Saturday, September 7, 2019
In support of the legalization of marijuana for medical use Essay
In support of the legalization of marijuana for medical use - Essay Example Medically, the drug has been effectual in treating various diseases as discussed by Jocelyn Elders, the former U.S surgeon in her article, Myths about Medical Marijuana 2004. Still, this research is affirmed by Mathre (8) who in his article outline how the drug kindle appetite and lessen cachexia, alleviate vomiting and nausea linked with cancer chemotherapy, reduce intraocular pressure, and treat analgesia and neurological along with movement disorders. Unlike many drugs prescribed in the market, marijuana does not cause a terminal overdose. No one dies out of overdose due to its therapeutic applications such as decrease of spasms, muscles, chronic pain, and intraocular heaviness. Still, the CDC does not have a category of death by marijuana unlike other drugs approved by the FDA. Deaths have been noted as a result of legal drugs despite having the FDA approval. Although there are perilous effects of smoking marijuana, it has been approved medically to treat some ailments. This pape r seeks to discuss all these issues in detail in support of the legalization of marijuana for medical use. Joycelyn Elders (1) highlights the medical benefits of using marijuana. Her insights are awesome on how the drug relieves pains, reduces vomiting along with other symptoms of chronic diseases. Marijuana does this safely as it is less toxic than other drugs prescribed by physicians. Joycelyn focused her argument on the medical benefits of using the drug in which she believed that it improves the overall quality of patient’s life. From her argument, marijuana is best known to reduce neuropathic or chronic pain. The effect is important to HIV patients who often suffer from such pain and the drug becomes effective in pain reduction. Secondly, marijuana is beneficial in increasing appetite as it stimulates the body’s metabolism. The drug is effectual in reducing the symptoms of chronic diseases such as HIV and cancer as patients lack
Friday, September 6, 2019
“Three Cups of Tea†by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin Essay Example for Free
â€Å"Three Cups of Tea†by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin Essay The number one New York bestseller â€Å"Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peaceâ€â€One school at a Time†had received much acclaim from critics worldwide, not because it was beautifully written but simply because the story itself is uniquely remarkable. If we set aside the positive criticisms about this book, only a handful of negative criticisms will be surfaced. These negative criticisms would only include minor remarks on the writing style that concerns the over-dramatization of the story of Greg Mortenson. The critics call this flaw of the book â€Å"too much of milking the moment.†But then again, these negative comments about the book don’t have much bearing to the credibility of the book. â€Å"Three Cups of Tea†is nevertheless one of the most remarkable non-fictional stories of our time.            The book was basically about an admirable journey of a man from being just an ordinary man towards being a humanitarian giving the word â€Å"altruism†a contextualized contemporary meaning. The name of the man is Greg Mortenson , the author of the book alongside co-author David Oliver Relin. The negative criticisms were primarily focused to Relin, acussing his writing as not being top-caliber, while everybody is admiring Greg Mortenson’s story.            The content of the book is extraordinary, but that also applies to the title of the book â€Å"Three Cups of Tea.†Greg Mortenson and co-author David Oliver Relin have encountered this Balti proverb â€Å"the very first time you share tea with a Balti you are a stranger the second time you are the honored guest. For the third time you become family†(Mortenson Relin, 2007, p. 150) The authors of the book made the right choice of title for the book. That Balti proverb had given the reader an idea of the culture of those in the Central Asia. The Balti proverb doesn’t only talks about the Balti people’s admirable hospitality, but also presents an ideal of how people should treat each other. If taken in literal terms, the Balti proverb also alludes to Greg Mortenson’s back and forth travel from the U.S. to the village of Korphe and vice-versa. The book had started with an introductory part about the author and protagonist, Greg Mortenson, which was entitled â€Å"In Mr. Mortenson’s Orbit.†The introductory part serves to make the readers relate more to the author/protagonist. After all, it would be much easier for the audience to relate to the protagonist if the readers have at least an idea of whom they will be spending their whole journey throughout a one-inch or more book. This part also establishes a sense of credibility on the part of Greg Mortenson. After all, there is a saying that says the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. The same analogy applies for the relationship of the book and the author.            The introductory part will be followed by all the chapters of the book. The whole book is comprised by twenty-three chapters. It is very noticeable that the book started out with the first chapter entitled â€Å"Failure.†Here are the chapters according to their order: Failure, The Wrong Side Of The River, Progress And Perfection, Self-Storage, 580 Letters, One Check, Rawaldipindi’s Rooftops At Dusk, Hard Way Home, beaten by the Braldu, the people have spoken, building bridges, six days, Haji’s lesson, a smile should be more than a memory, equilibrium, Mortenson in motion, red velvet box, cherry trees in the sand, shrouded figure, a village called New York, tea with the Taliban, Rumsfeld’s shoes, stones into schools. All of the chapters narrate Greg Mortenson’s amazong journey from being an ordinary man towards becoming a man that became extraordinary by selflessly helping others. The book will end wi th an acknowledgement part that extends gratitude to the people and institutions that had helped Greg Mortenson and his noble cause. Summary            For us to know better the book and the author of the book himself, here is a summary that includes an introduction of the author. However, it must be noted that this summary may contain spoilers that may ruin the experience of reading one of our time’s most inspiring book. All information cited in this paper came solely from the book â€Å"Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peaceâ€â€One School at a time†by the authors Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, Pubnlished by Penguin in 2007.            The year was 1993 when the climbing enthusiast had decided that he will climb K2, the second highest peak in the world, to honor her deceased sister by scattering her beads on the top of the mountain. Greg Mortenson was then an emergency room nurse back then. During the course of their mountain climb, his fellow climber had to be rescued due to a life-threatening accident. The rescue itself became more tiring than the whole climb itself. Being exhausted from the rescue, Greg Mortenson became disoriented and dehydrated. Consequently, he became lost on his way down. It was such profound irony that after Greg Mortenson was helping his fellow climber, after that he was in need of help. The two local porters led Greg Mortenson to small village, the village of Korphe. The village was small and poor, deprived of anything that can be associated with the comforts available in the western world. The villagers there took good care of Greg Mortenson, especially the leader of the village Haji Ali. In exchange for the warm hospitality of Haji Ali and the rest of the villagers, Greg Mortenson had donated almost all his climbing equipments for the villagers to utilize. He also used his nursing background to treat some minor injuries of the villagers with the use of his first aid kit.            After a little while, Greg Mortenson developed an interest for the community that had taken good care and had accepted him. He then asked Haji Aji to show him around, and then he asked the leader of the village to show him the village school. What he saw was an open ledge that admits eighty-two of the village children. The children were standing in the bare ground, without slippers or shoes, holding a stick so that they could scratch multiplication tables on the ground. The image of the eagerness of the village children to learn pierced right through Greg Mortenson’s heart. The village children had reminded him much of his sister. He felt that by establishing a school in Korphe, he will not just honor his deceased sister, he will also make a profound change in the lives of the people of Korphe. Before he had set for home, he promised Haji Ali and the rest of the villagers that he will do everything in his power to build Korphe a more adequate school.            When he got back to the U.S., he went back to his job as an emergency room nurse. But he didn’t forget about the promise that he made to Haji Ali and the people of Korphe. While working shifts, Greg Mortenson wrote five-hundred-eighty letters for sponsorships to well-off and known personalities. The rough approximate amount needed to build the school in Korphe was a whopping twelve thousand dollars. All his letters were rejected, almost all. Fortunately, a retired Swiss physicist and also a climbing enthusiast Dr. Jean Hoerni (also a pioneer in Silicon Valley) sent a pleasant reply. The doctor was impressed by the altruism of Greg Mortenson, and she wrote in a check the amount that is needed to build the school. So he went back to the village of Korphe. He was then told by Haji Ali that the village needed first a bridge to connect them to key urban areas. Greg Mortenson asked again Dr. Jean Hoerni for the amount needed to build the bridge. The very generous Dr. Jean Hoerni had granted him the amount but she said to Greg Mortenson â€Å"Don’t screw up†(Mortenson Relin, 2007, p. 55). He did his best not to screw up and he didn’t. He bought all the necessary equipments to build the bridge and the school then went back to Korphe. His altruism didn’t end there; Greg Mortenson then created the Central Asia Institute. The Mortenson along with the institute and some friends their time, money and efforts to build schools for areas in Pakistan just like Korphe. Significant change in the lives of the village children            Like most of us, Greg Mortenson also believes that education can save the world from poverty and terrorism. But for Greg Mortenson, education of young girls is of more importance to than the education of the boys. This may touch a little bit the sensitive issue of sexism, but Greg Mortenson has an interesting and convincing reason for leaning towards the education of young girls. He had said that educated young males tend to leave their villages to seek employment in the cities. On the other hand, the young girls just stay at home. In a sense they become leaders of the community by upbringing the new generation. They pass on what they have learned to their children but the problem there is that their knowledge is inadequate. Greg Mortenson believes that the education of young girls is really the key towards profound change. (Mortenson Relin, 2007, p. 209) What led Greg Mortenson to help these people? What led to Greg Mortenson’s actions can be skimmed into a generalization that it is not his direct actions, but rather his failures. The book’s first chapter is not entitled â€Å"Failures†for no significant reason. Gred Mortenson had failed in his attempt to honor his deceased sister by scattering her beads on the peak of K2, one of the highest mountain peaks in the world. This failure had led him to the small mountain village named â€Å"Korphe,†where he had an epiphany that he should help these people that had willingly helped him. In the course of the book, he will send hundreds of letters to personalities who can afford granting him the amount he needs to subsidize his goal of helping the people of Korphe. Only one of these letters for sponsorship will be replied. A well-off retired Swiss physicist by the name of Dr. Jean Hoerni was touched by Mortenson’s altruistic desire to help others. The physicist had granted him twelve thousand dollars to fund his mission. Failures were prevalent in the whole book, interspersed in every chapter. The story of Greg Mortenson tells us that failures shouldn’t mean that it is the end of the climb. The book implies to us that failures may shun us away from our initial goals, but they are also the chance for us to do something more special. Being a climber, Greg Mortenson may have not reached the peak of the mountain, but he had made significant changes in the lives of many people in need enabling these people to reach new heights. Greg Mortenson’s altruism had put him on top of these people’s gratitude list. What help did he received?            The story of Greg Mortenson had shown us the irony that a person who want’s to help others also needs help from others. Greg Mortenson is just an ordinary man with an ordinary job, what makes him special is his altruismâ€â€but altruism alone wouldn’t build a bridge and school. Fortunately, there are still generous people like Dr. Jean Hoerni who is willing to give some to the needy. Friends and families also gave the strength to Greg Mortenson. The memory of her sister really gave him a push. As the village children reminded him of her sister, the load of helping others seemed to be lightened because he was like just helping family.            Aside from those assists, Greg Mortenson also received much needed help from the mediaâ€â€particularly from the reporter named Kevin Fedarko. The reporter wrote a story about Greg Mortenson and his mission in a magazine called â€Å"Parade.†After the story was read by the public, Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute had received many donations and words of admiration and encouragement.            But out of these people who had helped Greg Mortenson in his mission, the beneficiaries of this mission were of the greatest help Greg Mortenson had received, especially the village leader Haji Ali. After all, if it weren’t for the people of Korphe, he might have been lost in the mountains, or something worse. Haji Ali also gave him an important advice regarding his mission of building schools,. Haji Ali told Greg Mortenson that he should have a good relationship with the village people. By having a good relationship with the locals, including the Taliban leaders, Greg Mortenson gained access to areas only a few Westerners are able to reach. Did he accomplish his goals?            â€Å"Yes†is the only answer to this inquiry. The education that the village children had received from the new schools will definitely have a positive impact in their community. The education that the children have received will be passed on to generations after generations. Greg Mortenson’s mission may have only reached a small part of the whole world, but he had become an inspiration worldwide. Greg Mortenson had shown the world that there are still people like him that can make a profound change in the world. He is just as ordinary as everyone, with an ordinary life and ordinary job. He had shown to the whole world that even ordinary individuals can achieve extraordinary and significant feats. Work Cited Mortenson, Greg. Relin, David Oliver. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Managing people
Managing people Introduction: Leadership is integrated part of our life. According to corporate chief and former US presidential candidate Ross Perot, â€Å"the principles of leadership are timeless because, in a rapidly changing world, human nature remains a constant†. We all experience leadership in our life from early childhood in our families, through friendships, social, recreational and sports activities, school and higher education, to politics and government, and, of course, in our work, we all recognize leadership in other people and often in ourselves. In government, global corporations and small businesses alike, the leadership role is becoming more demanding, more open to scrutiny and more difficult [Roger Gill]. The development of leadership theory also parallels the development of organizational theory. The bureaucratic form of organization is characterized by ‘laissez-faire leadership whereby so-called leaders tend to avoid taking a stand, ignore problems, not follow up, and refrain from intervening or transactional leadership, in which leaders practise management by exception, focusing only on deviations from what is required, and contingent reward, rewarding people (either materially or psychologically) for achieving what is required. The emergence of the post-bureaucratic form of organization in the late nineteenth century reflects the development of the concept of transformational leadership. Theory Approaches to Leadership:Number of Leadership theories and approaches has been evolved on the basis of Style, Trait, Behavioural, Transformational, Situational and Charisma. Many researchers made efforts linking some of the theories across these leadership approaches. But each model has its own pros, cons, assumptions and limitations. Latest researches are conducted on Situational Transformational leadership styles. Leadership gurus presented new models as variations to the already existing models. Max Weber, MacGregor, Bernard Bass, Warren Bennis Nanus are few important researchers in the area of transformational leadership. Understanding the difference between transactional and transformational leadership is vital in getting the whole concept of transformational leadership theory. In general, a relationship between two people is based on the level of exchange they have. Exchange need not be money or material; it can be anything. The more exchange they have the more stronger the relation. Managers expects more productivity from employee in order to give good rewards. In this way, if something is done to anyone based on the return then that relation is called as ‘Transactional type. In business, leaders announces rewards in turn to the productivity. These relations are all about requirements, conditions and rewards. In life, at one point of time, things happen without expectation from other side. Say, moms dedicated service to her kid. Mom doesnt expect anything from the child and the service she provides in raising the child isunconditional, dedicated, committed. Mom plays a major role in shaping up the kids future life. This type of relation is called as ‘Transformational. Leaders do exist in this world with these behaviours. Transformational Leade rs work toward a common goal with followers; put followers in front and develop them; take followers to next level; inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests in achieving superior results. Leadership Approach in TATA Group: TATA Group founded in 1868, is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in the Mumbai, India. The Group has 500,000 employees spread over six continents (more than 80 countries). TATA Group has market capitalization worth $70bn as of today and is the largest private corporate group in India. TATA Group is biggest employer in UK, employing more than 50,000 people. TATA Group has interests in communications, IT, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Its chairman, Ratan Tata is one of Indias and the worlds most influential person right now. The Tata Group is known for its good business ethics and corporate governance. The Group leadership style has been quite consistent from its existence. The Group has incorporated some more leadership changes which are essential in current century to drive towards more competitive. In terms of leadership style, TATA Group has adopted a team-led culture. With Ratan as a leader, the management style of the entire group changed, trust became a huge facet and theme of the group. Ratan put in a complete organisational restructuring in place when he took over taking a more matrix-style approach building teams, replacing many of the senior managers with younger ones and bringing the retirement age of senior managers to 65 from 70 years. These changes would have obviously transformed a lot in the business, senior managers would have had to be on their toes and flexibility and adaptability became essential qualities to have. The leadership changed from a centralised, command centre to a much more distributed form with employees and all managers enjoying greater responsibility and knowledge about the Group, which would have in turn; motivated them to work harder and as a group. From distinctive Leadership models available such as the McGregor Theory X and Y; where a theory X manager believes workers dislike work, are not creative and avoid al l responsibility while a theory Y manager believes that workers get as much enjoyment from work as they can derive with leisure, accept responsibility and are creative; it can be seen from this, that Ratan wanted all his managers to be modelled as closely to Theory Y and he himself could be called a Theory Y manager. He encouraged managers to be innovative and share all their ideas, consulting actively with them and giving them more responsibility and importantly encouraged team-working. Using standard leadership style models of Autocratic, Democratic, Paternalistic and Laissez-faire, Ratan Tata can be described as the leader who employs a more democratic approach but also uses facets of the other three models, a perfect leader in my view. He is democratic because he encourages communication and participation, and workers have access to some of the knowledge of the business. However, he is also paternalistic in a way, because he cares greatly about the well-being of his employees as was evident because after the 26/11 terror attacks, he personally visited each affected employees residence (80 in total) which shows he does have a humanistic touch to his leadership as well. He is autocratic in certain ways but only when needed especially when quick and informed decisions have to be taken, but he is never too commanding in his nature, being a man of few words and being more of a man of action, this is evident from the manner he aggressively pushes for bold international deals, such as during the global acquisitions of business powerhouses such as Corus, Jaguar and Land Rover, and Tetley Tea. This quote from Mr. Muthuram, another executive director, clearly shows that he is a man, who is intent on succeeding and is sure of himself, â€Å"Ratan was the chief architect of the Corus deal. I was worried about the magnitude and the amount of money. But he instilled confidence.†He also uses facets of the Laissez-Faire model such as the delegation of important duties and decision-making, he also does not in any way interfere with any managers functioning, he might make a broad strategic assessment but he does not interfere in operational issues and details, this shows that he has complete trust and faith in his managers and believes in their ability, this quote from Mr. Gopalakrishnan, an executive director of the company, shows how much value Ratan Tata places on his trust, this can be highly motivating for managers and workers alike, I remember what Mr Tata told us at a meeting. He said that he will continue to trust all his managers, but once they lose that trust, he will go after them. I think that is a very fair deal†Looking at other leadership models, such as Max Webers Transactional and Transformational Leadership models, where a leader is classed in three brackets which are Bureaucratic, Charismatic and Traditional, where a bureaucratic leader is one who is always bound by the set rule and does not want to tread beyond them; a Traditional leader is one who does and follows everything from a long past or history and always loyally obeys these ‘traditions; a Charismatic leader is one who uses his own laurels or abilities to inspire and is one who can be described as radically opposed to administrative rules and legal principles. From these models Ratan Tata easily falls into the Charismatic Model because he is one who leads by example, coming up with highly innovative ideas such as the one lakh car the ‘Nano, budget hotels or low-end watches, he brought radical change to the Tata Group as a whole, changing it from its ‘Traditional mindset to new more flexible and adaptive cultu ral mindset. One can also look at Bennis and Nanuss Transformational leadership model which states that transformational leaders make their followers into self-empowered leaders and their main focus is to articulate vision and values clearly so the newly self-empowered leaders know where to go; it then talks about the four Is of Transformational leadership which are Idealised Influence ( being a role model) Inspirational Motivation( cultivating a team spirit, motivate and provide a challenge) Intellectual Stimulation( Innovation and creativity) Individual Consideration(mentoring and providing support for followers) Ratan Tata can be then described as a complete transformational leader, because he epitomises all the Is and is clearly a man with a great vision; he changed the business culture to one that is team-based, he empowers all his managers and executives and has complete faith in them, he is extremely innovative and is credited for much of the Groups new products, he places a great deal of importance to his Research and Development department and he definitely cares deeply about the welfare of all his employees and managers, which was demonstrated during the 26/11 terror attacks that hit Mumbai and targeted one of his hotels. He is a visionary and proof of this comes from this quote, â€Å"One hundred years from now, I expect Tatas to be much bigger, of course, than it is now. More importantly, I hope the group comes to be regarded as being the best in India. Best in the Manner in which we operate, Best in the products we deliver, and best in our value system and ethics. Having said that, I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India, that we become a global group, operating in many countries, as Indian business conglomerate that is at home in the world, carrying the same set of trust as we do today†Ratan Tata is a leader who realised the kind of market his businesses were in competitively and always wanted them to be up to date in all their processes and technology. This famous quote from his lips is proof enough of this fact, A company or business which remains static is a business that will die; a company that constantly changes and accepts that there are better ways to do things than the way they are done today, is a company that will survive in the global market that we face. From this statement we can figure that he is a fierce competitor and a man who understands the market he faces. Ratan Tata. He is also a very deep thinker and a brilliant strategist as is described by one of his Executive directors, Mr. Alan Rosling, â€Å"He is a deep thinker and extremely strategic. He is always 2-3 steps ahead†Another important quality that Ratan Tata has is that he is a man of strong Integrity and principle; he never compromises on his ethics and does not deal with any business or company that compromises them and values his shareholders very highly , another quote from Mr. Gopalakrishnan shows this fact, Tata has shown that there is no other way he will do business other than do it ethically There is evidence of this fact from the incident when the finances of Tata Finance were in huge losses due to financial faults made by senior officials; Ratan announced that the holding company they owned would provide the necessary finance needed for the unascertained losses, thus giving shareholders their dividend. His personality is reflecting in the Groups reputation and giving them a good global image. I choose Ratan Tata because I feel he is a complete leader and he is someone who definitely has transformed the face of the Indian business world, he is someone who never compromises on his ethics and principles and has set a strong value system for the Tata Group as a whole, in a country where ethical and value-orientated business is never a top priority. He is someone who epitomises the complete leader with all his qualities; he is a man of great integrity and dignity, and he is also a champion of social causes with his the Tata Foundation being the largest charitable organisation base in the country, and he is a man of modesty who never likes to take credit for anything even if it does completely belong to him. Critically evaluate what is the relationship between Prediction Markets and the concept of Open Innovation. Answer to Question 2: There is a very strong fundamental relationship between Prediction Markets and the Concept Question 3: Discuss whether and to what extent business organisations can make use of Prediction Markets and critically evaluate what are the necessary modifications that organisations have to put in place in order to profit from the use of Prediction Markets. Answer to Question 3: In comparison with traditional methods to demand forecast, Prediction Markets provides
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Argument for the Existence of God :: Religion, Theology
     The following paper will provide a sound argument in favor of the existence of God. By demonstrating that an Atheist world cannot account for the preconditions of the laws of logic an Atheist cannot even account for a rational debate concerning the existence of God.      â€Å"The impossibility of the contrary†, the best and only proof that the nesesary truth of the existence of God is his revelation of himself to us that makes it possible for us to use logic. This could be translated, using only nessesary truths, into the form of:      L: (laws of logic)      G: (God exists)      if L entails G L                ================                G Logic is â€Å"the laws of reasoning that God has established.†If God has established these laws of reasoning that we call logic then how could the Atheist system account for the laws of logic. First they are immaterial and universal, and how could anything immaterial and universal be accounted for in a naturalistic (matter only) universe. Second if God has established these laws of reasoning then there would be no atheism. An Atheist wants to believe in laws of logic which are universal in application, but in order to escape the ultimate implications of this idea ( there is a God who imposes universal standards of reason.), the Atheist will try to maintain that the â€Å"laws of logic†are merely â€Å" conventions†of general agreement amongst them. This is philosophically non- acceptable, if logic were simply a matter of convention, it would be impossible
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Loss of Dignity in Dulce et Decorum est and Refugee Blues :: essays research papers
Human dignity, every person in the world has at least some sense of human dignity, whether they choose to show it, however pitiful they think they are, every person has sense of dignity, of value. Losing one’s dignity can be painful, more painful than a physical blow. In Dulce et Decorum est, the writer, Wilfred Owen was a soldier fighting in World War One. He is writing about the horrors of being gassed by the enemy after fighting in the front lines, and ‘the old lie’: Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Mori, It is sweet and right to die for your country. Refugee Blues was written just before World War Two by W.H. Auden, who is writing about the Jews being exiled from Germany which ultimately ended up with them being hunted down even before the events of the Holocaust actually happened. In both poems, the poems are written in a first person perspective which gives the reader a sense of participation, especially in Refugee Blues, where at the end of each stanza the words ‘my dear’ is written. In Dulce et Decorum est, the initial lines of the poem states that the marching soldiers were, ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,’ this takes the nobility out of war, and of course, giving the readers at that time period a sense of uncertainty to the title of the poem. The young soldiers are pictured to have lost their youth, health, and most importantly, their dignity. This is similar to how the Jews in Refugee Blues were like in the beginning of the poem, where they were homeless and exiled, like beggars, as in most societies beggars are not respected as they cannot support themselves without people giving them money. Therefore beggars must suffer losing their dignity in order to survive. Also, in Dulce et Decorum est, it shows that the soldiers were trying to get away from the front lines, ‘till on the haunting flares we turned our backs’. This is as if they were frightened of what lay behind them due to the word ‘haunting’, and in Refugee Blues this is displayed throughout the entire poem as the Jews were running away from Germany, but is really obvious in the second stanza. Running away from something you fear is also a form of loss of human dignity as it shows that you are frightened of the enemy and that they have power over you.
Monday, September 2, 2019
The Happy Girl :: Character
The Happy Girl Jackie's small features curled up in horror as I unceremoniously plopped down on the hotel room floor. "Ew! That's so disgusting, Sarah!" she exclaimed, stomping her slipper-clad foot soundly on the floor. "I can't believe that you're sitting on the carpet! You know how germ-a-phobic I am!" Rolling around some more, I laughed as her hands clasped around a jumbo-sized container of Lysol. Even on the band trip to Colorado, she was still as cautious of "infection" as ever. Shaking her head at me, she smiled somberly as she shook the can, preparing to thoroughly disinfect our room. Based on this alone, most people would classify Jackie as, well, a freak. Most likely, they'd be right. But she's "freaky" in an amazingly wonderful sort of way. I've known Jackie since sixth grade. When I first went to West Hempfield Middle School, I didn't know many people. Most of my friends were sent to Harrold, while others became "popular" seemingly overnight, leaving their slightly geeky bookworm of a best friend behind as they went on to become cheerleaders, athletes, or student government representatives. One of the girls from my homeroom that I quickly befriended introduced me to Jackie at the beginning of the school year during sixth-grade lunch. From the moment we met, I knew that we'd make great friends. We had a lot in common, including interests in music (we both play clarinet), television (we're both huge X-Files fans), and art. Even when we'd disagree about something, she was still fun to be around. Jackie is the kind of girl that is always perky, helping anyone out of a bad mood, even when she's in one herself. I can't help but smile when I talk to her; her happiness is seemingly infectious. On any given day, Jackie's outward appearance is bound to be something unique and creative. With her traditional Italian looks - thick black hair, dark brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin - she can easily dress in many different styles and still look adorable. Her manner of dress ranges from punk to preppy, gothic to grunge. At school, she can appear to be a perfect little angel, yet be a hard-core, glamorous, punk-rocker at a party the same night.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Prime Bank
1. 1 Introduction of the Report In the modern competitive environment, the pursuit of service quality is now considered to be an essential strategy. Offering a superior product is no longer sufficient, as firms in the 21st century economy compete on a much broader platform. In terms of the banking sector, service quality has become an increasingly important factor for success and survival (Cui, Lewis, & Park, 2003).Provision of high quality service aids in meeting several requirements such as customer satisfaction and its consequent loyalty and market share, soliciting new customers, improved productivity, financial performance and profitability (Collet, Lancier, & Olliver, 1990; Julian & Ramaseshan, 1994; Lewis, 1989, 1993; Llosa, Chandon, & Orsingher, 1998). It has also become an important research topic because of its important relationship to corporate marketing and financial performance.In the current study the researcher intends to find out the customer service performance of P rime Bank Limited and also compare the performance with other private sector banks. The Prime Bank Limited is a national banking group that is incorporated on the 12th February, 1995 as a consequence of relentless and decided efforts of a group of entrepreneurs having excellence of experience exposure in the different fields of industry, trade and commerce of Bangladesh.To prepare a specific and precise analysis on service quality performance, the researcher will consider the SURVQUAL model proposed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988) which consists of five key dimensions like reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. 1. 2 Origin of the Study This report has been prepared as a requirement of the internship program of School of Business, North South University (NSU). The organization attachment started on 24 January 2010 and ended on 24th April 2010.This project on â€Å"Comparative Analysis of Customer Service Quality of Prime Bank Limited with other Pr ivate Commercial Banks†is assigned by Kazi Tozammel Huq, Assistant Vice President, Motijheel Branch, Prime Bank Limited (PBL) and it was approved by institution supervisor Mr. Muntasir Alam, Lecturer, School of Business, North South University (NSU). 1. 3 Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to make a comparative analysis of customer service quality of Prime Bank Limited with other private commercial banks.This study attempted to understand the customer perceptions on different service quality dimensions while dealing with these banks. The purpose is also to make recommendations for improving the quality and soundness of different services provided to the customers by Prime bank Limited. 1. 4 Statement of the problem In the current study, the researcher will use five important dimensions like reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles to find out the customer service quality of Prime bank Limited and thus compare the service quality with other private commercial banks in Bangladesh.The problem statement, then, is stated as follows: The current study will identify the customer service quality of Prime bank Limited considering key dimensions such as reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles and compare the performance with other private commercial banks in Bangladesh. 1. 5 Research Methodology 1. 5. 1 Research design As the purpose of this study is to make a comparative analysis of customer service quality of different private commercial banks, therefore descriptive research was undertaken to fulfill the main purpose of the study.The current study will compare the customer perceptions of service quality of Prime Bank Limited with the private commercial banks such as Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd under five key dimensions like tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. This research will use a descriptive study to discover the ideas and insights of these different service quality dimensions. Therefore, the current study will be characterized as a descriptive study. 1. 5. 2 Sampling method For the current study, the researcher will use the customers of four ifferent private commercial banks such as Prime Bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd as the sample for the study. For this proposed study, the population will be the customers of different private commercial banks in Bangladesh. The researcher will use stratified random sampling to collect the sample for this study. In a recent study Sureshchandar, Rajendran, and Anantharaman (2003) have also utilized this sampling method to make a comparative analysis of customer perceptions of service quality in the banking sector.The stratification will be done based on the four different banks. From each of the banks, about 20 customers will be randomly selected and thus the sample size will be 80. Data have been collected using the â€Å"personal-contactâ € approach, i. e. the respondents have been approached personally and given a detailed explanation about the survey. 1. 5. 3 Survey Instrument In the current study, the researcher will use a questionnaire to collect the data from the sample. Structured questionnaire will be used in this research. The questionnaire used in this study is comprised of two parts.The first part contains questions about personal profiles of the respondents including age, occupation and types of accounts currently holding. Then the next and final part includes expectations of respondents according to five dimensions. These dimensions are reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles. A seven-point Likert scale ranging from â€Å"strongly disagree = 1†to â€Å"strongly agree = 7†was used to measure the 21 items. This 21-item SURVQUAL scale is developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988). Since Parasuraman et al. 1988) introduced the SERVQUAL instrument, many rese archers have also used, extended and developed this scale to study service quality in different sectors of the services industry (Fick & Ritchie, 1991; Babakus & Mangold, 1992; Coyle & Dale, 1993; Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Lewis & Pescetto, 1996; Smith, 1995; Buttle, 1996; Lam, Wong, & Yeung, 1997; Lim & Tang, 2000; Oldfield & Baron, 2000; Gounaris, Stathakopoulos, & Athanassopoulos, 2003). 1. 5. 4 Data Collection The study was conducted on the basis of both the primary and secondary ources of information. Primary data Primary data were collected through questionnaire from the customers of Prime Bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd. Secondary data Annual reports of PBL, Instruction circular of Head Office, Brochures of different Banks, online articles. 1. 5. 5 Data analysis procedure In the current situation, the proposed study is a comparative study which intends to analyze the customer service quality of Prime Bank Limited with other Private Commer cial Banks.As a result, after collecting the data the researcher will use Mean value to make the comparison among the banks considering the five dimensions of service quality measurement. Several studies have utilized the mean value to analyze the service quality dimensions (Joseph & Stone, 2003; Dotchin & Oakland, 1994; Cuthbert, 1996; Allred & Addams 2000). In this study, the researcher will also use factor analysis to analyze the data for the proposed study.The researcher intends to check if the scale items included in the questionnaire constituted a single dimension in the specific context of the different private commercial banks and then make a comparison between the banks. Some previous studies have also utilized factor analysis to study service quality of different service organizations (Cui, Lewis, & Park, 2003; Cuthbert, 1996; Arasli, Mehtap-Smadi, & Katircioglu, 2005). To analyze the data gathered from the survey Microsoft Excel 2003 and SPSS 12. 0 is utilized. 1. 5. 6 Su rvey Time The survey time for the current study is April, 2010. 1. 6 Limitations of the StudyThe major limitations of this study are given as follows a. There were some restrictions to have access to the information confidential by concern authority. b. For the comparative analysis only the branches of the four private commercial banks which are located in Gulshan, Banani and Mohakhali areas are selected to collect data for the research. c. In the current study only the perceptions of the customers regarding the service quality is measured. The expectations of the customers regarding the five dimensions of service quality could be measured in such study to evaluate the gap score between perceptions and expectations. . Sufficient records, publications regarding customer service were not available as per requirement. e. Non-cooperative behavior of some officials from few branches. 2. 1 Introduction of the Organization The Prime Bank Limited (PBL) is a national banking group that is in corporated on the 12th February, 1995 as a consequence of relentless and decided efforts of a group of entrepreneurs having excellence of experience exposure in the different fields of industry, trade and commerce of the country. It started operation as a commercial bank on the 17th April 1995 with a branch at Motijheel.At present the bank has 36 branches spread all over the country. It renders all types of commercial banking services to the customers of all strata in the society within the stipulations laid down the bank company act 1991 and rules and regulations formed by Bangladesh from time to time. Diversification of products and services and innovation of products suited to the needs of the customers in keeping with relevant rules and laws have made it different from other commercial banks of the country. PBL’s national business in personal banking, corporate banking and its markets are its special strengths.It maintains correspondent relationship with all over the bank s in countries. Prime Bank Limited is a forward looking and modern local bank with a record of sound performance. It is discarding its erstwhile conservative mould and in response to the current dynamic trends in locally financial activities, adopting an aggressive customer focused system. The effort that Prime Bank makes in order to portray the bank as a brand image is very strong and successful. The general image is that it is â€Å"trustworthy, efficient, helpful and committed†. The logo of the bank depicts the merger of confidence.Prime Bank Ltd. has already made significant progress within a very short period of its existences. The bank has been graded as a top class bank in the country through internationally accepted CAMEL rating. The Bank made satisfactory progress in all areas of business operation in 2004. Prime Bank offers all kinds of commercial corporate and personal banking services covering all segments of society within the framework of banking company Act and rules and regulations laid down by our central bank. Diversification of products and services include Corporate Banking, Retail Banking and Consumer Banking.Prime Bank Ltd. was designed to provide commercial and investment banking services to all types of customer ranging from small entrepreneur to big business firms. Besides investment in trade and commerce, the Bank participates in the socioeconomic development through the participation in priority sectors like agriculture, Industry, housing and self-employment. Prime Bank Ltd. want to establish, maintain, carry on transact Undertake and conduct all types of banking, financial all investment and trust business in Bangladesh and abroad. 2. 2 Mission of PBLTo build Prime Bank Limited into an efficient, market driven, customer focused institution with good corporate governance structure. Continuous improvement in our business policies, procedures and efficiency through integration of technology at all levels. 2. 3 Goals and Objectiv es of PBL Maximization of Profit through customer satisfaction is the main objective of the Bank. In addition, the others relevant objectives are: ? To be market leaders in high quality banking products and services. ? Active excellence in customer service through providing the most modern and advance technology in the different spheres of banking. To participate in the industrial development of the country to encourage the new and educated young entrepreneurs to under take productive venture and demonstrate their creativity and there by participate in the national development ? To provide credit facilities to the small and medium size entrepreneur located in urban & sub-Urban area and easily accessible by our branches. ? To develop saving attitude and making acquaintance with modern banking facilities. ? To inspire for undertaking small projects for creation employment through income generating activities. To play a significant role in the economic development of the country. 2. 4 Organogram of Prime Bank Limited 2. 5 Hierarchy of Prime Bank Limited 2. 6 Business Activities of PBL Prime Bank Limited provides a full range of products and services to its customers, some of which are mentioned below with a brief overview of the major business activities. Consumer Finance There are branches and finance centers under this division with a qualitative workforce of employees. Some of the services provided by this division are unsecured personal loans, credit cards, and vehicle related lease etc.Personal Banking There are branches with highly qualified workforce provide various kinds of loans, various types of accounts, cheques, card money etc. Corporate Banking & institutional Banking There are some branches under this division. The services provided by this division are International Trade Management, Institutional Banking, Custody and Cash Management. Custodial Service PBL equator fulfills its strategic commitment to provide custody and clearing services. Equatorâ €™s main focus is on the following: ? Commitment to quality ? Dedication to customer needs Sustained investment in people and systems International Trade Management This division is operational throughout the group and PBL’s core strength is trade finance and services. With an experience Prime Bank has developed knowledge of trade finance, which is world class. Principle services to importers include imports letter of credit, import bills for collection and back to back letters of credit facilities. Services provide to exporters include export letters of credit, direct export bills for collection, bulk letter of credit collection, bonds, and guarantees.Cash Management Prime Bank recognizes the importance of cash management to corporate and financial institutional customers, and offers a comprehensive range of services and liquidity management. Institutional Banking Through Prime Bank it is very well positioned to provide a wide range of services to institutional clients, commercial, merchant and central banks; brokers and dealers; insurance companies; funds and managers, and others. It provides relationship managers who are close to their customers and speak local language.This wide network of institutional banking facilities includes transaction, introduction, problem solving and renders advice and guidelines on local trading condition. Treasury Treasury operations had been consideration as an important avenue for income generation purpose within Head Office. In fact, in the past, income from treasury operation was quite sizable and significant to the total income generated by the bank. The treasury division publishes daily and weekly currency news letters, which provide analyses of currency trends and related issues.Seminars and workshops are conducted for customers from time to time on foreign exchange related topics. Customers can also have access to bank’s information database round the clock through phone banking. Prime Bank is one of t he first local banks in Bangladesh to integrate treasury dealings of local money market and foreign currency under one Treasury umbrella. The bank has handled significant volumes of treasury over the last several years. Prime Bank's Dealing Room is connected with automated Reuters Terminal facility thus enabling the bank to provide forward/future facilities to its corporate clients at a very competitive rate.In 2004 the treasury operation recorded an income of TK 180. 12 million excluding money market income of TK 72. 25 million. Electronic Banking Electronic Banking provides various types of support through a wide range of operating systems, sweeping transactions accessions with the provisions of reporting features or other special functions. Foreign Exchange Business Over the years, foreign trade operations of the bank played a pivotal role in the overall business development of the bank. The bank has established relationship with as many as 110 new foreign correspondents abroad t hereby raising the total number of correspondents to 350.The total import business handled by the bank during the year 2004 was tk 19564 million against taka 13428 million of the year 2003. The growth rate was 46%. The bank has also entered into remittance arrangements with several banks and exchange houses and expects to handle increased volume of remittance business over the near future. Online Branch Banking The bank has set up a Wide Area Network (WAN) across the country to provide online branch banking facility to its valued clients. Under the scheme clients of any branch shall be able to do banking transaction at other branches of the bank.Under this system a client will be able to do following type of transactions: ? Cash withdrawal from his/her account at any branch of the bank irrespective of the location. ? Cash deposit in his/her account at any branch of the bank irrespective of the location. ? Cash deposit in other’s account at any branch of the bank irrespective of the location. ? Transfer of money from his/her account with any branch of the bank. SWIFT Prime Bank limited is one of the first few Bangladeshi banks, which have become member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) in 1999.SWIFT is a member-owned co-operative, which provides a fast and accurate communication network for financial transactions such as Letters of Credit, Fund Transfer etc. By becoming a member of SWIFT, the bank has opened up possibilities for uninterrupted connectivity with over 5,700 user institutions in 150 countries around the world. Information Technology in Banking Operation Prime Bank limited adopted automation in banking operation from the first day of its operation. The main objective of this automation is to provide efficient and prompt services to the bank's clients. At present all the branches of the bank are computerized.At branch level, the bank is using server-based multi-user software under UNIX operating system to p rovide best security of automation. Profitability and Shareholder Satisfaction The bank had been one of the most profitable in the banking sector. The bank's return on assets (ROA) crossed 3. 75 percent in the year 2004. Even though the capital market of the country has been suffering over the last few years, the good performance of Prime Bank made sure that the banks share price remained in a respectable position. 2. 7 Products and Services of Prime Bank Limited Prime bank Limited offers various kinds of deposit products and loan schemes.The bank also has highly qualified professional staff members who have the capability to manage and meet all the requirements of the bank. Every account is assigned to an account manager who personally takes care of it and is available for discussion and inquiries, whether one writes, telephones or calls. Deposit Products ? Monthly Contributory Savings Schemes(CSS) ? Monthly Benefit Deposit Receipt(MBDR) ? Special Deposit Receipt Scheme(SDR) ? Educ ation Savings Scheme(ESS) ? Fixed Deposit Receipt Scheme(FDR) ? Current Account ? Savings account ? Short Term Deposit ? Multi Currency Account Loan Schemes: ? General Loan Scheme Consumer Credit Scheme ? Lease Finance ? House Building Loan & Apartment Loan Scheme ? Advance against Shares ? Custodial Services for investors (both individual & institutional) investing in through Stock exchange ? One stop services for payment of utility bills. ? Credit card 2. 8 Financial Position of Prime Bank Limited The financial position for the last three years of Prime Bank Limited is given below: (Taka in million) |Particulars |2007 |2008 |2009 | |Total Deposits |16481. 0 |20483. 23 |28069. 24 | |Loans and Advances |12686. 85 |16492. 22 |23219. 67 | |Investment |1996. 23 |2749. 71 |3083. 81 | |Foreign Exchange Business |31753. 70 |41930. 80 |56248. 80 | |Operating Income |1196. 20 |1593. 9 |1970. 37 | |Operating Expenditure |448. 36 |592. 28 |824. 23 | |Operating Profit |747. 84 |1001. 41 |1146. 14 | |Total Assets |19358. 93 |24249. 13 |32361. 62 | |Market value per share |307. 51 |374. 25 |879. 0 | |No of Branches |27 |30 |36 | |No of Employees |730 |777 |894 | |No of Shareholders |1727 |1993 |2620 | |No of Foreign Correspondences |422 |441 |501 | 3. 1 Literature Review . 1. 1 Service Quality Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1982) defined service quality in terms of physical quality, interactive quality and corporate (image) quality. Physical quality relates to the tangible aspects of the service. Interactive quality involves the interactive nature of services and refers to the two-way flow that occurs between the customer and the service provider, or his/her representative, including both automated and animated interactions. Corporate quality refers to the image attributed to a service provider by its current and potential customers, as well as other publics.Lewis and Booms' (1983) definition clearly states that service is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations and delivering quality service means conforming to customer expectation on a consistent basis. In some earlier studies, researchers define service quality as the extent to which a service meets customers' needs or expectations (Lewis & Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin & Oakland, 1994; Asubonteng, McCleary, & Swan, 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996).Zeithaml (1987) defined that service quality is the consumer's judgment about an entity's overall excellence or superiority. It is a form of attitude, and results from a comparison of expectations to perceptions of performance received. Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman (1990) on the other hand, have chosen to define service quality â€Å"as the extent of the discrepancy between customers' expectations or desires and their perceptions†. Service quality has been also defined as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and services (Zeithaml et al. 1990; Taylor & Ba ker, 1994). Christopher, Payne, and Ballantyne (1993) have defined service quality as the ability of the organization to meet or exceed customer expectations. Service quality is believed to depend on the gap between expected and perceived performance (Anderson, Fornell, & Lehmann, 1994). Gitlow, Oppenheim, and Oppenheim (1989) also stated that service quality is the extent to which the customer or users believe the service surpasses their needs and expectations.Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) proposed that service quality is a function of the differences between expectation and performance along the quality dimensions. Service quality has been also defined as a consumer attitude reflecting the perceived overall superiority and excellence in the process and outcome of a service provider (Parasuraman et al. , 1988). Gronroos (2001) recently defined service quality as a mixture of three elements: quality of the consumption process itself, the quality of the outcome of the proce ss; and image of the provider of the service.Service quality has become an increasingly important factor for success and survival in the banking sector. Provision of high quality service aids in meeting several requirements such as customer satisfaction and its consequent loyalty and market share, soliciting new customers, improved productivity, financial performance and profitability (Collet et al. , 1990; Julian and Ramaseshan, 1994; Lewis, 1989, 1993; Llosa et al. , 1998). Bank Service quality has become an important factor in determining market shares and profitability (Andereson et al. , 1994; Spathis, Kosmidou, & Doumpous, 2002). . 1. 2 Service Quality Dimensions Since a conceptual model concerning perceived service quality was proposed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1985), service quality dimensions have become an area of interest in marketing research (Bolton & Drew, 1991b; Brown & Swartz, 1989; Carman, 1990; Cronin & Taylor, 1992, 1994; Parasuraman et al. , 1988, 1994 ; Teas, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al. , 1996). One of the important issues related to service quality is the dimensions of service quality, and the measurement tool, SERVQUAL developed by Parasuraman et al. 1988) has been the starting point of the controversy in this area. Parasuraman et al. (1988) identify five quality dimensions which link specific service characteristics to consumer expectations of quality. These five basic dimensions are: (1) Reliability: Reliability is defined as the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (Parasuraman et al. , 1988). Reliability involves consistency of performance and dependability. It means that the firm performs the service right first time. It also means that the firm honors its promises.Specifically it involves: accuracy in billing; keeping records correctly; performing the service at the designated time. (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985) Reliability basically refers to the extent to which the retail service pr ovides what was promised when it was promised (Dabholkar, Thorpe, & Rentz, 1996). Zeithaml et al. (1990) defined reliability as the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. (2) Responsiveness: It is defined as the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (Parasuraman et al. , 1988).It Concerns the willingness or readiness of employees to provide services. Responsiveness involves timeliness of service like: posting a transaction slip immediately; returning a phone call quickly; giving prompt service; setting up appointments quickly. According to Zeithaml et al. (1990) responsiveness refers to the motivation to help (internal) customers and provide prompt service to them. (3) Assurance: Parasuraman et al. , (1988) defined assurance as the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence.Assurance involves trustworthiness, believability, honesty. It involves having the customer’s best interests at hear t. Contributing to credibility includes company name; company reputation; personal characteristics of the contact personnel; how much a hard sell is employed in interactions with the customer (Parasuraman et al. , 1985). Zeithaml et al. (1990) defined assurance as the awareness and good manners of the employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence to the customers. 4) Empathy: According to Parasuraman et al. , (1988) empathy is defined as caring and individualized attention provided to customers. Empathy refers to graciousness, respect, consideration and friendliness of contact personnel including receptionists, telephone operators, etc. It includes: consideration for the consumers’ property; clean and neat appearance of the contact personnel. (5) Tangibles: Tangibles are the physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel in services (Parasuraman et al. , 1988).It includes all the physical evidence of the service: facilities; appearance of personnel; tools or equipment used to provide the service; physical representations of the services (e. g. statements); other customers. Zeithaml et al. (1990) stated that tangibles are the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials. Tangibles of service are the tangible facets of the service facility (equipment, machinery, signage, employee appearance, etc. ) or the man-made physical environment, popularly known as the â€Å"servicescapes†(Sureshchandar, Rajendran, & Anantharaman, 2003). . 1 Comparative Analysis on Service Quality For comparative analysis, the data retrieved from the perception score given by the customers of Prime Bank Limited, Dhaka Bank ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd are analyzed in the current study. By analyzing the mean value of the results the researcher intends to find which Bank's customer service quality is more appreciable to the customers. The comparative analysis is based on the mean score of the actual score given by the customers on the items of each of the service quality dimensions. 4. 1. Comparative Analysis on Reliability dimension: In reliability dimension the customers were asked to give score about their perception on the basis of five scale items. The following Table 1 shows the comparative results in the reliability dimension for Prime Bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd. The result shows that Prime Bank receives maximum scores in four scale items except the one which asks whether the bank provides its services at the time it promises to do so. For that particular scale item Prime Bank receives a mean score of 4. 95 whereas the mean score for Dhaka Bank is 5. . Table 1: Mean Quality Scores of Prime bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd for Reliability dimension |Perception Statements in Reliability Dimension |Prime |Dhaka |Southeast Bank |Mercantile Bank | | |Bank |Bank | | | |1. When your ban k promises to do something by a |5. 7 |5. 3 |4. 75 |5. 3 | |certain time, it does so. | | | | |2. When you have a problem, your bank shows a |5. 2 |4. 95 |4. 3 |4. 45 | |sincere interest in solving it. | | | | | |3. Your bank performs the right service at first |5. 2 |4. 45 |4. 7 |4. 80 | |time. | | | | | |4. Your bank provides its services at the time it |4. 95 |5. |4. 55 |4. 6 | |promises to do so. | | | | | |5. Your bank keeps you informed about when services |5. 2 |4. 4 |4. 45 |4. 6 | |will be performed. | | | | | In terms of scale item 1 the customers of Prime Bank have relatively high perception than the customers of other banks as the bank does the work within the promised time. Prime Bank receives a mean score of 5. in this aspect while Dhaka Bank, Southeast Bank, and Mercantile Bank receive 5. 3, 4. 75, and 5. 3 respectively. Prime Bank also receives a mean score of 5. 2 as the bank shows sincere interest to solve the problems of the customers than the other banks do. Prime Bank also receives a comparatively high mean score in the aspect of that the bank keeps customers informed about when services will be performed. 4. 1. 2 Comparative Analysis on Responsiveness dimension: The responsiveness dimension consists of three items. The following Table 2 shows the comparative results in the responsiveness dimensions for the banks.The result shows that Prime Bank receives comparatively low scores in all three items of the dimension. The mean score of Prime Bank for scale item 6 is 4. 65 which is lower than Dhaka Bank and Southeast Bank. Table 2: Mean Quality Scores of Prime bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd for Responsiveness dimension |Perception Statements in Responsiveness Dimension |Prime |Dhaka |Southeast Bank |Mercantile Bank | | |Bank |Bank | | | |6.The employees in your bank give you prompt service. |4. 65 |5. 1 |4. 95 |4. 45 | |7. The employees in your bank always willing to help |4. 8 |5. 15 |4. 05 |4. 55 | | you. | | | | | |8. The employees in your bank are never too busy to |4. 5 |4. 9 |5. 05 |4. 3 | |respond to your request. | | | | The customers of Dhaka Bank perceive more about the willingness of the employees to help them than the customers of Prime Bank do. For the item 8 Prime Bank again receives a mean score of 4. 5 whereas the mean score for Southeast Bank is 5. 05 and Dhaka Bank is 4. 9. 4. 1. 3 Comparative Analysis on Assurance dimension: According to the SERVQUAL scale developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) the assurance dimension of service quality consists of three items.The following Table 3 shows the comparative results in the assurance dimensions for the preferred banks. The result shows that the customers of Prime Bank have given low score in aspect of employees’ behavior and employees’ courteousness than the score given by the customers of other banks. The customers of Prime Bank perceive that the behavior of the employees does not inspire enough confide nce in them. Thus the mean score of Prime Bank for item 9 is 4. 6 which is lower than all other banks. In terms of employees courteousness Prime bank again receives a mean score of 4. which lower than Dhaka Bank and Southeast bank. Table 3: Mean Quality Scores of Prime bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd for Assurance dimension |Perception Statements in Assurance Dimension |Prime |Dhaka |Southeast Bank |Mercantile Bank | | |Bank |Bank | | | |9. The behavior of the employees of the bank inspires|4. 6 |5. 35 |5. 25 |4. 8 | |confidence in you. | | | | |10. You feel safe in your transactions with your |5. 35 |5. 25 |4. 25 |4. 25 | |bank. | | | | | |11. The employees in your bank consistently courteous|4. 7 |5. 25 |4. 9 |4. 65 | |with you. | | | | | |12. The employees in your bank have the knowledge to |4. |4. 8 |4. 3 |4. 4 | |answer your questions. | | | | | The customers also perceive that the employees of Dhaka Bank are more knowledgeable (Mean sc ore 4. 7) than that of Prime Bank (Mean score 4. 8). However, in this dimension Prime Bank receives a high score than other banks in terms of safe transactions with the bank. The customers of Prime Bank perceived that they feel safer while transacting with the bank than that of other banks. 4. 1. Comparative Analysis on Empathy dimension: The following table 3 shows the customers’ perception on empathy dimension of service quality which consists of four items. This comparative analysis evaluates that the customers of Prime Bank perceives high individual attention from their bank. In this aspect Prime Bank receives a mean score of 5. 0 whereas Dhaka Bank, Southeast bank, and Mercantile Bank receive 4. 7, 4. 2, and 4. 2 respectively. Table 4: Mean Quality Scores of Prime bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd for Empathy dimension |PerceptionStatements in Empathy Dimension |Prime |Dhaka |Southeast Bank |Mercantile Bank | | |Bank |Bank | | | |13 . Your bank gives you individual attention. |5. 0 |4. 7 |4. 2 |4. 2 | |14. Your bank has employees who give you individual |4. 75 |4. 9 |4. 35 |3. 65 | |attention. | | | | |15. Your bank has your best interests at heart. |4. 9 |4. 35 |4. 15 |4. 55 | |16. The employees in your bank understand your |4. 65 |4. 8 |4. 75 |4. 45 | |specific needs. | | | | | However when it comes to the aspect of employees’ individual attention towards the customers, Prime Bank receives a relatively low mean score of 4. 5 whereas Dhaka Bank receives 4. 9. The customers of Prime bank also perceive more in the aspect that the bank has their best interests at heart than the customers of other banks do. Prime Bank receives a mean score of 4. 9 in this item. On the other hand, Prime Bank receives a relatively low mean score in case of employees’ understanding of customer’s specific needs. Prime Bank receives a mean score of 4. 65 whereas Dhaka Bank and Southeast Bank receive mean scores of 4. 8 and 4. 75. 4. 1. 5 Comparative Analysis on Tangible dimension: The tangible dimension of service quality consists of five items.The subsequent Table 5 shows the comparative results in the tangible dimension for the private commercial banks that is based on the perceptions of the customers. The result explains that the physical facilities of Prime Bank are more visually appealing than other banks. In this aspect Prime Bank receives a mean score of 5. 35, which is higher than the scores of other banks. The customers of Prime Bank also perceive more that materials associated with the service are visually appealing at the bank than the customers of other banks do.Table 5: Mean Quality Scores of Prime bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd and Mercantile Bank Ltd for Tangibles dimension |Perception Statements in Tangible Dimension |Prime |Dhaka |Southeast Bank |Mercantile Bank | | |Bank |Bank | | | |17. The bank has modern-looking and hi-tech |5. 2 |5. 4 |5. 0 |4. 4 | |equ ipments. | | | | |18. The bank’s physical facilities are visually |5. 35 |4. 6 |4. 25 |3. 85 | |appealing. | | | | | |19. The employees of the bank appear neat. |4. 8 |5. 1 |4. 65 |4. 5 | |20. Materials associated with the service are |5. 45 |5. 35 |4. 8 |4. 5 | |visually appealing at the bank. | | | | | |21. Your bank has convenient business hours. |5. 5 |5. 6 |5. 1 |5. 3 | However Dhaka Bank receives a mean score of 5. 4 in the scale item which refers that the bank has modern-looking and hi-tech equipments whereas Prime bank receives a mean score of 5. 2 in this scale item. The customers of Prime Bank also perceive less about the employees’ appearance than the customers of Dhaka Bank do.In this aspect Prime bank receives a mean score of 4. 8 while Dhaka Bank receives a mean score of 5. 1. 4. 2 The five SERVQUAL dimensions: An overall comparison of bank customers’ perception and grand mean scores The following table (Table 6) represents the Grand Mean scores of Prime bank Limited, Dhaka Bank Ltd, Southeast Bank Ltd, and Mercantile Bank Ltd for the five service quality dimensions. In the reliability dimension Prime Bank obtained the highest grand mean score of 5. 25 as the customers of Prime bank think the bank is highly reliable than the customers of other banks do.However, in responsiveness dimension which refers to the willingness of the employees to help customers and provide prompt service, Prime Bank obtained a relatively low grand mean score of 4. 65. In this dimension Dhaka Bank and Southeast Bank receive 5. 05 and 4. 83 respectively. This result evaluates that the customers of Prime Bank are not getting adequate and prompt response from the employees of the bank. Again in terms of assurance Prime Bank obtained a grand mean score of 4. 82 whereas Dhaka Bank receives a grand mean score of 5. 16.This dimension is defined as the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. The customers of Prim e Bank perceive less about the employees’ courteousness than the customers of Dhaka Bank do. The next service quality dimension is empathy which is defined as caring and individualized attention provided to customers (Parasuraman et al. , 1988). Prime Bank obtained a grand mean score of 4. 91 which is relatively higher than the other banks. The customers of Prime Bank also think that the bank has adequate modern looking and hi-tech equipments and the physical facilities are visually appealing.So the bank obtained a grand mean score of 5. 26 in tangibles dimension while in the same service quality dimension Dhaka Bank, Southeast Bank, and Mercantile Bank receive 5. 21, 4. 76, and 4. 54 respectively. Table 6: Grand Mean Quality Scores for five SERVQUAL dimensions |Five Dimensions of Service Quality |Prime |Dhaka |Southeast Bank |Mercantile Bank | | |Bank |Bank | | | |Reliability |5. 5 |4. 82 |4. 55 |4. 75 | |Responsiveness |4. 65 |5. 05 |4. 83 |4. 43 | |Assurance |4. 83 |5. 16 |4. 67 |4. 52 | |Empathy |4. 82 |4. 68 |4. 36 |4. 21 | |Tangibles |5. 26 |5. 1 |4. 76 |4. 54 | According to results of the Grand Mean scores, Table 7 represents the rankings of the banks in five different dimensions and which is prepared on the basis of customers’ evaluation. The result shows that Prime Bank is ranked first in reliability, empathy and tangibles dimensions. However in terms of responsiveness Prime Bank is ranked as third while Dhaka Bank is ranked first. Again in case of assurance Prime Bank is ranked second whereas Southeast Bank is ranked first.Table 7: Ranking of the Private Commercial Banks on the basis of the perception of the customers on five SERVQUAL dimensions |Name of the Private Commercial Banks |Reliability |Responsiveness |Assurance |Empathy |Tangibles | | Prime Bank Limited |1 |3 |2 |1 |1 | | Dhaka Bank Ltd |2 |1 |1 |2 |2 | | Southeast Bank Ltd |4 |2 |3 |3 |3 | | Mercantile Bank Ltd |3 |4 |4 |4 |4 | 4. Factor Analysis on SERVQUAL dimensions The study also includes a factor analysis of the five SERVQUAL dimensions for four different banks using varimax rotation. The factor analysis of five service quality dimensions will help the researcher to check whether the scale items included in the questionnaire constituted a single dimension in the specific context of the different private commercial banks or not. Factor 1: Reliability The data gathered on the scale items for the service quality questionnaire developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988) are factor analyzed to check the component structure of the reliability dimension for four different commercial banks.Appendix 1 summarises the scale items used for the dependent and independent variables used for the study. Appendix 2 represents the total variance for the five service quality dimensions. In case of Prime Bank, two scale items out of five of the reliability dimension appeared to be too generalized in terms of explaining reliability and could be remove from the factor. Scal e Items 1, 2, and 3 could be retained for the final factor structure (Table 8), which resulted in a single factor and explained 30. 36% of the cumulative variation. On the other hand, all the items are grouped into one single factor in terms of Dhaka Bank (Table 9). Table 8: Factor Analysis: Prime Bank Table 9: Factor Analysis: Dhaka BankRotated Component Matrix (a, b) Component Matrix (a, b) | |Dhaka Bank | | |Component | | |1 | |ITEM 3 |. 834 | |ITEM 2 |. 810 | |ITEM 5 |. 758 | |ITEM 4 |. 742 | |ITEM 1 |. 729 | | |Prime Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 3 |. 860 |. 186 | |ITEM 1 |. 769 |-. 050 | ITEM 2 |. 428 |-. 153 | |ITEM 4 |-. 024 |. 852 | |ITEM 5 |-. 047 |. 817 | Table 10: Factor Analysis: Southeast Bank Table 11: Factor Analysis: Mercantile Bank Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) | |Southeast Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 1 |. 893 |-. 005 | |ITEM 3 |. 827 |-. 237 | |ITEM 5 |. 753 |. 138 | |ITEM 2 |-. 58 |. 881 | |ITEM 4 |. 017 |. 784 | | |Mercantile Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 2 |. 850 |. 119 | |ITEM 4 |. 568 |-. 129 | |ITEM 5 |-. 084 |. 857 | |ITEM 3 |. 537 |. 607 | |ITEM 1 |. 533 |-. 534 | However, in case of Southeast Bank two out of three items again seemed too general and thus they could be eliminated from the reliability factor.Table 10 shows that Scale Items 1, 3, and 5 could be retained in a single factor for Southeast Bank and explained 41. 04% of the cumulative variation. For Mercantile Bank, Item 1, 2, 3, and 4 could be retained to construct a single factor, which explained 32. 51% of the variation. Factor 2: Responsiveness The scale items of responsiveness dimension are factor analyzed, which confirmed that the items were grouped into one factor. For Prime Bank the result in Table 12 shows that all the scale items on responsiveness dimension constitute a single factor and explained 45. 21% of cumulative variance. Also for Dhaka Bank all three of the items constituted a single factor however it explained 48. 65% of the variance.Table 12: Factor Analysis: Prime Bank Table 13: Factor Analysis: Dhaka Bank Component Matrix (a, b) Component Matrix (a, b) | |Prime Bank | | |Component | | |1 | |ITEM 6 |. 722 | |ITEM 7 |. 706 | |ITEM 8 |. 580 | | |Dhaka Bank | | |Component | | |1 | |ITEM 7 |. 853 | |ITEM 6 |. 839 | |ITEM 8 |. 170 |Table 14: Factor Analysis: Southeast Bank Table 15: Factor Analysis: Mercantile Bank Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) Component Matrix (a, b) | |Mercantile Bank | | |Component | | |1 | |ITEM 8 |. 903 | |ITEM 6 |. 810 | |ITEM 7 |. 493 | | |Southeast Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 6 |. 779 |. 287 | |ITEM 8 |. 772 |-. 296 | ITEM 7 |. 000 |. 937 | In terms of Southeast Bank, two out of three scale items constituted a single factor and thus Item 7 could be removed. The single factor explained 40. 10% of the cumulative variation. However, all the three initial items constituted again a single factor and resulted in 57. 14% of the variance for Mercant ile Bank. Factor 3: Assurance Four scale items are initialized to constitute a single factor for assurance dimension. Table 16 shows that two scale items such as Item 10 and Item 12 have shown the possibility to represent a single factor with a variance of 41. 10% for Prime Bank Limited.Item 9 and Item 11 which represent the behavior of the employees and the courteousness of the employees, seemed weak to fit in the single factor for Prime Bank as they represent only 29. 12% of the cumulative variance. Table 16: Factor Analysis: Prime Bank Table 17: Factor Analysis: Dhaka Bank Rotated Component Matrix (a, b)Component Matrix (a, b) | |Prime Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 12 |. 892 |. 171 | |ITEM 10 |. 889 |-. 154 | |ITEM 9 |. 77 |. 750 | |ITEM 11 |-. 159 |. 741 | | |Dhaka Bank | | |Component | | |1 | |ITEM 12 |. 854 | |ITEM 10 |. 711 | |ITEM 9 |. 618 | |ITEM 11 |. 539 | Table 14: Factor Analysis: Southeast Bank Table 15: Factor Analysis: Mercantile Bank Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) | |Southeast Bank | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 9 |. 811 |. 129 | |ITEM 12 |. 781 |-. 054 | |ITEM 10 |. 163 |-. 830 | |ITEM 11 |. 270 |. 783 | | |Mercantile Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 11 |. 910 |. 178 | |ITEM 9 |. 841 |-. 094 | |ITEM 12 |-. 152 |. 871 | |ITEM 10 |. 477 |. 01 | In assurance dimension, three out of four scale items constituted a single factor for Southeast Bank Ltd. Item 9, 10, and 12 represents that single factor and explained 34. 15% of the cumulative variance. Item 11 that represents employees’ consistent courteousness could be removed from the scale of assurance dimension for Southeast Bank Ltd. In terms of Mercantile Bank Ltd, three items could be retained to constitute a single factor and explained 44. 66% of the cumulative variance. Factor 4: Empathy The factor analysis on empathy dimension shows that Item 17 and Item 18 are more likely to constitute a single factor for Prime Bank (Table 16).This single factor represents 37. 52% of the variance. On the other hand, three out of four scale items appeared to constitute a single factor for Dhaka Bank with 42. 08% of the variance. Table 16: Factor Analysis: Prime Bank Table 17: Factor Analysis: Dhaka Bank Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) | |Dhaka Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 13 |. 836 |-. 226 | |ITEM 16 |. 828 |. 285 | |ITEM 14 |. 163 |. 875 | ITEM 15 |. 522 |-. 660 | | |Prime Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 17 |. 857 |. 312 | |ITEM 18 |. 820 |-. 323 | |ITEM 16 |. 252 |. 830 | |ITEM 15 |. 177 |-. 558 | Table 14: Factor Analysis: Southeast Bank Table 15: Factor Analysis: Mercantile Bank Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) | |Mercantile Bank | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 16 |. 894 |. 083 | |ITEM 14 |. 878 |. 004 | |ITEM 15 |-. 133 |. 830 | |ITEM 13 |. 237 |. 773 | | |Southeast Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 15 |. 883 |-. 135 | |ITEM 13 |. 776 |. 415 | |ITEM 14 |-. 108 |. 891 | |ITEM 16 |. 473 |. 725 |In terms of Southeast Bank, three out of four scale items constituted a single factor and thus Item 14 could be removed. The single factor explained 40. 43 % of the cumulative variance. Again, for Mercantile Bank Item 16 and Item 14 appeared to constitute a single factor and explained 41. 08% of the variance. Factor 5: Tangibles The tangible initially contains five scale items. After factor analysis for Prime Bank Limited, the result shows that two items are too generalized and thus could be removed. Thus Item 17, 18 and 21 constituted a single factor which explained 33. 94% of the variance. Three items also constituted a single factor structure for Dhaka Bank although here the items are 18, 19, and 20 with 32. 3% of the variance. Table 16: Factor Analysis: Prime Bank Table 17: Factor Analysis: Dhaka Bank Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) | |Prime Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 17 |. 778 |. 137 | |ITEM 21 |. 772 |-. 499 | |ITEM 18 |. 691 |. 291 | |ITEM 20 |. 048 |. 774 | |ITEM 19 |. 124 |. 736 | | |Dhaka Bank | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 18 |. 859 |. 048 | |ITEM 19 |. 853 |. 258 | |ITEM 21 |-. 082 |. 776 | |ITEM 20 |. 300 |. 657 | |ITEM 17 |. 224 |. 612 | Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) Rotated Component Matrix (a, b) | |Mercantile Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 | |ITEM 21 |-. 768 |. 029 | |ITEM 19 |. 687 |. 142 | |ITEM 20 |. 25 |-. 409 | |ITEM 17 |. 269 |. 881 | |ITEM 18 |. 345 |-. 490 | | |Southeast Bank | | |Component | | |1 |2 |3 | |ITEM 18 |. 902 |-. 223 |-. 074 | |ITEM 20 |. 689 |. 427 |. 177 | |ITEM 17 |-. 059 |. 936 |. 067 | |ITEM 19 |. 458 |. 491 |-. 488 | |ITEM 21 |. 069 |. 092 |. 917 |The factor analysis for Southeast Bank in tangible dimension shows that three out of five scale items constituted a single factor which represented 30. 13% of the variance. In terms of Mercantile Bank four items constituted a single factor with 32. 88% of variance. 5. 1 Findings of the R esearch On the base of survey, theoretical analysis and practical experience of 3 months internship program the following findings are identified during the research period: ? The customer service quality of Prime Bank Limited is not satisfactory enough in terms of responsiveness and assurance of the employees in comparison with the studied private commercial banks. Customers perceived a relatively low quality in these dimensions than the customers of other private commercial Banks. The courteousness, promptness, and attitude of the employees towards their work are the critical issues and need to improve significantly to provide better quality service to the customers. ? The Bank has no segmentation to handle different type of customers. They are equally treating of all the customers to provide service. Nevertheless high status clients seek on extra honor from Bank or institution. ? It is found that the recruitment policy of the bank is not always fair. Intelligence and capability a re not always the criteria for selection. People who have good relation with influential persons have the chance to enter through backdoor. Most of the times these people do not have the ability to compete with other banks’ workforce in terms of performance.As a result the service quality and innovativeness of the bank is deteriorating day by day whereas the other private commercial banks that have a good recruitment policy are doing well and are also enhancing their reputation among talented job seekers. ? PBL has a very long hierarchy than other Bank. In some of the bank there are only 9-10 posts before Managing Director but in PBL this number is 15, which might be a cause of demotivation to the employees. ? Most of the customers of the bank ask for more quality service especially quick, accurate service and good behavior from bankers as they think a private bank should provide such quality sufficiently. Lack of Good Cooperation is identified among the work procedures and a lso among the employees of the bank which results in lengthiness and ineffective service. Recommendations As per earnest observation some suggestions for the improvements of the situation are given below: ? Bank is a service-oriented financial organization. Its business profit depends on its service quality. That’s why the authority always should be aware about their service quality and thus should take initiative to measure the service quality of the bank periodically on different dimensions. ? Management should carefully handle the different departments of general banking in regard to provide better quality service. ? The quality of customer service should be considered as absolutely indispensable. In general banking department it is necessary to implement modern banking process instead of traditional system. It should be more computerized to. ? As Prime Bank Limited is the financial institution and one depends to another to complete a process fully. So lack of cooperation should be minimized to provide prompt service
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