second goal of assessing the impact of these ventures were achieved through giving the entrepreneurs questions regarding the monthly income, supporting family, decision-making skill and have more say in family matters. 2. Secondary data: The main source of secondary data was internet-based journals and research papers for covering literature review on women entrepreneurial situation in Bangladesh. For covering the solutions of the problems of women entrepreneurs, different proposals that have been made were also analyzed and included. 8. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION In this section, results of data analysis is shown and interpreted. Collected data were analyzed and interpreted in line with the report objectives stated before. Hence, the discussions in this section are divided in main three parts: the first part will include the nature and current scenario of entrepreneurial ventures of women including the constraints of these ventures.. The second part will involve the impact of these entrepreneurial activities on their socio-economic life. The third part will suggest some solution proposal for removing the current barriers of women entrepreneurship development in Khulna city. Scopes and nature of women entrepreneurial venture of Khulna city Through detailed analysis of the answers of the questionnaires, some common women entrepreneurial ventures were identified. ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS SL. No. Type of Businesses 1. Beauty parlors 2. Butique shops 3. Poultry farming 4. Tailoring 5. Dairy farming 6. Others 8.1 BEAUTY PARLORS In recent times beauty parlors have become the lucrative business for women entrepreneurs in Khulna. Starting with home-based services they are entering into this venture in a separate commercial basis. As it is mainly a home based entrepreneurship, women are very much interested about the prospect of this business. Actually beauty parlor is such a place where women care women; that means here service provider is women and the customer is also women. For that reason the women who are related with this business, can conduct their business conveniently. It is also a risk less business as women don’t need to invest a lot for their material of beautification. Along with that, a woman is very much interested to make her self stylist and fair in every circumstance for that this is very momentous for her to get help from a beauty parlor. It is found that the main locations of the beauty parlors are South Central Road and New Market. Around South Central Road, there are about 5 beauty parlors, and there are 4 beauty parlors in and around New Market. From the interview with some openers of beauty parlors of South Central Road, we found that the initial capital of starting a parlor few years back was much lower than the present modern well equipped parlors for the emergence of new beautification techniques. The first parlor of this area (Pleasure Beauty Parlor) started its business with only 80,000 taka. But newest parlor of this area (Nanking Beauty Parlor) has started its business with around 12,00,000 taka. And obviously it is very much modern and customers are very interested to go there. For the competition, the other parlors are also trying to give better service to their customers. The parlors of new market have begun their business almost at the same time and the market there is very much competitive. But the pa rlors of this area are not much more popular than those of South Central Road. Here is a table regarding the 10 parlors of Khulna City. For making our study more representative and credible, small medium as well as large parlors were taken as samples. The sample results are given below: Initial investments of the entrepreneurs Amount (in taka) No. Of entrepreneurs Percentage Below 20000 2 20 20001- 90000 2 20 90001- 200010 3 30 200011- 370000 2 20 Above 370000 1 10 total 10 The average monthly turnover of the entrepreneurs is also satisfactory. The average turnover of the studied parlors is Tk. 25000 ranging from Tk. 18000 to Tk. 45000. Profit margin is also very high (40%). The monthly income of the enterprises Amount (in taka) No. of entrepreneurs Percentage Average income Below 20000 1 10 35000 20001 26000 2 20 260001- 35000 3 30 35001- 40000 2 20 40001 45000 2 20 total 10 100 Percentage of profit Percentage of profit No of entreprenurs Percentage Average profit (%) Below 15% 1 10 40 16% 20% 3 30 21- 28% 2 20 29% 36% 2 20 37- 44% 2 20 total 10 100 With the starting of home-based and separate business-location based beauty parlors, women entrepreneurs are now able to supplement their family with handsome income and the women are supposed to have more decision making and participating skills in their family. One particular parlor-owner in South Central Road stated that she was having more confidence in maintaining her family through her steady income. With the flourishment of modern and highly instrument-based parlors, the employment opportunity has been created in those parlors. The parlors in south Central Road on an average have created employment for five women. So, this parlor business is creating a overall impact on their socio-economic lives. The role of BRAC Bank, EBL, and Eastern Bank is significant for financing this SME. BRAC bank is giving is providing low-interest short-term credit to women entrepreneurs in this sector. CARE, UNNAYAN and some few other NGOs are providing low-interest credit to parlor-owners. But st ill govt. banks are reluctant to provide financial support for SMEs. So there should be more proper govt. policies for the growth of beauty parlors and other women SMESs 8.2 BUTIQUE SHOPS Butique shops are the second largest business sector where we found more women entrepreneurs. There are many Butique shops situated in Khulna city. Lion’s shares of these shops are owned by women entrepreneurs. In Butique shops new designed and fashionable dresses are made and sold. They also take orders from the customers. Customers suggest their own design or select from their catalog. Embroidery, batic, applic, karchupi and different types of design are done in these Butique shops. These shops are mainly small business and very few workers work in these shops. We have found that not more than five workers work in a shop and average number of workers are three. These shops need not too much capital to start but the return is much more appreciable. We have found many Butique shops in New Market, Baitur Nur Shopping complex, Jalil Tower and Daulatpur Bazar in Khulna city. The following table shows some Butique shops in Khulna city. Initial investments of the entrepreneurs Amount (in taka) No. Of entrepreneurs percentage Below 20000 3 30 20001- 90000 2 20 90001- 200010 2 20 200011- 370000 1 10 Above 370000 2 20 Total 10 100 The monthly income of the enterprises Amount (in taka) No. of entrepreneurs Percentage Average income Below 20000 2 20 25000 20001 26000 1 10 260001- 35000 3 30 35001- 40000 2 20 40001 45000 2 20 Total 10 100 Percentage of profit Percentage of profit No of entrepreneurs Percentage Average profit (%) Below 15% 2 20 30 16% 20% 3 30 21- 28% 2 20 29% 36% 2 20 37- 44% 1 10 Total 10 100 Because of less capital needed and also for the demand this sector becomes much attractive to the women entrepreneurs. But the competition also becomes higher and higher in recent years. 8.3 POULTRY FARM Poultry is another thriving sector in which women entrepreneurs are getting the advantage of running it as home business. In an interview with five women entrepreneurs from different regions of Khulna we found a positive ground for being engaged in such business, although the fear of Bird-flu is causing some discouragement among women regarding the continuation of poultry. Five women entrepreneurs from Sonadanga, Boyra, and Daulatpur have been interviewed. The average initial capital for starting a firm having 500 chickens has been observed to be Tk. 2 lakhs. Women entrepreneurs reported that they calculate their income and profit margin in terms of sale of chickens and eggs at every term, One entrepreneur from Boyra has reported that for the sale of a 500 chicken package, on an average tk. 30000 is earned as profit margin. On another study from an entrepreneur from Sonadanga, this particular layer firm owner has stated that, from the selling of every piece of egg, 50 paisa is earned as profit margin. So, for the sale of 1000 eggs, Tk. 500 remains as profit margin. So, by selling 500 eggs daily, this women entrepreneur earns 250 tk. profit margin daily. So, considering this women entrepreneurs are being more encouraged to run such business, because they can run it with their household chores side by side. Generally, no employment opportunity is being created for other women except for the self-employment of the entrepreneur. But for the bigger socio-economic impact, women are adding income to their family matters and women are becoming self-reliant by being engaged in poultry. Estimate of expense and income margin Quantity of output Approximate expenses(tk) Approximate revenues(tk) 300 chickens 60,000 90,000 500 chickens 100,000 140,000 500 eggs 2,500 250 1000 eggs 5000 500 Considering the present scenario, women entrepreneurs have identified the following problems and obstacles in their running poultry firm : Increased price of poultry feed items Not rising the price of chickens in proportion to the production cost Lack of financial support from financial institutions Losing encouragement due to Bird-flu Profit margin not increasing much So, in removing the present barriers, most of the poultry owners have reported the following remedies for the smooth completion of their business : Govt. To take initiative for not spreading the fear of Bird-Flu Providing regulatory measures by the govt. not to increase the price of feed items Training facilities from govt. and NGOS. Low-interest rated credits 8.4 TAILORING Most of the women seeking for doing something prefer to start a tailoring shop. As they are normally introvert so they like to work in the environment dominated by her and the stakeholders will be women. It is tailoring shop which fulfills all the requirements. Mainly girls and women are customers here so tailors shop is a good choice for the women to start a business. With the initial capital like thirty to fifty thousands taka women start a tailoring shop. Before that women have to train for tailoring. And in the tailoring shop they act both as tailor and master. We have found that average workers work in a shop is about three to four. Business and demand of the service of a particular shop depends on the updated fashionable dress. Initial investments of the entrepreneurs Amount (in taka) No. Of entrepreneurs percentage Below 20000 2 20 20001- 90000 2 20 90001- 200010 3 30 200011- 370000 2 20 Above 370000 1 10 Total 10 100 The monthly income of the enterprises Amount (in taka) No. of entrepreneurs Percentage Average income Below 20000 2 10 25000 20001 26000 2 15 260001- 35000 3 25 35001- 40000 2 25 40001 45000 1 25 Total 10 100 Percentage of profit Percentage of profit No of entrepreneurs Percentage Average profit (%) Below 15% 2 10 25 16% 20% 2 20 21- 28% 3 20 29% 36% 2 25 37- 44% 1 25 Total 10 100 8.5 DAIRY FARMING Dairy Farming is another profitable venture in which poor and lower-income classes of women are being involved more. From interviews with five women entrepreneurs in this sector, we identified the following reasons for growing it more : Family business Capital is not too high compared to other home business Easy for maintenance and care of cattles Usage of cow dungs as the fuel for poor women Making of fertilizer through processing cow dungs Satisfactory profit through selling milk Considering the haphazard and irregular estimate of their buying and selling of cattles, women entrepreneurs could not give accurate estimate of their business. But, on an average, their whole cost of rearing and feeding cattles are compensated through the selling of milk. Occasional selling of cattles although dont help the women. So, 6 out of the five women said their dairy farming was unsatisfactory and they would rather give it up. The rest of the 4 women expressed their businesss is running well enough to support their family. The result of their monthly income is as follows. Monthly income of the entrepreneurs Amount (in tk) No.of entrepreneurs Percentage (%) Average monthly income Below 3000 3 30 3500 3001-4000 4 40 4001-5000 2 20 5001-5500 1 10 In an effort to analyze the positive impact of the dairy business in the life of women is their solo dependence of this family venture. Women have been able to support the education of their children and making savings in the local Samites and NGOs. Women have become more sensible in their family matters and their decision-making capability has been reported to be more extensive than ever before. On giving policy recommendations for the flourishment of such cattle business, the following measures have been suggested: More easy micro-credits from local NGOs. Expansion of govt. training programs in such fields Innovation of nutritious cow and goat feeds 8.6 OTHER SECTORS TEA-STALL Another sector of women entrepreneurship is tea-stall. Women are starting these shops to contribute in the family income. These shops need too little investment. So, lower middle class and poor women are usually found in this business. In this shop biri, cigarette, snacks, paan etc are also sold. We interviewed some of the entrepreneurs and found that average initial capital needed is approximately five thousands taka. No worker is usually needed because here the owner is the seller. Monthly income is about fifteen thousands taka and the profit is about approximately four thousands taka. Fish selling, vegetable cultivation, mat weaving are some other minor sectors in which women are doing better and bringing a minimal income to their family. In New Market, Nirala Bazar and Natun Bazar and in footpaths, women have been reported to be involved in fish and vegetable selling. Although no overall reliable data have been found, yet fish and vegetable selling are their major source of income. VENDORS women became involved in selling as vendors or hawkers, because they didnot have other sources of support. Majority of these women had to fend for their families as amale breadwinner was absent due to divorce, separation, death or disability of husband.Some said that their husbands left them or married again and they had to take care of thechildren. Some started work after they returned to their fathers home. Some women startedworking to support their families after their husband died. A couple of women said theirhusbands were disabled and they had to take the main responsibility to look after the family.In pursuing businesswomen received support from other women entrepreneurs and NGOs.Some male business persons also helped the women. In describing the advantages of being a vendor, women said they receive a greater return ontheir sales. They also felt that if more women vendors came to the market, then more womenbuyers would also come. Some women who go to the market as buyers said that if the pricewas right, they would prefer to buy from women. They feel more comfortable buying theirpersonal items from women.From the vulnerability matrix exercise, among potential women vendors and existing womenvendors, availability of and access to capital emerged as the main constraint for women. Men have more resources and social connections which provide them greater access to capital. That gives them a competitive edge. Moreover, women face gender bias when trying to get their space in the market. Vegetable vendors in Bagerhat described the harassment they faced, some times face hazards from the Izaradaar to sit on the vegetable platform. They have specific area but sometimes someone else occupies the spot by giving more sit ting charge. Capital constraint is an even bigger issue for women who operate fixed shops. The three fixedshops started by women without government assistance are shabby and very small.. Women had said that if they had the capital, they would decorate the shop to make it look more attractive. The barriers which have been found by women in this regard are as follows: Unavailability of suitable places in the sides of markets Dominance in business by male counterparts Lack of effort for cultivating vegetable through scientific process Lack of financial support for starting a large-scale business 9. OBSTACLES SPECIFIC TO STARTING NEW WOMEN BUSINESS VENTURES Firstly, women in general lack human and financial capital and that their opportunities are related to their idiosyncratic experiences it is difficult to separate out if they are discriminated against because of their sex, or because of lack of human and financial capital. If it is the latter, then the financial institution has not discriminated against a person based on his or her sex. The financial institution has just tried to optimise its loan portfolio based on those that probably have the highest chance to make a firm survive and prosper. Secondly, three areas have been identified as potential or real problems for women when it comes to financing: a) women may be disadvantaged in raising the initial capital to start a new firm; b) collateral needed for external financing may be above the wealth level of most women; c) finance for an existing firm may be less available, because women are less likely than men to penetrate informal financial networks. Thirdly, results indicate that women still perceive a negative attitude from financial institutions such as banks and other lending institutions. This negative attitude arises due to two possible reasons as discussed in the literature: a) women are not viewed as entrepreneurs due to the attitudes formed by traditional gender roles; b) women engage in industries that the financial institutions are not used to handle (as personal services, care, etc.). Also in the personal networks and the family it is harder for women to find financial resources to start a business. 10. KEY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS Based on these findings, policy measures to support women’s entrepreneurship can be several types: Ensuring the availability of affordable child care and equal treatment in the work place. More generally, improving the position of women in society and promoting entrepreneurship generally will have benefits in terms of women’s entrepreneurship. Listen to the voice of women entrepreneurs. The creation of government offices of women’s business ownership is one way to facilitate this. Such offices could have programme responsibilities such as providing women’s business centres, organizing information seminars and meetings and/or providing web-based information to women. Incorporate a women’s entrepreneurial dimension in the formation of all SME-related policies. This can be done by ensuring that the impact on womens entrepreneurship is taken into account at the design stage. Govt. and NGOs providing loan at lower interest rates and creating opportunity for training and facilitating the environment of business More research work on women entrepreneurs and the strengthening of Women and Child Ministry. Knowledge about women’s entrepreneurship and valuable tools for its development and promotion. Co-operation and partnerships between national and international networks can facilitate entrepreneurial endeavors by women in a global economy. Periodically evaluate the impact of any SME-related policies on the success of women-owned businesses and the extent to which such businesses take advantage of them. The objective should be to identify ways to improve the effectiveness of those that should be retained. Good practices that are identified in this way should be disseminated and shared internationally. 11. CONCLUSION From the detailed analysis of the women entrepreneurial ventures, women are observed to be more willing to achieve self-employment and self-reliance. The selected women entrepreneurs of Khulna city have mainly started their business for their survival rather than meeting self-actualization needs. Some sectors like beauty parlors, boutique and tailoring are really doing a lucrative job for women entrepreneurs whereas the performance of other business like dairy farming and vendors are not satisfactory as to be more growth-oriented. But, still lots of possibilities are there and if govt. women policy gives more emphasis of women entrepreneurship, then women entrepreneurs will be more encouraged. Besides, Women Entrepreneurs Association (WEA) can arrange more financial capital and technical knowledge for women in Khulna. For one thing, low govt. budget for Khulna region has severely harmed the women entrepreneurship. So, for building up more varied women ventures and rapid growth of exi sting ventures, a clear cut SME and women entrepreneurship policy needs to be formulated and through this , women will be capable enough to bring a positive socio-economic impact in their life. 12. APPENDIX 12.1 QUESTIONNAIRE: 12.2 REFERENCES: 1. Islam, Nazrul: Entrepreneurship Development With special references to Bangladesh 2. Womens Access to Markets Vulnerabilities and Constraints: Project of care Bangladesh 3. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2006). Statistical Year Book of Bangladesh 2006 4. Agnello and Moller (2006). Women Micro-entrepreneurs and their Business Needs, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Urban Sector group ILO 5. managementhelp.org/aboutfml/privacy.htm 6. erim.eur.nl/entrepreneurship 7. entrepreneurship-sme.eu/index.cfm/12,html?nxt=ctm_publikatiebestelnummer=R200809 8. http://ideas.repec.org/stepbystep.html Research Papers on Women Entrepreneurs In KhulnaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaThe Fifth HorsemanMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductResearch Process Part One19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraDefinition of Export QuotasPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionTwilight of the UAW

The Four Competing Sociological Theories Essays - Sociology

The Four Competing Sociological Theories Essays - Sociology The Four Competing Sociological Theories Name Course The Four Competing Sociological Theories Resources in the world have been distributed unequally. There are some people who get more resources than others, yet everyone needs resources for their daily activities. In explaining this social scholars and sociologist have come up with different four competing for sociological theories that try to explain why there is so much resource inequality in the world. The following is an essay that will compare and contrast the strength and weakness of the following theories; market-oriented, dependency theory, world systems theory, and states centered theory. The essay will conclude by giving a choosing and justifying which theory bests explains this phenomenon According to market-oriented theory, an organization will work to meet the needs of their customers. The strategies and the products developed by an organization will focus on this desire for customer satisfaction. The major strength or this theory is that it pleases and holds the customers to being loyal towards the organization. Also, when an organization uses this theory, it will be able to respond to the demand for the consumer need. The theory allows an organization to streamline its needs to suit the customers. The weaknesses of this theory are that for an organization to effectively implement it will require a lot of capital investment and marketing research which might not favor SMEs. An increase in customer value will call for an increase in the cost of production which will reduce the profits made by an organization. This has empowered developed nations and undermined the capability of developing nat ions thus the global inequality (Menzies, 2015). State-centered theory, on the other hand, is a theory that focuses on the role of a government in civil society and community development. It is a political theory that expects the government to develop policies that will f oster development in its states (Menzies, 2015). Though this theory emerged as a response to Marxists the theory manages to explain how government can influence society. The way a government distributes resources will account for the global inequality at large. The advantage of this theory is that the governments oversee resources, and the disadvantage of this approach is that it gives the society a little role in resource distribution. The government will be accountable for how resources ar e distributed in their locality (Ritzer , 2014 ). The third theory is the world systems theory which argues that the world economy is an economic block where some nations are exploited on the behalf of others. The theory initially developed by Wallerstein developed a global map explaining how some nations are the cores and dominant economic units, the peripheral and the semi-peripheral nations. The weakness of this theory is that it does not account for the dynamic state of world economy and the issue of globalization. The strength of this theory is that it acts as a guideline towards global economic development. The theory is an interdependence theory explaining how depe ndency is not a one-way process (Menzies, 2015). The final theory and the most relevant theory in explaining global inequality are the dependant theory. This theory explains how resources from developing nations flow into developed nations. The developed nations in the Far East, Europe, and America are exploiting the developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for resources. The strengths that are associated with this theory are that the theory analyzes the inequality gap that is there between poor nations and developed nations and seeks for the best way to bridge the gap. The other strength of this theory is that it breaks the political barrier between nations in explaining global inequality. The weakness of this theory is that it does not look at the internal challenges a nation might be going through in development process (Menzies, 2015). References Menzies, K. (2015). Sociological Theory in Use . Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Ritzer, G. (2014). Sociological theory . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

The 411 on Numeronyms

The 411 on Numeronyms The 411 on Numeronyms The 411 on Numeronyms By Mark Nichol Numerals are often used in numeronyms: in combination with other numerals and with letters to represent a word, phrase, or concept. This post loosens the definition of numeronym to also include a numeral without one or more accompanying letters and with or without other symbols. Ordinal numbers can represent something, as when we speak, for example, of a â€Å"third† in reference to an additional person who joins two people or when we refer, for example, to â€Å"the 25th† to denote a certain day of the month, but the following terms, which include cardinal numbers, represent more than the sum of their parts, too. The number 101, used in combination with a word representing a topic, is used to imply that a piece of knowledge under discussion is elementary, as if it were equivalent to the content of an introductory college course. (Such courses are often numbered 101 in a three-digit designation system.) For example, the principle of supply and demand might be said to be â€Å"Economics 101,† meaning it is easy to understand. A 180 is a half turn and a 360 is a full turn, representing the number of degrees in a circle; numbers larger than 360 may appear in reference to sports such as skating or diving in which participants may turn more than one full revolution; 180 may also refer figuratively to someone reversing one’s position on an issue. The abbreviations WWI and WWII stand for â€Å"World War I† and â€Å"World War II† (and there is also the hypothetical World War III, or WWIII); they are sometimes represented with Arabic numerals, though Roman numerals are the conventional treatment. Y2K is an abbreviation for â€Å"year 2000,† pertaining to the (largely unfounded) concern late in the twentieth century that a fundamental programming flaw would, at the turn of the century, cause catastrophic breakdowns in information processing, leading to serious repercussions throughout the civilized world. Another term stemming from business is 24/7, referring to the number of hours in a day and the number of days in a week to denote incessant attention to something. (The term is also extended to 24/7/365 to refer to the number of days in the year as well.) Guns are often referred to simply by their caliber: for example, .22, .357, and .45 refer to the diameter of the bullets used in a particular firearm. 3D is an abbreviation for â€Å"three-dimensional,† pertaining to images and films with this feature. Abbreviations for television programs include TW3 for That Was the Week That Was, a satirical comedy program on the United Kingdom’s BBC network during the early 1960s, and MST3K for Mystery Science Theater 3000, a late-twentieth-century American program that poked fun at mediocre low-budget films. Meanwhile W3 is an abbreviation for â€Å"World Wide Web,† which is now generally abbreviated to web. To get the 411 on something is to obtain information; 411 is the telephone number for directory assistance, which provides phone numbers for people who want to contact a person or an organization but do not have the entity’s number. (This number is sometimes styled 4-1-1.) Telephone area codes are often employed as shorthand to refer to geographical regions, as in the use of â€Å"the 415† to represent San Francisco and its environs. 401(k) refers to a specific pension account defined in that section of the Internal Revenue Service tax code. Similarly, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization is referred to as a 501(c)(3), a label that pertains to the corresponding section of the IRS tax code. 5K, 10K, and so on are abbreviations referring to footraces of 5,000 and 10,000 meters, respectively, as well as longer events; K stands for kilo-, a prefix meaning â€Å"one thousand.† Shorter races held on tracks (and swim events) may be called, for example, â€Å"the 400,† referring to a 400-meter dash or another race of that length. Text-speak takes advantage of numeronyms to reduce the number of characters necessary to express a word: Gr8, for example, represents great, and l8r is equivalent to later. Related usage includes computer terms that are abbreviated, for example, from localization to l10n. (The numeronym consists of the first and last letters of the word interrupted by a number representing how many intervening letters are missing.) A similar system is leetspeak (leet derives from elite to acknowledge that those who know the system are privileged to do so in comparison to the ignorant masses), in which numerals replace similarly shaped letters, such as in n00b, which represents a misspelling and abbreviation of newbie (meaning â€Å"novice†). G8 and G20 refer to international political forums consisting of the respective number of participant nations; G stands for group in designations such as â€Å"Group of 8.† K9 is an abbreviation for canine because it is pronounced the same as the word for dogs and other doglike animals; it is employed in the context of dogs used in law enforcement. Also pertaining to law enforcement is the ten-code, a system of numerical codes beginning with 10 that represent words and ideas; the most familiar to laypeople is 10-4, meaning â€Å"understood.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Has vs. Had7 Tips for Writing a Film Review5 Keys to Better Sentence Flow

How does the Media Shape Our Development of Moral Judgment Research Paper

How does the Media Shape Our Development of Moral Judgment - Research Paper Example How this is happening is the way in which the youth is spending a lot of their time with the media due to their easy access to explicit content. With added convenience children can find stories that encompass violence, sexual promiscuity, theft, and greed in numerous media outlets such as fictional programming, a number of reality shows, music, and through the Internet. Research primarily looks at the effects on morality due to the media by looking at the underlying moral decision making that affects their behaviors. As far as children are concerned their moral development follows a very conventional developmental path. When these children, typically under the age of eight, are presented with an ethical dilemma their judgment of right and wrong is highly reliant on whether their action results in a reward or punishment. However as children mature their judgment takes into account a larger amount of factors, intentions and motives which revolve around recognition of the many conflicti ng rules inherent in moral dilemmas. Such a change can be attributed to the fact that their moral reasoning becomes much more flexible and ‘other’ oriented. ... A majority of the children’s perception found unjustified aggression to be wrong however children who watched programs that encompassed fantasy violence, such as Power Rangers, were more inclined to judge the ‘justified’ aggression being morally correct. Research reinforces this notion seeing as how violence in famous superhero cartoons is mostly seen as justified. Hence in the Krcmar study, it was observed how children who watched fantasy violence and those who watched realistic entertainment violence, such as Cops, were seen to display a lesser advanced moral reasoning strategies, with their primary focus being on rules and how prominent the presence or absence of punishment was as far as moral dilemmas was concerned. In another study which focuses on a similar pattern it was found that children who watched fantasy violence frequently were more likely than those who were light viewers to perceive justified violence as being morally correct. The heavy exposure to fantasy violence also led to these children having a lesser advanced role-taking abilities, which consequently affected their moral reasoning skills, making them less sophisticated (Wilson, 2008). A study also focused on looking at the influence the family had on a child’s television viewing and moral reasoning. It was found that if parents stressed and emphasized on communication within a family the children were less likely to watch fantasy violence that was shown on television and therefore develop higher moral reasoning skills and vice versa (Livingstone, 1996). A longitudinal study conducted by Judy Dunnn and Claire Hughes looked at how the media had an impact on the moral development of â€Å"hard-to-manage† preschoolers when compared with

Isaac Newton Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Isaac Newton - Research Paper Example Although Newton was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome by his school psychologist, he constantly achieved the title of top student in the school. Newton was interested in the works of great philosophers and mathematicians, and he discovered the generalized binomial theorem when he was studying in the Trinity College. Between the period 1665 and 1667, Newton made some of his prominent achievements such as the development of calculus, the law of gravitation, and theories on optics. Newton died on 20th March 1727. Although Newton developed a range of theories in mathematics and science, his greatest four achievements include the study of light, discovery of the binomial theorem, discovery of calculus, and the development of the theory of universal gravitation. As Levin says, when Newton discovered that white light is made up of a spectrum of colors from his crystal prism experiments, it brought an end to the debate that whether or not color was an intrinsic property of light (39)i. In addition, Newton’s great works on refraction led to the development of first practical reflecting telescopes, which is known as Newtonian Telescope today. When scientists of Newton’s time supported the idea of ‘light as a wave’, Newton suggested light was made up of particles but not waves. Today, it is clear that light exists as both waves and particles. Binomial theorem was one of the greatest contributions of Isaac Newton to the field of mathematics. The binomial theorem has a range of applications such as multiple-angle identities, series for e, derivative of the power function, and nth derivative of a product. The discovery of calculus was another significant achievement of Newton in mathematics. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, calculus is defined as â€Å"the branch of mathematics that deals with the finding and properties of derivatives and integrals of functions, by methods originally based on the

Liberal Political Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Liberal Political Theory - Essay Example Liberalism has its roots in the Renaissance and the humanist movement, whilst liberal ideology was inadvertently developed further as a result of the Protestant Reformation, and the rise of capitalism. Prior to the emergence of liberalism it was generally accepted that governments had the power to dictate how their citizens actually behaved. The Protestant Reformation started in Germany but the factors that allowed it to survive effectively prevented the forming of a united German state or the complete success of the Protestant Reformation there. The Reformation though it was primarily about a concern to achieve religious reform had a profound influence upon the emergence of liberal thought and ideology (Chadwick, 1990, pp.63-64). The Reformation was in many respects the unwitting catalyst for both liberalism and capitalism. In the Protestant countries it broke the traditional partnership between the secular governments and the Roman Catholic Church. In the short-term the governments of the Protestant states usually gained increased powers to influence the beliefs as well as the behaviour of their populations. States were not at this point attempting to be neutral, as they wanted to control their people as much as they possibly could. The Medieval and the Early Modern view of the role of government was that the state had the full authority to make its citizens believe or behave in the ways that it wanted them to do (Royale, 2004 p. 5). All people within each country owed complete obedience to their government, which had the theoretical power (if not always the physical presence or military capability) to enforce its norms upon its entire population (Heywood, 2001 p. 29). In England, James I and Charles I found it impossible to maintain the traditionally sound relationships between the monarchy, Parliament, and the gentry class from which the majority of MPs,

Final project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Final project - Essay Example Internet nowadays is a part of our daily life. Transactions from different field are being done thru the internet. And now shopping is done not only in the department stores or malls but at your living room as well. The use of IT technology has been increasing; computers are no longer treated as luxury but as a necessity and are important in our daily transactions. One subject that has been gaining popularity in the internet is the on line shopping. The objective of this paper is to be able to present to the readers the pros and cons of on-line shopping. This is done by presenting the personnel experience of some persons during their encounter in online shopping. Another objective of the study is to evaluate the e-business that has been gaining the popularity. Most articles that I encounter about e-business presents one conclusion, that a company would not make it in the international market if they were not able to penetrate the online shopping. The paper will also discuss the complexity of the design. This will include the effectiveness and safety of the said design. Online shopping is one aspect of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, relates to a variety of business dealings conducted online. They include service providers selling services, and retail businesses selling items to customers. They also include auctioneers who create marketplaces where citizens can buy and sell goods, and business to business commerce. All of these transactions are done via the Internet. Retail business is the biggest part of electronic commerce. Instead of shopping in the traditional way, such as going to an actual retail outlet, using telephone shopping or mail order catalogues, online shopping allows companies and consumers to make their business transactions over networked computers. Online shopping could be defined as the buying and selling of goods over the Internet. Just about anything can be purchased over the internet. Examples of items consumers can buy are computers, cars, clothing, airline and event tickets, food, and pharmaceutical s. The most popular products purchased online were flowers, computer hardware and software, books, consumer electronics, music and videos, toys, and wines (Summers, Gardiner, Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2003). http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Online_Shopping The Advantages and Disadvantages of On-line Shopping On-line shopping benefits all; young and old, disabled and able and others as long as you know how to use it. There are things that are considered as an advantage in using the system. The advantages and disadvantages are enumerated in the table below. The purpose of presenting the advantages and disadvantages of on-line shopping and traditional shopping will help the reader decide whether to use the system or not. Another objective is to analyze the process of on-line shopping. The plans objective also include on how to convince a person to use the online shopping. Table 1: Advantages and Disadvantages On line shopping Traditional Shopping Time Unlimited - you can purchase online anytime you want. No closing and opening hours You can shop at limited time only. Availability One will be able to know right away if the item is available or not and where it will be available. You need to drive from one location to another just to find the item you need. You have wasted your time and effort. Comfort You

Stem Cell Research Legislation Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Stem Cell Legislation - Research Paper Example Humans have two types of stem cells, which include adult and embryonic stem cells. Embryonic cells come blastocyst’s inner layer. The adult stem cells are located in various tissues with varying potency. Potency of the stem cells indicates the number of cell types that can differentiate from the stem cells (Solo & Gasil, 2007). Embryonic cells are said to be pluripotent meaning they differentiate to form an array of tissues. This has attracted a controversial debate on the use of embryonic stem cells for treatment as well as research. This paper will explore the history of stem cell legislation in the US as well as compare this legislation to other statutes in the world. It will also elaborate on the current statutes concerning stem cell as well as the future of these statutes. The policies and laws on stem cell in the USA have undergone various, complicated changes over the years. Adult stem cells were first used for the treatment of leukemia in 1970. However, because of thei r limited potency, their use in research and treatment is limited. The debate on the use of embryonic stem cells is attributed to the fact that these cells are obtained from live embryos produced in the lab (Bellomo, 2006). The controversial issue surrounding this debate is the question on when life begins in humans. This is because some argue that the embryos created in the lab are humans and with rights to live. History on Legislation Roe Wade legalized abortion in the US in 1973. Five years after this, scientists and physicians delivered the first human following in vitro fertilization. These created the need for the federal government to enact policies and laws that restricted the use of public funds in the research of embryonic stem cells. All through history, there were no laws barring stem cell research in the USA (DeGette, 2008). However, the government put a restriction on the funding of the research based on stem cells. During President’s Clinton administration, the National Health Institute advised the government to permit the use of public funds for research on embryos. However, Clinton citing various moral and ethical issues declined to issue funds for this research. Furthermore, Clinton signed the Dickey Amendment in 1995 which forbade the use of federal money in funding the research on human embryos. The use of human embryonic stem cells for research featured significantly during Bush’s first term in office. In February 2001, he requested for the review of the NIH request concerning federal funding for research on the stem cells. Later on in August 2001, Bush issued a ban on the use of public funding in the research of human stem cells (DeGette, 2008). He argued that the creation and abortion of fetuses for the purpose of research was destroying human life and thus, should be avoided. In an effort to lift this ban, both 109th and 110th Congresses passed Bills to life the ban. However, both bills were vetoed by Bush using his Presid ential powers. The 109th Congress also passed a Bill that banned the creation and destruction of human embryos for research purpose (DeGette, 2008). In 2005, the House passed the Stem Cell Enhancement Act which sought to allow the allocation of federal funds to research on human embryonic stem cells. The Presidential vetoed the Bill; therefore, it was never enacted into law. Later on, in 2006, Senate passed the Bill but the President did not approve it. In 2007, the legislation on stem cell research

Final project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Final project - Essay Example Internet nowadays is a part of our daily life. Transactions from different field are being done thru the internet. And now shopping is done not only in the department stores or malls but at your living room as well. The use of IT technology has been increasing; computers are no longer treated as luxury but as a necessity and are important in our daily transactions. One subject that has been gaining popularity in the internet is the on line shopping. The objective of this paper is to be able to present to the readers the pros and cons of on-line shopping. This is done by presenting the personnel experience of some persons during their encounter in online shopping. Another objective of the study is to evaluate the e-business that has been gaining the popularity. Most articles that I encounter about e-business presents one conclusion, that a company would not make it in the international market if they were not able to penetrate the online shopping. The paper will also discuss the complexity of the design. This will include the effectiveness and safety of the said design. Online shopping is one aspect of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, relates to a variety of business dealings conducted online. They include service providers selling services, and retail businesses selling items to customers. They also include auctioneers who create marketplaces where citizens can buy and sell goods, and business to business commerce. All of these transactions are done via the Internet. Retail business is the biggest part of electronic commerce. Instead of shopping in the traditional way, such as going to an actual retail outlet, using telephone shopping or mail order catalogues, online shopping allows companies and consumers to make their business transactions over networked computers. Online shopping could be defined as the buying and selling of goods over the Internet. Just about anything can be purchased over the internet. Examples of items consumers can buy are computers, cars, clothing, airline and event tickets, food, and pharmaceutical s. The most popular products purchased online were flowers, computer hardware and software, books, consumer electronics, music and videos, toys, and wines (Summers, Gardiner, Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2003). http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Online_Shopping The Advantages and Disadvantages of On-line Shopping On-line shopping benefits all; young and old, disabled and able and others as long as you know how to use it. There are things that are considered as an advantage in using the system. The advantages and disadvantages are enumerated in the table below. The purpose of presenting the advantages and disadvantages of on-line shopping and traditional shopping will help the reader decide whether to use the system or not. Another objective is to analyze the process of on-line shopping. The plans objective also include on how to convince a person to use the online shopping. Table 1: Advantages and Disadvantages On line shopping Traditional Shopping Time Unlimited - you can purchase online anytime you want. No closing and opening hours You can shop at limited time only. Availability One will be able to know right away if the item is available or not and where it will be available. You need to drive from one location to another just to find the item you need. You have wasted your time and effort. Comfort You