Mansfield Park; Empire & Orientalism from Edward Said Essay

Edward Said’s analysis of Jane Austen’s narrative in her 3rd novel ‘Mansfield Park’ (1814) is based on his own studies of ‘orientalism’. This term is defined by Said as a variety of false assumptions /depictions of Eastern people within Western attitudes. This is achieved, he argues, through the literary discourse provided by post-enlightenment, post-colonial American/European (Western) authors. Said draws our attention to an underlying theme of ‘Mansfield Park’, which is empire. Said recycles his interpretation of stereotyped Muslims, Arabs & Egyptians and applies it again to a different social group. He does so by examining the novels representation of the Atlantic slave trade (in the West Indies), and in turn concludes that Austen must support British values of imperialism and empire. He points out the ease with which Austen’s characters refer to Antigua, and convinces us that Austen’s infrequent use of this word i s evidence of her personal support of the degradation of slaves. In his analysis of the text, Said starts at the beginning, and relies heavily on the ignorant way in which Sir Thomas’s colony is isolated from his family and domicile, which remains proudly on English land, miles across the globe. He implies that the slight references to Antigua do no justice to its own beauty, history, and the fact that it is, in comparison, a paradise island. However Austen does actually support this claim herself, as Lady Bertram does no justice to India, wanting only the commodities it can offer: â€Å"I may have a shawl. I think I will have two shawls† His ultimate point is that the ‘Antigua’ seen in Mansfield Park is no more than a place for work, necessary for obtaining personal luxuries and fortune for the locals of Britain. Austen doesn’t deny this in her novel, but she doesn’t shout about it either. Said’s writing just reminds us of how unfair the situation was, by pointing out the geographical space in betwe en Mansfield Park (where the money is spent and enjoyed) and the Antiguan sugar plantation (where the money is produced). His critique of â€Å"the ease with which the family’s needs are met by a sojourn in the Caribbean† is unnecessary and useless in explaining his point, it merely serves to highlight the fact that the slave trade was, at its peak, very successfully organised and achieved, due to the political military  force. â€Å"Sir Thomas’s means will be rather straitened, if the Antigua estate is to make such poor returns†, Mrs Norris’s comment proves that Austen is aware of the dependence of the family on their slave trade income, as is Lady Bertram, because her reply is: â€Å"Oh! that will soon be settled!†. Although his wife is unwilling to spend time talking on the subject, this type of ignorant attitude seems to be a convention of realism which Austen applies to her characters systemically, in hopes that their final outcomes will explain her own disposition on the subject. Said constantly alludes to Austen’s lack of concern for the slave tr ade, because her narrative lacks the description which is needed to properly illustrate the subject, and the setting. Said argues that without the slave trade, the Bertram’s could not have been possible, but again, I believe Austen is fully aware of the fact that slavery enables the Bertram’s to flourish in Mansfield Park. Otherwise, she simply would not have written so much about wealth and class in relation to the success of women, for example in the end of Pride & Prejudice (1813) Lizzie chose love over money, and Mr Darcy chose love over class. Furthermore Austen includes the downfall of the slave industry within her narrative, and in turn she shows the downfall of Sir Thomas because of the latter. Sir Thomas is depicted (in the end) as having remorse for his actions, and having learned his lesson through redemption. Jane Austen is stereotyped by Said as a typical euro-centric academic, naà ¯ve towards the REAL threats, inequalities and unfairness’s of the world. Just like the slaves Sir Thomas had the advantage of owning, Fanny becomes the only slave who is able to dwell i n Mansfield Park. I believe Austen’s hopes were that she would be seen as the epitome of the slave: â€Å"She could hardly believe it. To be placed above so many elegant young women! It was treating her like her cousins!† Austen explains, from the very first chapter how the class/background ideas of the era are a hindrance to her success, at home and in society. Overall she is treated as below standard, but by the end of the novel she is happy, reasonably comfortable and is married to the one whom she was meant to be worth less than. She was constantly referred to as from a different class, background, and place. Those notions of ‘breeding’ compare her to a mere puppy: â€Å"breed her up with them from this time, and suppose her even to have the beauty of an angel, and she will never be more to either than a sister†. Fanny herself remarked upon the â€Å"dead silence†Ã‚  which followed from her uncle, after her enquiries about the slave trade. She concluded that because she showed â€Å"a curiosity and pleasure in his information which he must wish his own daughters feel† she regretted asking about the slave colony, as if she just re-realised that she isn’t fit to do certain things. Her character reflects ideas of rank and persecution and oppression; she is the ultimate realist of the novel. With regard to the character of Sir Thomas and his silence on the subject of his work, Said would most likely argue that he is selfish and ignorant and therefore doesn’t permit any time being wasted on the subject. However, Austen is more likely treating the subject with the shame and embarrassment it deserves. It is my view that Austen would have been sympathetic towards these slaves and could not surely condone such hegemony, oppression and empire? After all she herself was a victim of oppression, being a female author unable to take credit and receive praise for her own work within society. Austen ended her life as a spinster, having never married a man, showing that she didn’t conform, for whatever reason(s), to social expectations of women. Moreover, her life was dependant on the males within her family, as per the UK’s laws regarding rights, inheri tance and property, because she had nothing of her own. Therefore she would be hypocritical to support the forced labour of slaves for the benefit of the nation she somewhat rejects. Supposing Austen was supportive of Britain’s imperialist venture for empire, surely someone with such priorities would have settled and married, just for wealth and security? This is summarised in Susan Fraiman’s writing: â€Å"Lacking the franchise, enjoying few property rights (and these because she was single), living as a dependent at the edge of her brother’s estate, and publishing her work anonymously, Austen was arguably a kind of exile in her own country† In conclusion I completely refute Edward Said’s claims toward Austen – his statements are judgemental and a little confused. Moreover, his attention to detail is lacking in research, as Fraiman cleverly states here: â€Å"So ready is Said to offer Austen as ‘Exhibit A’ in the case for culture’s endorsement of empire†. Indeed the degradation of slaves was clearly fact, however, if Austen herself is an outsider to Mansfield Park and its narrative, then her opinions would be channelled through her characters’ fate. In my opinion, Said fails to take into account the fate of such characters, and the possibility that humans can exercise remorse and  rehabilitation. Said draws the conclusion that Austen is lazily making trivial references to other important changes from this period, one being the Napoleonic revolution. However, I think that in the period and place she lived, it would have been nonsensical to openly critique the powers of the government, being that it really WAS un-just; it would have been too dangerous to do so. Bibliography Austen, Jane, Mansfield Park (Oxford World’s Classics, London: 1814) Said, Edward, ‘Jane Austen and Empire’, Culture and Imperialism (Knopf, New York: 1993) [http://www.scribd.com/doc/57070252/3-Edward-Said-Austen-and-Empire] accessed 19/10/2012 Fraiman, Susan, ’Jane Austen and Edward Said: Gender, Culture, and Imperialism’, Janeites: Austen’s Disciples and Devotees – edited by Deidre Lynch (Princeton, Princeton: 2000) [https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/orientalism-spring2011/files/Fraiman0001.pdf] accessed 19/10/2012

Comparing and Contrasting the Children in Susan Skinner’s ‘the Minnow Catching Boys’ and ‘My Parents Kept Me from Cildren Who Were Rough’ by Stephen Spender

Comparing and Contrasting the children in Susan Skinner’s ‘The Minnow Catching Boys’ and ‘My Parents Kept Me from Children who were Rough’ by Stephen Spender. In this essay I am going to discuss ‘The Minnow Catching Boys’ by Susan Skinner and ‘My Parents kept me from Children who were Rough’ by Stephen Spender. I will focus on the similarities and differences between the children in the poems in terms of their actions, the language used to describe them and their impact on the reader. The Minnow Catching Boys’ is a poem about a group of boys who very skillful and adventurous. ‘My Parents kept me from children who were rough’ is also about a group of boy bullies who really torture others a lot and play rough. The children in ‘The Minnow Catching Boys’ are described as skillful and the outdoor-type boys. This poem is based on a Victorian/older lifetime according to its facts; Boys nowadays play video games and are interested in technology or sports. This also refers to the quote â€Å"the sun burnt boys’ which means that sunscreen was not invented.I would imagine them as scruffy boys wearing a shirt with a waistcoat and knee breeches (knee length shorts from older times); all dull colours and by looking back it says ‘Breeches rolled’. The children are in a focused, competitive mood, as said in the poem, ‘Scan and dip’ as well as ‘they make bets poke and tip, their nimble catch’. ‘For they have always been here the minnow catching boys. ’ makes me think that this competitive hobby has been passed down from many generations. ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. And when they have had enough, the minnow catching boys make their way home’ makes me think these boys are very carefree.I thought quotes like ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. And a small girl who can never quite catch up calls for them to wait, but no one waitsâ€⠄¢ give me a feeling that these boys are mean and cruel or maybe just in a rush. The quote ‘ The dog shakes off in a cascade of diamonds’ is one of the most striking pieces of imagery for me because it imaginatively describe thousands of sparkling water droplets as a ‘cascade of diamonds’. The tone which this poem would be read in would be slow and suspending- long pauses. You would read this poem in this tone so you can get your audience right ‘into’ the scene-as the boys are focused and concentrating too hard.The children in ‘My Parents kept me from Children who were rough’ are described as mean, arrogant and a fierce group of bullies. I imagine them as very scruffy boys with their clothes torn; as they don’t care. I think they would be wearing the same clothes as the boys in the other poem but in an ill-suited manner. I think this poem is also set in the same time as the other poem- older times/Victorian times. This poem quotes ‘They threw words like stones’ which makes me think that these boys are rude, ill-mannered and that their insults really ‘hurt’ people- using words like weapons.These boys were also involved in physical abuses to others, which refers to the quote’ Their knees tight on my arms’. ‘They were lithe’, this quote makes me think these boys are super-fit, strong, flexible and very versatile. I think these boys look like are big headed and want to be threatening to people. Their parents might not able to control them or maybe are not even aware of their actions. ‘Muscles like iron ‘says that these boys are unbeatable and formidably strong. I would like to read this poem in a fast, envious tone, because I think that the narrator is envying these strong and super-fit boys. Comparing and Contrasting the Children in Susan Skinner’s ‘the Minnow Catching Boys’ and ‘My Parents Kept Me from Cildren Who Were Rough’ by Stephen Spender Comparing and Contrasting the children in Susan Skinner’s ‘The Minnow Catching Boys’ and ‘My Parents Kept Me from Children who were Rough’ by Stephen Spender. In this essay I am going to discuss ‘The Minnow Catching Boys’ by Susan Skinner and ‘My Parents kept me from Children who were Rough’ by Stephen Spender. I will focus on the similarities and differences between the children in the poems in terms of their actions, the language used to describe them and their impact on the reader. The Minnow Catching Boys’ is a poem about a group of boys who very skillful and adventurous. ‘My Parents kept me from children who were rough’ is also about a group of boy bullies who really torture others a lot and play rough. The children in ‘The Minnow Catching Boys’ are described as skillful and the outdoor-type boys. This poem is based on a Victorian/older lifetime according to its facts; Boys nowadays play video games and are interested in technology or sports. This also refers to the quote â€Å"the sun burnt boys’ which means that sunscreen was not invented.I would imagine them as scruffy boys wearing a shirt with a waistcoat and knee breeches (knee length shorts from older times); all dull colours and by looking back it says ‘Breeches rolled’. The children are in a focused, competitive mood, as said in the poem, ‘Scan and dip’ as well as ‘they make bets poke and tip, their nimble catch’. ‘For they have always been here the minnow catching boys. ’ makes me think that this competitive hobby has been passed down from many generations. ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. And when they have had enough, the minnow catching boys make their way home’ makes me think these boys are very carefree.I thought quotes like ‘†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. And a small girl who can never quite catch up calls for them to wait, but no one waitsâ€⠄¢ give me a feeling that these boys are mean and cruel or maybe just in a rush. The quote ‘ The dog shakes off in a cascade of diamonds’ is one of the most striking pieces of imagery for me because it imaginatively describe thousands of sparkling water droplets as a ‘cascade of diamonds’. The tone which this poem would be read in would be slow and suspending- long pauses. You would read this poem in this tone so you can get your audience right ‘into’ the scene-as the boys are focused and concentrating too hard.The children in ‘My Parents kept me from Children who were rough’ are described as mean, arrogant and a fierce group of bullies. I imagine them as very scruffy boys with their clothes torn; as they don’t care. I think they would be wearing the same clothes as the boys in the other poem but in an ill-suited manner. I think this poem is also set in the same time as the other poem- older times/Victorian times. This poem quotes ‘They threw words like stones’ which makes me think that these boys are rude, ill-mannered and that their insults really ‘hurt’ people- using words like weapons.These boys were also involved in physical abuses to others, which refers to the quote’ Their knees tight on my arms’. ‘They were lithe’, this quote makes me think these boys are super-fit, strong, flexible and very versatile. I think these boys look like are big headed and want to be threatening to people. Their parents might not able to control them or maybe are not even aware of their actions. ‘Muscles like iron ‘says that these boys are unbeatable and formidably strong. I would like to read this poem in a fast, envious tone, because I think that the narrator is envying these strong and super-fit boys.

Culture, ideology, politics and economics are linked in the output of media organisation in way that is true for no other sector of capitalist enterprise

Introduction Although some might believe otherwise, the media is not a neutral or objective institution. It is rather a disputed space that can be manipulated to serve certain interests. McNair (2007:103) affirms that â€Å"culture, ideology, politics and economics are linked in the output of media organisation.† This statement is especially true of the UK newspaper industry. McQuail (2008:7) also argues that power structures social relationships and that this has an effect on the way the mass media is organized. Both historically and presently the influence of the media can be observed. Newspapers promote certain ideologies, create and reinforce cultural patterns, and greatly influence views on politics. Media products that are made for mass consumption are often controlled by a handful of wealthy owners. This is very similar to what Karl Marx calls the ‘bourgeoisie’ or the owners of the means of production. They are in control of factories and the livelihoods of workers. How ever, in much the same way, media production serves the interests of the few, and not those of the masses. The ruling class often determines the content of widely distributed newspapers. In support of McNair, I will argue that media output is very closely linked to culture, ideology, and politics, in a way that is advantageous to those who own the means of production. In order to show this, I will discuss all factors (culture, ideology, politics, and economics) in relation to each other and analyse the influence that the newspaper industry has had historically on political, economic, and cultural affairs. The paper will mainly look at 18th century, 19th century, and present press and media output in Britain. Critical Analysis The struggle over control of newspaper content is also an economic struggle between the bourgeoisie and the workers or the lower classes. This is a conflict that mirrors the Marxist notion of class struggle. Starting as far back as the 18th century, the UK ruling class has fought to destroy radical newspapers of the time, such as Poor Man’s Guardian, Twopenny, and Republican. The aims of the radical press were to promote class organisations through the development of a critical political analysis. Class organizations and unions were meant to earn workers better wages and more rights. Thus, by developing radical newspapers, the working class sought to improve their economic condition. This is an example of the struggle between the aristocracy and the workers who were criticising corruption and the repressive taxation which was impoverishing them (Curran 2010:13). Here, politics is also interrelated to the media and to economics. It was only through adopting a critical political analysis that workers could advocate for their rights. On the other hand, the politics of the right (or the wealthy owners) represent their economic interest of keeping the wealth and control of the press in the hands of few. The emergence of more progressive publications in the early 1800s showed how the ideology of the ruling classes was in opposition of radicalism. Their politics served to prevent the workers from gaining more control of the media output. Between 1830 and 1836 there was an increase in circulation of radical newspapers. In London alone, the readership grew from half a million to 2 million. Dr Philmore, a member of Parliament, complained that â€Å"these infamous publications [†¦] inflame working people’s passions, and awaken their selfishness, contrasting their present condition with what they contented to be their future condition- a condition incompatible with human nature, and with those immutable laws which providence has established for the regulation of human society â€Å" (Curran 2010 : 14). In other words, the rich believed that it is their right to maintain their social and economic standing. In response to radicalism, they sought to pass regulations that would control the media output. This implied that they could promote the views that would benefit their own economic and social condition. As already seen, those who can control media output use this resource to promote their ideology, culture, and politics. In this way, they also maintain their wealth. In order to silence the voice of radical newspapers in the 1800s, the government decided to introduce the stamp duty, which meant that publications were redefined to include political periodicals. Curran and Seaton (2010) also note that during those days, the government sought to increase press taxation. This was to ensure that those in charge of the press are wealthy men of high social standing. Curran and Seaton explain that the reason behind stamp duty was â€Å"to restrict the readership to a well to do by raising the cover price; and to restrict the ownership to the propertied class by increasing the publishing cost â€Å" (Curran and Seaton 2010:11). This shows how economics plays a big role in restricting those who do not have the necessary means from promoting their own ideology, politics, and culture. The example clearly illustrates the link between economics, culture, and politics that McNair talks about. It also portrays, once again, how those who own the means of produc tion can promote the ideologies that benefit them. Over time, those who were financially in control of the media used this to their advantage and slowly began to take radicalism out of the picture. It became the norm that only those who have enough capital could have a say in politics and influence the ideology of the masses. In the late 19th century, when some control methods failed and stamp laws were repealed, the press establishment embarked on a â€Å"sophisticated strategy of social control†, where the radical newspapers were replaced by apolitical, commercial publications, read by mass audiences and controlled by capital (McNair 2009:87). According to McNair (2009), the radical publications of the end of the 19th century had either been forced out of existence, moved right politically, or become small specialist publications. As newspapers became cheaper and the market expanded, capital investment and running costs increased beyond the capacity of radical publishers. Thus, radical voices were once again silenced. This shows that the output of news is greatly influenced by the ownership and capital, as only the wealthy are powerful enough to determine the course of media production. Currently, it can be said that media output in the newspapers is still dependant on who owns the enterprise, what are their politics, and what kind of ideology and culture they want to promote. Oftentimes, the output does not necessarily reflect the truth, but rather takes the form that is best suited to serve the interests of the few. It is not uncommon for stories to be censored or even not published at all. To illustrate this, Anthony Bevins (1997:47) argues that â€Å"Journalists cannot ignore the pre-set ‘taste ‘of their newspapers, use their own sense in reporting the truth of the any event, and survive. They are ridden by news desks and backbenches executives, have their stories spiked on a systematic basis, they face the worst sort of newspaper punishment –byline deprivation.† Conclusion The history of newspaper publishing in the UK shows that economic interests influence media output immensely. I have argued that, historically, culture, ideology, politics, and economics are all interrelated influences on the content of media. In order to show this, my paper has looked at historical events that have had an impact on the course that the media (especially newspapers) has taken during the past few hundred years. Starting with the 18th century, the press has been a battlefield between the rich and the poor. Radical newspapers fought to have a say in politics. Unfortunately, those who had more wealth and invested more capital were the ones able to take control of the press. With the control of the press also came the promotion of certain ideologies. The ruling class favoured the politics that went against the interests of the workers. Politicians and capitalists alike strived to protect their standing. The stamp duty is an example of measures that they were taking to ens ure that radical media output does not grow enough to influence political views. Even though this measure did not last, the effect that commercialization has had on newspapers and media output, in general, is still evident. Those who own media corporations prefer an apolitical and commercial approach. Over time, the voices of workers with radical demands have stopped being heard in the mainstream media. Moreover, even the practices of journalists nowadays are influenced by this approach to media as a profit driven enterprise. The relevance of stories is often determined based on commercial appeal and sensationalism, rather than facts. Stories can be censored and facts hidden. Economics, as well as politics are mainly to blame for these developments. McNair (2009) sums up this interrelationship perfectly through his work. The fact that politics, economics, culture, and ideology play a big role in determining media output is undeniable. Although this is unlikely to change in the near future, it is important to know whose politics and interests influence what we read, hear, and see in the media. Bibliography Curran, J. and Seaton. Power Without Responsibility : Press, Broadcasting and the Internet in Britain. Routledge, Abingdon, 2010. McNair, B. News and Journalism In the UK . Routlege, London, 2003. McQuail D. Mass Communication. SAGE, London, 2008. Tumber H. News : A Reader. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999. Wahl-Jorgensen, K. & Hanitzsch, T. The Handbook of Journalism Studies. Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, 2009.

Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Economics - Assignment Example The policy will become costly because the government will be forced to implement the same policy of buying up the surplus of wheat to prevent price from falling. Moreover, the policy 2 is costly than the policy 1 when the government faces a problem in dealing with the excess wheat it bought. The policy is costly because if government opts to purchase the wheat, but it sells it to developing countries at a rock bottom prices. The government can also sell the surplus to farmers by feeding animals or offering it at a reduced price prices to those in need of it, in other countries. However, the policy of paying the farmers the supply price is costly than that of buying the surplus because the price paid to farmers in inevitably higher than the price received from the sale of surplus. 1f) both Policies will produce equal net economic benefit because the cost associated with both policies affect the society directly, and are subtracted from the producer and consumer surplus. From the graph, the net economic benefit is shown by the triangle Q1P1QE. a) In the real world environments, firms are not identical because technology changes continually and diverse firms have different histories. The change in technology will cause the firm to reduce the cost of production, and in turn causes downshift of in each firm’s marginal cost curve. Meanwhile, the short run supply curve that is the total of the firm’s marginal cost curves will shifts downwards. According to Lipsey and Chrystal (2007, 146), the firm’s produces economic profits and output at which price equals marginal cost. In the perfect competition, the marginal cost curve is greater and stiffer than average cost curve. Meanwhile, there will be no new entrants attracted to the industry because the average cost minimizing output is greater. In the short run, the entry of new firms shifts the supply curve to the right. Each firm old and new will cover its total cost by producing at a

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT CAPSTONE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT CAPSTONE - Research Paper Example will also involve ensuring that cameras at all levels of production showcase exceptional design and are easily accessible, while the level of awareness about these attributes will need to equally high. These attributes call for balance between developing employees’ R&D competency, increment of unit sales hence expansion capacity, as the company generates higher demand with time, and according employees compensation that is above average. The first step in the labor strategy will involve training individuals that are better equipped in production and sale of digital cameras than potent competitors in the industry. This will play a significant role in ensuring that Advanced Camera has significant competitive advantage over other camera providers. Such human resource-dependent competitive advantage should not be overlooked, since unlike other company advantages that can be replicated elsewhere, unique skills and characteristics of employees are difficult to imitate. Further, a properly trained production workforce will generate higher quality cameras than one that is untrained hence unskilled. In the first year, the company will primarily focus on training extant portable appliance testing (PAT) members. This will happen for two years in a row, thus keeping the money used for quarterly productivity improvement and PAT training constant at $1,000. In the third year, the company will hire 20 new PATs, with the intention of raising the number of units assembled during overtime (OT) to 80 per member. In the subsequent quarter, that is, during year four, Advanced Camera will strive to maintain about 30 PATs, while increasing units assembled at OT by 20 cameras per PAT member. The company intends to maintain this number of PATs even in the fifth year, in order to sustain first shift and overtime PATs, without having to outsource labor (Dess, Lumpkin, & Eisner, 2006). Through this strategy, the company will be able to raise basic wage per PAT member by about 2% from the

To what extent can and should the regulatory purpose underlying a Essay

To what extent can and should the regulatory purpose underlying a challenged national measure be considered when analysing whether GATT Article III has been bre - Essay Example The most recent, the Uruguay Round, addressed issues such as tariffs, services, and the trade related aspects of intellectual property and investment measures. The Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations was signed in April 1994. The Uruguay Round agreement was approved and implemented by the U.S. Congress in December 1994, and went into effect on January 1, 1995. The implementing legislation, known as the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, was passed in December, 1994. In any federal regime dedicated to maintaining open markets - whether it is the GATT/WTO regime to liberalize trade between WTO member states, or the European Community (EC) regime to create free trade between EC member states, or the United States regime to maintain an open market among its fifty U.S. states - experience teaches that domestic regulations enacted by member states sometimes have a negative impact on trade. In some cases the negative trade effects are unintended, but on other occasions it has been clear that member states are using domestic regulations to give local producers a competitive advantage. The WTO inherited a basic structure of policing rules from the 1947 GATT agreement. The core GATT provisions for this purpose are the two-step set of rules in Articles III and XX. Article III governs "internal" taxes and regulations - those taxes and regulations that apply to imports after the imports have cleared customs and entered domestic commerce. The general rule of Article III is that internal taxes and regulations must treat imports no less favourably than like domestic products - an anti-discrimination rule known in GATT parlance as the "national treatment" principle. If a domestic regulatory measure is found to discriminate against imports in violation of Article III, the regulating government can seek to justify that discrimination by proving that it is necessary to the achievement of some legitimate regulatory purpose. GATT Article III - National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation Article III of the GATT is about the National Treatment on Internal Taxation and Regulation. The detailed description about the Article III is as follows: 1. The contracting parties recognize that internal taxes and other internal charges, and laws, regulations and requirements affecting the internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use of products, and internal quantitative regulations requiring the mixture, processing or use of products in specified amounts or proportions, should not be applied to imported or domestic products so as to afford protection to domestic production2. 2. The products of the territory of any contracting party imported into the territory of any other contracting party shall not be subject, directly or indirectly, to internal taxes or other internal charges of any kind in excess of those applied, directly or indirectly, to like domestic products. Moreover, no contracting party shall otherwise apply internal taxes or other internal charges to imported or domestic products in a manner contrary to the principles set forth in paragraph 1.* 3. With respect to any existing internal tax which is inconsistent with the provisions of paragraph 2, but which is specifically authorized under

Prevalence and incidence rates for diseases or health conditions allow Term Paper

Prevalence and incidence rates for diseases or health conditions allow us to make comparisons between communities - Term Paper Example This essay will compare and contrasts obesity and overweight of the blacks in San Diego against other communities in the country and against the national obesity situation in Canada. CDC (2012) defines body weight affected by a mixture of genes, culture among others; on the other hand, obesity is known as the condition of overweight in which a person has body weight which is more than is considered healthy for that individual’s height. Often the body mass index (BMI) is used to measure this condition however; most medical professionals do not need to use this method as mere observation of the patient can be used to evaluate the condition. According to Shields, Carroll and Ogden (2011), amongst children aged between six to ten years old, it is defined to be at or above the sex and age specific ninety seventh percentile of BMI. On the other hand in adults it is measured as a Body Mass Index of at least 30kg/m2. In the county of San Diego, the number of blacks who are obese is ve ry high and as will be shown below, this community in the county has a high percentage of more then forty percent amongst the adults. Other recent reports have predicted that the number could even be higher amongst children. Adults that may be described as neither overweight nor obese according to the 2009 to 2010 survey of adults in the county amongst the blacks stood at a mere 23.2 percent. In the paragraph below, it is important to compare it against other ethnic and racial communities in the county (California Healthcare Foundation, 2010). In the county of San Diego, the four major ethnic and racial communities used in obesity survey are; blacks, whites, Hispanics and Mexican-Americans. In a survey conducted between 2009 and 2010, blacks had on average the highest number of adults with obesity. Hispanics and Mexican Americans were on average had the highest number of people who are overweight; therefore, the number of adults was determined as people who had the at least 20 years . The percentage number of white people in the county who are obese stood at 33.2 whilst a higher percent of 33.5 percent were overweight. The percentage number of blacks in the county who are obese in the county was the highest at 46.6 percent while only 28.3 percent of the black population in the county was overweight. The percentage number of Hispanics in the county, who are obese, was 38.4 percent and 39.3 percent for the overweight. In the county during a 2009 demographic research, the central region of the county had the highest percentage of obese adults at approximately 29.3 percent whereas the North Central region had a meager 14.2 percent, the lowest in the county amongst obese adults (Ogden et al., 2012). An analysis conducted in the year 2007 and 2009 in Canada to gauge the rate of obesity in the country revealed that the incidence in that country was 24.1 per cent. Unlike in the county of San Diego where there is significant number of blacks amongst the population, Cana da actually has a higher number of South Asians. Over the same period, both reports have revealed some damning information; the prevalence rates of obesity in both regions have increased significantly. The two reports have further noted that the number of obese amongst blacks in San Diego and the population in Canada amongst adult men aged 60 to 74 are very high. In general, whist black population have a

Child Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Child Obesity - Essay Example It is clear that, children not only consume a lot of snacks but also fail to do the necessary exercise. They probably spend their free time watching television, hence become vulnerable to obesity (Berger & Luckmann, 2006). There other cultural and social factors that contributes to the child obesity; some societies believe that children are not safe while playing or walking to school. They tend to compromise their children from exercising, hence contribute to obesity (Brian, 2006). Child obesity has some serious consequences to the life of the affected child as well as the society at large. It can lead to health complication due to excessive weight and postural imbalance. It also affects the psycho-social functioning and the well-being of the affected children, especially in school or social places (Cole, 2001). In other words, the social life of the child will be affected in one way or another. Weight management in children can be a good control of childhood obesity. This can be done by providing appropriate meals and enough physical exercise for the children. ephysical exercise will enhance more expenditure of calories than consumption (Dewey, 2001). In addition to that, the best known strategies should be implemented in order to overcome the problem of obesity in children.

Business Loans at Samba Bank Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Loans at Samba Bank - Research Paper Example They have assisted these individuals with the finances and the loan schemes which were more refining than any other Saudi Bank. Being the first private Saudi Bank, they managed to build a strong customer relationship and is known as one of the most trusted confidants of the elite’s wealth in Saudia. Their banking relationship consists of the relationship manger, a personal advisor and understands and advises the individuals in the protection and the growth of the portfolio of the assets. They have some award winning investment and wealth management experts who are working closely with the relationship manager and are known to every minute detail of the account. However they are confidential and trusted advisors, who provide the award winning services to their clients. SambaDiamond, Samba Gold, Ladies Banking, Alkhair Personal Loan, Alkhair Home Loan are some of the many finance and loans opportunities provided by Samba Bank at a personal level. Due to the high success rate and reasonable interest rates where the turnover of the bank is also very high. Due to its long history with high success and confidentiality rate, Samba Bank saw a lot of investors trusting Samba with their money. This is the reason primarily why Samba was shortlisted in the Top Ten Safest Banks of the Middle east and ranked at number four. â€Å"The top ten world’s safest banks 2011 in the Middle East list includes National Bank of Abu Dhabi at the top ladder followed by the National Bank of Kuwait, Qatar National Bank, Samba Financial Group (Saudi Arabia), National Commercial Bank (Saudi Arabia), tie for ranking number six between Al-Rajhi Bank (Saudi Arabia), Riyad Bank (Saudi Arabia), Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Kuwait Finance House and Saudi British Bank (Saudi Arabia).† (Saudi Arabia hosts 5 out of 10 safest banks in ME - Arab News ) Keeping in mind the trust and high turnover rate generated by Samba Bank in the personal banking, it introduced the loans schemes in t he corporate sector as well which turned out to be equally successful. It is one of the largest providers of Corporate Banking financial products and strives to set a competitive edge which will help it get differentiated from the competitors. Thanks to the differentiated financial banking and the advisory services, Samba Bank has been able to build a very strong relationship with the government; public, private sectors. The primary focus of the bank is to empower the business owners to pay more attention to their business rather than the bank. Hence, Samba has introduced a number of loans and finances schemes on a commercial level which helps in the achievement of the critical success. It extends a helping hand to those businesses especially which have the potential but not the resources to grow and expand. Therefore, several options like working capital and long/short term loans fulfil the financing needs of the business owners. Some of the loans which are provided by Samba Bank i nclude: Working Capital Loans. Contract & Project Financing. Investment Loans. Islamic Financing Products. For the convenience of the business owners, there is the online corporate banking facility provided by the Bank so that they can access their account information online as well as view, download or print the information of their accounts as per the requirements. There are ecertain products provided as well as the financing schemes which have been designed with the requirement of the Islamic Banking. These products as well as services have been established

Explain the process by which democracy was accepted as a valid form of government Essay Example for Free

Explain the process by which democracy was accepted as a valid form of government Essay Democracy denotes to a government by the people. The name comes from the Greek and means â€Å"rule by the people. † Democracy is government by the majority of the people, or majority rule. It differs from monarchy (â€Å"rule by one†), aristocracy (â€Å"rule by the best, or nobles†), and oligarchy (â€Å"rule by a few†). Democracy has three different related meanings: (1) a form of government in which those who control the government are elected by the people and are responsible, or answerable, for their actions to the people; (2) a form of society in which there is no privileged class and in which individuals may rise by ability to positions of power and influence; and (3) an ideal or way of life that stresses equality, liberty, individual rights, tolerance, freedom of discussion, and compromise. Most democracies are republics, in which the people elect the head of the state. A monarchy with a hereditary king or queen may also be democratic. In Great Britain, for example, is a democracy in the form of a limited monarchy. Some countries that call themselves republics are not democracies. A country with a republican constitution may be a dictatorship in which government is under the complete control of one person. On the other hand, republic is a country in which both the head of the state and the members of the legislature are elected directly or indirectly by the people. Most of the nations of the world today, including the United States and the Soviet Union, are republics. The rest, in most instances, are monarchies, in which the head of the state (a king, queen, or prince) comes into office through inheritance. The term republic and government are sometimes confused. Republic means a constitutional form of government under which the head of the state is elected, either by direct popular vote or indirectly through elected representatives. In addition, social contract denotes to human race originally lived in a â€Å"state of nature,† in which people enjoyed complete freedom, with no laws and no government. Without constraints on their activities, however, people were constantly fighting among themselves, and the safety of each individual was endangered. To ensure their survival, people eventually made an agreement called a social contract, to establish a system a law and order. On the other hand, balance of power is relatively equal distribution of economic and military strength among rival countries or groups countries. For 400 years, the countries of Europe devoted much of their diplomatic and military effort to creating or maintaining such a balance. Their object was to prevent any single nation or group of nations from becoming powerful enough to dominate the continent. The idea of maintaining power equilibrium became an important influence in European politics in the 16th century. An outstanding example of balance-of-power politics occurred in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48). Furthermore, Republican Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States. Since the time of the Taft administration (1909-13) it has generally been regarded as more conservative than the other major party, the Democratic. However, this difference between the two parties has not always been sharp, as the Republican Party initiated or supported progressive legislation. Also, the Republican Party, like the Democratic, has both liberal and conservative factions. Nonetheless, the Republican Party is generally associated with the interests of business, the wealthy and propertied, and those opposed to the ideas of the welfare state and a â€Å"big government. †

A Problem Statement Of Quality Services Information Technology Essay

A Problem Statement Of Quality Services Information Technology Essay CHAPTER 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION Library is the important place for the people especially the students since it helps the students in their learning process. As it seems important for the students, library should be able to provide a conducive environment in order to help the students to do their revision for example. In other words, student satisfaction is an important measure of quality while providing the services in libraries. However, students perceptions about libraries seem to have been largely ignored by library management in developing countries. So, the assessment of quality while giving the services provides an important feedback for libraries to assess and improve its services to its users (Yrd.Doc.Dr. Zeynep Filiz -2007). Good service delivery to students is one of the primary goals of service organizations like libraries and is the ability of any service provider to provide promised products or services. Libraries are essentially learning organizations stimulating academic and research activities by providing access to world-class information resources. Traditionally, the success of any library is measured in terms of the size of its collection, staff, and budget. But in the present day competitive world, the libraries need to go beyond the traditional modes of assessments and apply marketing techniques for understanding customer requirements. Students focus in services delivery is essential for satisfying the students. The success depends on students perceptions or judgment on the quality of products/services provided by the service personnel in libraries and quality is the measure of how well the products/ services delivered meet students expectations (Manjunatha K and Shivalingaiah D-2004). 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT Quality services in library are very important aspect in order to satisfy the students through having continuous improvement and the students perception is an important aspect to reveal how satisfied the students towards the library contribution in helping them in learning process. Library must provide a good quality of services, sufficient of collection/information, good activities and staff attitude at the same time solving the challenging faced by them. This can ensure that library can play their role as an academic centre that contributes to a conducive learning environment. If the challenges faced not being solved, it will make students satisfaction become lower and it is hard for the students to find what they want in the library. Therefore, library must find out what kind of solution that needs to be done in order to face the challenges since every year new students come with different needs and expectations. Then, library should do the continuous improvement every time so tha t they could give focus on quality services which makes the service runs smoothly. For that reason, this research is made to know the quality of services provided by UMS library and any continuous improvement can be done if needed. The issues that arise is in terms of the ability of UMS as a learning places to contribute a conducive learning environment in helping the students to access information sources and University to produce a knowledgeable and successful graduate This is accordance with the mission of UMS library Providing comprehensive resources and services to support the university requirements in teaching, learning, research, innovation and publication. So that, this research can measure whether student satisfaction on UMS library services provided fulfill the students need through examine the ability of UMS library in terms of quality services, collection/information, library activities and staffs attitude. 1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study are: To investigate the students satisfaction on the contribution of UMS library in supporting learning environment process. To determine services at UMS library that need for improvement. 1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY The scope of the study covers the public as the user at UMS library. Public in this scope will involve the final year students that consists of part 6 (semester 2 year 3) students in economy. The purpose by choosing part 6 students is because they are more experience in using the library services. They will now either the UMS library has help them in supporting their learning process over the three years study at UMS. 1.5 SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY 1.5.1 This study as a basis to determine students dissatisfaction towards services given by UMS library. 1.5.2 This study as a platform for the students to express their perception on services given by UMS library. 1.5.3 This study as a basis to identify the area of concern at UMS library. 1.5.4 This study as a platform to suggest possible solution to the problem and for improvement. 1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS/CONCEPTS 1.6.1 Learning environment The place and setting where learning occurs; it is not limited to a physical classroom an includes the characteristics of the setting (www.teach-nology.com/glossary/terms/l/). 1.6.2 Quality Nunan and Calvert (1992) point out that: The term quality defies any definition which will be universally accepted. When it is linked to performance, quality implies evaluation for comparative purposes; `measures of quality involve norms and standards and judgments of quality are assisted through use of norm or criterion referenced indicators. Where measurement focuses on the student as a product of education, quality is seen as `value-based by the process of education. When the emphasis is management of quality, attention focuses on strategies for achieving or improving quality. 1.6.3 Perception Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. 1.6.4 Satisfaction The good feeling that you have when you have achieved something or when you wanted to happen does happen (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary) 1.6.5 Library A considerable collection of books kept for use, and not as merchandise, as a private library; a public CHAPTER 2 LITERITURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 LITERITURE REVIEW The concepts of satisfaction and quality are often used together, and sometimes interchangeably. Few researchers have identified the particular relationship between the two concepts, however a number of general statements have been made. According to Oliver (1981:42) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ satisfaction is the emotional reaction following a disconfirmation experience which acts on the base attitude level and is consumption-specific. Perceived quality, on the other hand, is defined and contrasted to satisfaction by (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988:16) as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a global judgment, or attitude, relating to the superiority of the service, whereas satisfaction is related to a specific transaction. Thus, these two concepts are related in that incidents of satisfaction, over time, result in perceptions of quality (Hebert, 1993:21). However, academic libraries are facing two major threats: a global digital environment and increasing competition. They must improve the quality of their services in order to survive (Rowena Cullen, 2001). Each year new students enter the learning environment with varying library usage and information gathering skills. Millson-Martula and Menon (1995) state that one element of high quality service is the incorporation of users personal needs and expectations into the development of programs and service. The concept of user satisfaction in the library literature likewise has evolved to include a broader focus on the users perspective of the library. Applegate (1997) defines user satisfactionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as a personal, emotional reaction to a library service or product. Bitner and Hubbert (1994) suggest that it consists of service encounter satisfaction, the consumers dis/satisfaction with a discrete service encounter, and overall service satisfaction, the consumers overall dis/satisfaction with the organization based on all encounters and experiences with that particular organization. In addition, a characteristic of service delivery is the simultaneous nature of production and consu mption (Zeithaml Bitner, 1996). Customers are usually involved in some (if not all) of the production processes and therefore have an impact on the outcomes of the service delivery and their satisfaction with it. Bowen (1986), Mills and Morris (1986), and Kelley, Donnelly and Skinner (1990), have shown that participation, or the use of customers as partial employees, can improve productivity for providers as well as improving service quality and customer satisfaction. Bateson (1985) note that problems in the service encounter are often due to conflicts over who is in control of the service interaction, and hence, a way of increasing control for the customer is to offer alternatives or choices within the service setting, such as providing on-site or remote access to electronic resources, loan or photocopying of printed materials, self-service or staff service facilities, silent study or discussion areas, on-site or telephone or email or postal reference consultation. Service providers must develop mechanisms in order to ensure that customers provide the required information and effort to facilitate the service encounter and outcome (Kelley, Donnelly Skinner, 1990). However, though quality is a much studied subject in manufacturing as well as service sectors, there is no universally accepted definition to define quality. The definition of quality is subjective, personal and changes from person-to-person, place-to-place, organization-to-organization, situation-to-situation and time-to-time. However, Conformance to Standards and Fitness for Use is the classic definitions of quality. The quality as a subject of academic interest took momentum in 1950s as a result of the studies on the subject of quality by management gurus like Deming, Juran, Crosby, Taylor, Feigenbaum, and Peters. However, the concepts of quality were mainly applied to products in the manufacturing sector. Due awakening of consumerism in 1980s, the quality of service as a subject of academic interest caught the attention of marketing professionals and they attempted to define service quality from customers perspective. Experts like Kotler, Levitt, Gronroos, Garvin, Cronin, Taylor, Teas, Rust, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry have contributed to the growth of the subject and many models were developed on its measurement. The team of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (hereafter PZB) had conducted several research studies to define service quality and identify the criteria that customers use while evaluating the service quality in service organizations. They define service quality as the extent of discrepancy between customers expectations or desires and their perception of what is delivered. In other words, it is the comparison of what customers expect before the use of product or service with their experience of what is delivered. According to Professor Gaynor Taylor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University in her talk on seminar of the impact of Libraries on Learning, Teaching and Research (LIRG) (2001), she spoke of the impact of libraries on cultural and educational life across the country and their key role in enabling and expanding participation in education and lifelong learning. She then went on to praise the role of libraries, arguing that they were central to academic communities. She emphasized the benefits of integrating libraries fully into the student learning experience. Libraries need to be involved from the very beginning of course development and need to make relevant information available in ways that suits users access needs. According to Stamatoplos (1998), consideration of satisfaction should be an important part of the evaluation of library services. Satisfaction depends, to some extent, on patron expectations of services. Satisfaction appeared to be related to student perceptions of information accessibility, staff competence and helpfulness, computer usefulness and ease of use, and skill level for using libraries. He questioned why should library administrators care about patron satisfaction? Some think patron satisfaction is of secondary importance that the purpose of a library is to provide information services and that evaluation of the library performance ought to be judged from that perspective alone. However, others recognize that failing to satisfy the patron is failing to serve the patron. This is not about just making patrons feel good. There is a basic reason for focusing on patron satisfaction: Who is the best judge of whether a patron has been served well or poorly? Professional librarian s may know whether they have provided accurate, timely information in response to a request. Is that enough? Clearly, accurate and timely information is a minimum requirement, but unless the patron is satisfied, in general, the service could have been better. Based on his research on the Effects of Library Instruction on University Students Satisfaction with the Library, he found that the patrons experienced less difficulty in finding material than expected, the patrons also received materials faster than expected; average and maximum wait times were shorter than expected for both books and articles. In terms of the perception of staff helpfulness, patrons perceived the library staff to be significantly less helpful than expected. In addition, in his findings on the perceptions of information accessibility he found that the proportion of needed materials available at the library, the difficulty of finding the materials, and the maximum wait time for articles are all significantly re lated to overall satisfaction with the library. Besides that, in terms of the perceptions of staff competence and helpfulness, it shows that the perceptions that library staffs are competent and helpful are highly correlated with overall satisfaction. Based on the research done by Steve Hiller (2001) on the Assessing User Needs, Satisfaction, and Library Performance at the University of Washington Libraries, the 1998 survey asked whether libraries were open when needed on evenings, weekends, summer, and interim periods. Graduate students, as the case with the previous two surveys, had the lowest satisfaction with hours while faculty had the highest, undergraduate student satisfaction had slipped from 1995 when it was similar to faculty satisfaction. When asked to choose from a list of priorities, more than 37 percent of graduate students and 42 percent of undergraduates chose increased library hours as a priority compared to 17 percent of faculty. Graduate students also wrote more comments about hours than any other group. So, responses to overall library satisfaction questions on the 1998 survey showed faculty had the highest satisfaction while undergraduate students the lowest. According to research done by Noriah Mohamed Ali on the Staff Professionalism in University (Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam), she said that in organization fulfilling customer satisfaction is very important. It is a part of staff jobs. Customers do not ask for too much, it is enough if staff can provide them with clear information, courtesy, the ability to answer them politely and the service can easily be accessible. In service oriented organizations, staff has a big responsibility to treat customers well. This is because service is their core business like in library. As an important person in library, there is no emotional influence in delivering services to the students. Staff must be professional in dealing with students. They should be helpful, polite, friendly, respectful, well trained and knowledgeable. All these will lead to the students satisfaction. Based on this research also, it shows that there is linear relationship between knowledge level of staff and customers satisfaction. Customers need to get information and staff needs to be able to respond to customers questions. It may be that, staff needs to have some alternative methods in answering customers questions. Staff should not cause customers to doubt and be confused about the solution offered by them. Staff needs to have better knowledge in academic affairs and other matters that related to the university. On the other hand, based on the research done by Norliya Ahmad Kassim (Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, MALAYSIA) and Khasiah Zakaria (Perpustakaan Tun Abdul Razak , Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam), they were investigate users perceptions on the contributions of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Libraries in creating a learning environment. It shows that the library users were only quite satisfied in terms of the services, collection/information, and activities of the library as a whole. The findings revealed that users were least satisfied with the attitude of the library staff compared with other aspects of the library evaluated. Among the four aspects of the library, respondents were relatively most satisfied with collection/ information (mean score = 3.27), followed by services to users (mean score = 3.18), library activities (mean score = 3.16) and staff attitude (mean score = 3.06) in that order. The information produced through this study will be of use to the improvement of library services and betterment of the library profession, and serve as a contribution to the body of knowledge in the area of user satisfaction on libraries contribution and their services to users. There is an urgent need to examine the perceptions of the students on the contribution of UMS library in creating learning environment process. 2.2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Independent variables Dependent variable Perception of the students Collection / information provided Library activities Staffs atitude Quality services Figure 1 2.2.1 INDEPENDENT VARIABLES: SERVICES 2.2.1.1 Quality services Quality services is refer to opening hour, signage, reference service, willingness to help, performing services right, photocopy services and etc. 2.2.1.2 Collection/Information Collection/Information is refer to past exam papers, OPAC stations, comprehensive online database, accessible on digital collection, up-to-date information, comprehensive books collection and complete relevant journal. 2.2.1.3 Academic activities Teaching, learning and training that library provide to the students. 2.2.1.4 Staffs attitude Appearance, knowledgeable, confidence, availability and motivate learning are refer to the attitude that shows by the librarys staff. 2.2.2 DEPENDENT VARIABLE: PERCEPTION Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHOD 3.1 Research Design For the purpose of this study, the research design will be sample survey. It means the administration of questionnaires to a sample of respondents selected from some population. Types of approaches being used is by a questionnaire survey. 3.2 Unit of Analysis As the study will identify public perception towards the contribution of UMS library in supporting learning environment process, therefore the unit of analysis will be the final year students in school of Economy and Business study. 3.3 Sample size The sample size for the purpose of this study is 100 respondents. 3.4 Sampling Technique In this study, the stratified random sampling will be used. This sampling design which is the most efficient is a good choice when differentiated information is needed regarding various strata within the population which are known to differ in their parameters (Sekaran 2003). The population from this study consists of the user of UMS libraries. 3.5 Research Measurement/instrument The questionnaire used was structured into 3 sections. Section A focused on the personal data of the respondents such as age, gender, education level and the frequency using the UMS library services. The respondent only need to label the data related to them. Section B focuses on the perception of the students on contribution of UMS library in supporting learning environment process. The question is regarding on four elements that consists the quality of services, collection/information, library activities and staffs personality. The respondents were answer according to five-point of likert scale that indicate 1 is strongly disagree, 2 is disagree, 3 is neither agree or disagree, 4 is agree and 5 is strongly agree. The respondent required to circle one of it. Respondent perception is measure according to five-point of likert scale. Respondents were ask with certain statement to look their respond on that statement either they agree or disagree. Agree or disagree on that statement will reflect their perception. Finally, Section C consist only one question which is regarding the satisfaction on the contribution of UMS library in supporting learning environment process. This is the overall satisfaction of the students based on the question ask in section B. In this section, the respondents answer were also based on the likert scale (5 points) .The respondent were required to express their satisfaction towards the UMS library contribution from 1 is refer to worst perception to 5 refer to better perception. 3.6 Data collection Basically, there are two method used for the collection. Those are primary data collection and secondary data collection. Primary data is a data which collected originally by the researcher based on his effort. Example, the data for this study will be collected through questionnaire to the focus group. This method was chosen because the designed questionnaire could be sent personally to them in a limited time and they have to return it back on that time. While, secondary data is the information which is already in existence that related to the study. It includes the data from the journal, book, and internet search. For this study, both of the data collection method is being used so that it will be help in term of an understanding and the accuracy of information that will be received. 3.7 Data Analysis The data analysis for this study conducted through Statistical Package for Social Science software or SPSS version 17.0 which use the descriptive analysis and also crosstab. SPSS will be used as medium to analyze the data where the raw will be entered in the computer as a data file. By using the tools, any missing value can easily be identified. The tool will help in analyzing data such as table, figure also percentage.

Women Entrepreneurship in SMEs in Iran

Women Entrepreneurship in SMEs in Iran It has been thought that Entrepreneurs, in general, are recognized by their success or their failure. However, it goes without saying that the nature of business venture that they undertake and the manner in which they handle their business, are the main factors that determine their relative success or, in fact, failure. Consequently, it is not too far-fetched to believe in the fact that such relative success could or in fact would depend on the type of business ventured into by an entrepreneur. It is even more relevant in case of women entrepreneurs as there are numerous factors that impact their ventures. They learn the nuances of business only after they start a particular venture. These factors could begin with social factors, gender differences, issues on equality as well their ability to run a business in a much dominated male environment. Nevertheless, in order to understand the true nature of women entrepreneurship, the types of businesses undertaken in Iran need to be studied. In fact, one can examine the women entrepreneurs for not only traditional businesses but also in modern businesses, which involve some amount of technical knowledge. Indeed, one needs to take into consideration the fact that Iran is a developing country, much like India, Malaysia or even Indonesia. As claimed by Ganeshan (2004), women entrepreneurs in India generally undertake three types of industrial enterprises: (1) entrepreneurs operating purely as subcontractor on raw materials provided by their customers; (2) manufacturers of items that are usually used by large scale units; and (3) manufacturers of consumer products which are directly sold in the market. Evidently, in Iran, women are also divided in such category. Statement of the Problem The main objective of this research was finding the reasons for starting a venture or a new enterprise and, subsequently, the dominant factors that influenced women to take up entrepreneurship. Studies have revealed that women became entrepreneurs due to various reasons classified as pull and push factors. Pull factors are those which encourage women to have an independent occupation. Under the influence of these factors, women entrepreneurs choose a profession as a challenge, adventure, with an urge to do something new. On the other hand, the push factors are those, which compel women to take up business enterprises to get over financial difficulties and responsibilities. Nevertheless, many women take to entrepreneurship to fulfil an urge for independence and creativity. The role of Government agencies and NGOs cannot be ignored. Women entrepreneurship is one of the key focus areas in the various policies for women development. Therefore, in this study, the researcher would like to examine the different reasons for Iranian women to start a new business venture and compare those reasons with the difficulties that they might face such as religious limitations such as the dress code for Iranian women imposed by the government and cultural constraints such as male supremacy that regards men as superior to women. These two main factors will be studied in more depth and details since many women in Iran have been pulled back from fulfilling their innate capabilities and potentials simply because they were women and in Iranian society they had to face different forms of cultural constraints such as male supremacy as well as religious limitations that could in theory and would in practice undermine the scope of their success. Research Questions Therefore, in order to conduct the following study, the researcher decided to narrow down the many aspects and parameters involved into three main factors mentioned above and formed the following research questions. Is there any relationship between cultural constraints such as male supremacy and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship? Is there any relationship between religious limitations such as the dress code for women and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship? Research Hypothesis Subsequently, the researcher transformed these research questions into research hypothesis so that the questions could be analyzed in a more scientific and hierarchical format. There is no relationship between cultural constraints such as male supremacy and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship. There is no relationship between religious limitations such as dress code and the rate of success in women entrepreneurship. Research Objective The objective of this study is to see if the results of the questionnaire given to 42 women entrepreneurs in Iran managing different forms of SMEs, whether in the textile industry or the cosmetic trade, has a statistically significant correlation within two paradigm of religious limitations and cultural constraints with regard to rate of their success which will be operationally defined and measured in their annual turnover, rise in sales and profit as well as capital enlargement. The researcher intends to see whether these factors felt by the entrepreneur that will be measured using a questionnaire simply based on their personal opinion has in fact influenced the success of their enterprise or not. Research Methodology The researcher will be conducting a descriptive research in a form of field study using surveys and questionnaire. The researcher will be interviewing 42 women entrepreneurs using a 36 item questionnaire that deals with their opinion regarding male supremacy in Iranian society as well as the difficulties they might have faced or at least they feared to face in Iran simply because they were women. Moreover, the questions will also deal with the religious limitations that they had to face working in Iran since the government in Tehran does and has imposed different forms of restriction on women such as the dress code that could be regarded, at least in theory, as a formidable constraint for many women entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the interviewees will be given a survey that is kept quite confidential regarding the company annual turnover, rise in the sales as well as capital enlargement in which all aims to conclude the rate of success. Nevertheless, for the sake of face validity, the survey will be taken in the second phase of the research so that the entrepreneurs response on their opinion regarding the limitations and restrictions that they might have faced would not be influenced by the survey since their response would be quite subjective by nature and any previous administration could or at least might have an impact on their responses. Finally, the researcher would be using SPSS software of version 17.0 to analyze the questionnaire. The researcher will be interested to see if there are any positive or even negative correlation in the factors studied in this research and, if yes, how statistically significant such correlation is at 0.05 level of significance. The researcher would like to see if the null-hypotheses would be rejected at 0.05 level of significance, in order to conclude that such factors do, in fact, influence the rate of success for women entrepreneurship. Chapter 2 Review of Literature 2.1 Introduction The 20th century brought many changes to the world, but rest assure that one of the changes that transformed our societies was the emergence of women as free thinkers and independent individuals who no longer seek the support of men to survive nor to succeed in the society. The beginning of the century triggered stardom in the women liberation front when they were able to obtain their God given rights to vote and participate in the democratic system of governess. Women were later asked to join the work force in farms and factories when men were struggling with two world wars. It was from then on that working women and entrepreneurship of women became an issue and for many an opportunity to see more women taking responsibility in the improvement of the economy and the industries of many developed and even in the later part of the century developing countries. Women entrepreneurship Very few would ever indulge themselves to understand the factors that would actually drive and ultimately allow a woman in todays world to risk all her money and property to embark on a business venture. Hematian (2011) believes that women have always been deprived of their right to self autonomy and self reliance for many reasons. First and foremost, she believes that it is because men have always feared the rise of women as leaders in the society as a threat to teir survival. The reason is that men have realized that women are more capable in managing; whether in the family or the local community, women have shown more capability, but they have felt reluctant to the lack of motivation. Rani (1996) believes that the key factor is motivation that is the engine for a woman to take such risk. This motivation is vital for a woman to become successful and the source of this motivation can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. Nevertheless, Rani (1996) outlines another factor apart from motivation which is ambition. The notion of ambition has been long argued with scholars as it is ambition that broadens the vision of people and makes life meaningful. It is in fact an index of ones own resourcefulness and it is the key factor in women entrepreneurship. what matters much for the development of a nation is not merely the people but their aspirations and means to reach their goals. It is needless to say that ambitions differ among individuals on the basis of their personal characteristics. Ambitions nourish the achievement, motivation and help bring economic growth and development. p. 75 Nevertheless, what seems to be quite intriguing is how motivation and ambition differs from a woman to another when it comes to her family background. Rani (1996) studied the many factors that influence the women ambition such as the educational status of the family as well as the occupational status of the family and realized that more women who were raised in educated families and whose fathers were entrepreneurs or worked at a managerial level were eager and ultimately successful in establishing their business. Rani (1996) concludes that the fact that women are more social individuals than men and in fact, a woman never considers herself alone, physically, socially or even economically, but in fact as a part of a the family, the family also seems to reciprocate this feeling at least in the case of women entrepreneurs. p. 82 Therefore, it is not too far-fetched to conclude that women entrepreneurs can easily be considered as the agents of social change. The governments would definitely prosper if they begin to guide women in the right direction toward economic independence, particularly through the path of entrepreneurship. This is simply due to the fact that women are widely affected by the environment, and feels a sense of belonging to it that when it is nourished in the right way, it can be more constructive than imagined. There is little doubt that supporting women in becoming more financially independent can bring about great changes for the world and prosperity for all since women are more prone to support and supply their fellow species. Constraints in women entrepreneurship Therefore, the entrepreneurship of women becomes the focal point of many research and studies who all wish to analyze the impact of women in the work force and understand the many factors that could affect women entrepreneurship. Many scholars have looked at this issue and they have claimed that women entrepreneurship is merely an isolated issue that could never be fully understood outside the social, cultural and even political realm. In her study, Jalbert (2000) asserts that becoming an entrepreneur is not simply a state but in fact, an evolution of encountering, assessing and reacting to a series of experiences, situations, and events produced by political, economical, social and cultural change. P. 23 Jalbert (2000) further on notifies the simple fact that there are certain constraints that could and in fact would most likely deprive women to participate in the work force, particularly as managers, let alone become successful entrepreneurs who would have an impact on the economy. She believes that there are certain cultural and social patterns that could hinder, limit and restrict women from fully participating in the work force as independent individuals and successful managers. Tiwara (2007) believes that these social and cultural constraints in the east are the main obstacles that stand between success and progress for most Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The men need to realize that male supremacy has deprived their communities of sustainable progress and such medieval ideologies need to be eradicated for their societies to begin blooming again. On the other hand, Manaie (2011) analyzes the situation in a comparative form between the east and the west and outlines a series of factors that could influence women entrepreneurships, more specifically in his country Iran. Primarily, he believes that the main issue is education and assert that in the west different forms of courses are provided to inform and enlighten students and future managers of the reality of women entrepreneurship and its features, whereas in the east and more specifically in Iran such awareness is never intended. Furthermore, he believes that the lack of training courses for women entrepreneurship has created a huge gap for women who intend to embark on such a journey not knowing the difficulties they might face as women managers in the future. Furthermore, Manaie (2011) believes that another key factor is motivation and the cultural context of the east has created a distinct feeling of reluctance for women to participate in the workforce as managers and leaders and presidents of companies and huge corporations. He strongly claims that such cultural issues has created an overwhelmingly upsetting situation for most women where they feel, as he puts it, discriminated and isolated among successful managers who are predominantly men and unwilling to share their exclusive masculine reign with the opposite sex whom they covertly feel superior to and regretfully feel disproportionally more powerful and intelligent towards. p. 14 Manaie (2011) then proposes a series of solutions that could improve the situation for women entrepreneurship in Iran. First of all, he believes that cultural awareness is the key to success and he asserts that the divine religion of Islam does not, in any form, comply with male supremacy in the work force. It is simply the duty of the male to supply and support the family, comprising of wife and children, within the context of the family. Nevertheless, in Islam women are free to own property, do business and even manage organizations. The best example is the prophets wife who was in fact a merchant or could even be called a women entrepreneur who ran and owned one of the most successful trading enterprises in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of her marriage to the prophet somewhat fourteen hundred years ago. Moreover, there must be Characteristic of women entrepreneurs Noticeably, one needs to analyze women entrepreneurship in the micro perspective as to what kind of women become involved in such tedious yet challenging profession of managing dozens and sometimes hundreds of men in a company or a factory. The main question is what kind of an individual, more precisely a woman, would be interested and in fact capable of becoming a manager and what are the qualities that are shared by most of these successful women entrepreneurs. Jalbert (2000) believes that most women entrepreneurs tend to be very motivated and as she puts it self-directed individuals. She further on believes that these women show a very high urge for control and ultimately success and accomplishment. p.23 In her research, Jalbert (2000) looked at the common characteristics that are shared by most successful women entrepreneurs and came to the conclusion that they all share four key personality traits. First and foremost, they all share the ability of communicative skills that enables an individual to, fully and could even be said efficiently, interact with their counterparts. Secondly, they all share the intuitive skill of initiation and decisiveness that makes managers who they are and what they can achieve. Thirdly, they have the consensus building ability to form coalitions as well as cooperation based on common interest and even common threats. Finally, and quite intriguingly, she asserts that they all have integrating skills that would allow an individual to prominently bind different people from different backgrounds and interests to share a common value and behave in uniform code of conduct. It is quite evident that as technology speeds up lives and the new age is now upon us, and therefore it is important to take time to reflect upon on what will obviously be one of the driving forces of the world economy in the new century. In fact, women are an emerging economic force that policymakers and economical experts cannot afford to ignore nor neglect. What are the implications of this for businesswomen throughout the world? How can womens business enterprises best channel this potential and maximize it to improve the status of women in the world economy? The worlds modern economy, and in fact democracy, depends on the participation of both genders. Askari (2010) believes that women have proven themselves to be an undeniable force in the progress of countries across the globe. She believes that during the past century four main factors have contributed to this blooming need for women to take part in the economy. First of all, she believes that the industrial revolution paved the way for women to enter farms and factories and begin working with men. Secondly, the social changes and the emergence of feminism gave women the identity and the recognition they needed to consolidate their position as decision makers and leaders in the economy. Thirdly, the cultural awareness and the weakening of male supremacy proved women can have even more success than men when working as managers and leaders and idea of the male supremacy was weakened and no longer a threat to women success. Nevertheless, Askari (2010) states that the most important factor that allowed women to participate more, and more productively in the economy was education and the vast scope of educated women that appeared in the world arena paved the way for successful women managers. In the global economy of the 21st century, international trade will be a key source of economic growth and development. Recent surveys conducted in many countries have revealed this fact, in which the National Foundation of Women Business Owners (NFWBO) has mentioned that women-owned firms involved in the global market have greater income, are more optimistic about the rate of success in their business outlook and are more focused on business expansion than women-owned firms that are to most extent domestically oriented. Joshi (2009) believes that womens business associations can and in fact should ensure that their members, whether large or small are equipped to obtain the rewards of moving into the international spectrum. In fact, it goes without saying that women must learn how to play the international trade game, and a world network of womens business associations can help them achieve this great goal. Joshi (2009) further on states that information technology can help identify these mentioned markets, provide industry information and spotlight trends about what the role of women in state economies can be or should be so that optimum results would be obtained. More information about women-owned business enterprises is deeply needed to force policymakers to realize that women are an economic force to be reckoned with. Part of this process is to document the economic significance of women-owned enterprises in order to establish a constructive dialogue. Indeed, what womens business organizations (WBOs) can provide may be summed up in three simple word; access, organization, and certainly advocacy. In some regions of the world, transformation to a market economy threatens to widen the gap of gender inequality and inevitably sexual discrimination. Furthermore, it is quite evident that such changes reflect a return to traditional norms and standards that relegated women to a secondary st atus. As countries become more democratic, gender inequalities lessen; thus, offering a more productive atmosphere for both sexes. Nevertheless, many argue that women are genuinely better managers than men in many aspects when given the opportunity. Hematian (2011) argues that the feminine side of women, and even in some cases in men, allows the manger to act more responsibly rather than irrationally when faced with difficulty. Dr. Hematian (2011) argues the psychological intriguing fact about women in general that is conformist rather than dis-conformist that exists in most men. The masculine feature of being rebellious blinds men from making concessions and that is the downfall of their decision making. Since, management, she states, is not about victory but reducing the cost of failure. p. 24 Women Entrepreneurship across the globe There is no doubt that a new generation is emerging and women from all four corners are the globe are taking part in the expansion of the world economy by their enthusiastic participation as well as their leading role in the management of different industrial and trade institutions across the globe. It might have been a dream or even a wild thought to believe that one day women even in as far places as Bangladesh can start their own businesses and become successful entrepreneurs but now we live in a world where that dream has come true as mentioned by many world figures including the noble prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus (2006) empowerment has come to the women of Bangladesh, even the poorest women in Bangladesh. Its tremendous. Its a dramatic change that has taken place. Women have access to money. They can now plan. They can now dream. Their children are in school. New communities are emerging. A new generation is emerging. On the other hand, one needs to understand that such success could and would never be achieved if the society does not recognize women as capable individuals who could stand on their own feet and have the capacity to succeed independently without any help or aid from their male counterpart. Men need to begin learning the notion of respect when it comes to women entrepreneurship and have the dignity and decency to honor and respect women who embark on such challenges to lead their own enterprise as former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice (2007) puts it quite well when she says, Respect for women is a prerequisite for success of countries in the modern world. In the dynamic 21st century no society can expect to nourish with half its people sitting on the sidelines, with no opportunity to develop their talents, to contribute to their economy or to play an equal part in the lives of their nations. In their well acclaimed research, Van Der Wees, C. Romijn, H. (1995) elaborate on the fact that womens business associations play a very essential role in identifying appropriate emerging sectors where women entrepreneurs can be prosperous as well as successful. In fact, the research indicated that the areas that are more probable to take off quickly during a nations market rejuvenation are delivery, transport, public relations, producing and consumer goods, and financial services. In this process, women business owners are innovators, job creators, and providers of economic security. Ultimately, female business owners will be recognized for who they are, what they do, and how significantly they impact the global economy. Change is afoot in the global economy and it is bearing a womans face. Quite intriguingly, worldwide, many women are entrepreneurs emerge from a persons creative mind and intuition into successful business ownership, and economic security that would benefit everyone. There is a simple truth that women bring integrity as well as commitment because they care about economic empowerment of the society as w whole, entrepreneurial development and innovation. Female entrepreneurs seek the professional and personal support that is found in business associations. Economic globalization has encouraged the expansion of female business ownership. The growing economic power and influence of women-owned businesses are changing the shape of the global economy, remarked Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, director of the UN Development Programs Human Development Report. On the other hand, Kollan (2009) strongly claims that the global impact of women entrepreneurs is only the beginning to gain the momentum it truly deserves. Across the world, the number of women business owners continues to women entrepreneurs in the world economy rise gradually. In fact, a recent United Nations report concluded that economic development, as a whole, is closely related to the advancement of women, in particular. In nations where women have advanced, economic growth has usually been steady. By contrast, in countries where women have been restricted, the economy has been stagnant and still struggling to develop, in the broad sense. According to the 1995 UN survey, two changes have occurred over the past 10 years in the enabling environment for women in the economy. One is the establishment of legal equality for women. The other is granting women equal access to education and training. Women entrepreneurs are significantly affecting the global economy. In a case study carried out by McCarthy, D., Puffer, S, Naumov A. (1994) the results revealed that women entrepreneurs play an important role in the entrepreneurial economy, both in their ability to create new jobs for themselves and to create jobs for others in their community. In fact, the results of the study showed that in Europe (both European Union countries and other European countries), estimates indicate that there exist more than 10 million self-employed women. In the United States 6.4 million self-employed women provide employment for 9.2 million people and create significant sales. Using the United States ratio between the number of employees and self-employment it may be estimated that employed women in surveyed European countries could employ around 15 million persons. Furthermore, it was discovered that self-employment represents one of the most important job opportunities for women. This seems to be a correct conclusion independent of what country or type of economy is observed. Self-employment represents an important job alternative for many women and perhaps especially for women in developing economies. It is also observed that in all countries women still represent a minority of those that start new firms, are self-employed, or are small business owner-managers. Women Entrepreneurship in Asia One needs to acknowledge the simple fact that women entrepreneurship has not been as well accepted and even welcomed in the east as it has been in the west. Nevertheless, one needs to understand that the east has been improving and the statistics regarding this is quite intriguing to analyze. For instance, in India there has been enormous energy put into the private sector to help women entrepreneurship and in some case more support has been allocated to the women entrepreneurs than their male counterpart to make sure that the initiative would give them an advantage. Tiwari (2007) believes that women entrepreneurs have had a very efficient as well as productive role in the enhancement of the Indian economy during the past decade. Nevertheless, there is an issue that, the social structures of today have prevented the balanced development of women along side with men. P. 31 Tiwari (2007) continues further on suggesting that as a remedy women should be given an advantage when embarking on business ventures. There are two streams of thoughts for the promotion of women entrepreneurship. First stream argue that women should be given higher priority and certainly the second argues that both men and women should be equally supported. The first view has been receiving more momentum in the Indian economy due to the fact that many politicians have now come to the conclusion that the women are more eager to take part in the improvement of the economy and by supporting them they could benefit both from their effort and their support in coming elections. In fact, different programs such as EDPs (Entrepreneurship Development Programs) are being carried out to meet just that scheme. Furthermore, Tiwari (2007) discovered that more women in India are participating in the three Es, namely being the Energy, Electronics and Engineering field. It is quite interesting to notify the fact that the new industrial policies of India have highlighted the need for special entrepreneurship programs for women entrepreneurs. This is simply designed by the administrations to enable and ultimately capable the women entrepreneurs to get a head start in their business ventures and be able to establish small-scale industries. India, as a whole, has well shown that when women are supported and motivated they can achieve much higher than their male counterparts and the integral approach from the government and non-government organization has been able to help them achieve that and it is the ongoing support of the system that has allowed them to do so well in the economy. On the other hand, Teoh (2007) states that women entrepreneurship in the Malaysia, a fast growing economy in the Southeast Asia region, has not been as significant as it could have been anticipated. The data in the research indicate that women accounted for only 7% of employers in the economically active population of Malaysia. Noticeably, it is quite unfortunate that the figure rose to only 8.5% six years later in 1990, and that is due to the fact that men still comprised the vast majority in employer status. However, Teoh (2007) believes that with all the constraints and slow progress there is a glimpse of hope since for the past ten years the government has put more emphasis on the creation and support for newly established SMEs who are struggling to grow their business. This is due to the fact that the government has well realized that the economy is best improved by supporting small businesses, and there are many women entrepreneurs who have the ideas, resources and recruitment capabilities to bring such capital back into the economy, women entrepreneurship has recently become an important pool of resources for Malaysias economic growth and personal prosperity. p.4 In the case of Malaysia, it is quite interesting to notify the fact that women account for about half of the total population, and about 36.7 percent of Malaysias total workforce of 10.9 million, with a significantly increasing representation at the professional, as well as the managerial and technical levels. In another study carried out women have been participating quite vigorously in the economy and the establishment of SMEs in the country. According to Normah (2006), the participation of women in Malaysias small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 2003 was 1,122,000, or 36.8% of the total employment in SMEs which proves the fact that women, as much as men and even in some cases more enthusiastically, are becoming more and more involved in creation of jobs and helping the economy. Therefore, it might not be that stunning that the number of women entrepreneurs in Malaysia has increased so vigorously in the past thirty years due to the emphasis on industrialization by the state and the active governess, and growing interests in the private sector and the whole notion of privatization, self-employment and business-oriented employment that seems to be the key issue in h