Saturday, May 23, 2020

Energy Healing Essay examples - 10168 Words

For thousands of years, religions the world over have extolled the benefits of meditation and quiet contemplation. In Islam and Catholicism, Judaism and Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, and in religious practice from the Americas to Africa to Asia, the value of sitting quietly, using various techniques to cultivate stillness or focused attention of the mind, has been well recognized. The goals of religious meditation extend far beyond its potential physical health benefits and also extend beyond the scope of this book. Higher human function of body, mind, and spirit is explored in sacred literature throughout the world. An excellent summary of ancient and contemporary information on the subject can be found in Michael Murphys landmark book†¦show more content†¦Moreover, alpha waves, which indicate a state of relaxed alertness, are abundant during meditation, and rarely noted in the sleep state.1 Meditations Effects on Muscle Tension and Pain Numerous studies have shown a decrease in muscle tension during meditation. As Michael Murphy points out, this Ã’contributes to the bodyÕs lowered need for energy, the slowing of respiration, and the lowering of stress-related hormones in the blood.Ó In some studies, the decrease in muscle tension as a result of meditation even exceeded the impressive effects of biofeedback training. One interesting study measured the electrical patterns in muscles, and demonstrated that the lotus position (seated with legs fully crossed), a traditional posture for meditation, is the only position in which the bodyÕs muscles are as relaxed as they are when lying down.2 Meditation has also been shown to aid in the alleviation of pain. Extensive studies on chronic pain patients have been conducted by John Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., the founder and Director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Preventative and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn and his program were featured on the American public television (PBS) series Healing and the Mind, with Bill Moyers. Dr. Kabat-Zinns studies have demonstrated decreases in many kinds ofShow MoreRelatedWhy People Don t Heal And How They Can1124 Words   |  5 Pages8, 2017 Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can is a book I read with the career-focused intention of learning another, experienced stance on how to better treat others spiritually, mentally, and physically through different methods of holistic healing. However, shortly after I had begun reading, it had become apparent to me that the author, Dr. Caroline Myss, would be bringing more to the table than the average, new-age, â€Å"mind heals body heals spirit† broken record that seems to be repeatedly recycledRead MoreLife Is A Hard Journey1564 Words   |  7 Pagesexperience and deeper healing to those in need. People have attempted several different techniques, but nothing has given them the healing that they truly are desperate for. Life is a hard journey and at times people feel as they have climbed mountains only to be pushed off the other side. Getting up can be hard, but there are so many helpful resources to fit the many types of healing needs. In today’s society, d octors often prescribe handfuls of medication to help in the healing process, yet for someRead MoreThe Theory Of Somatic Psychology997 Words   |  4 Pagespatients, ‘pinched’, ‘kneaded’ and ‘stroked’ them (Freud, 1895), pressed their foreheads and chests (Masson, 1985), lay for hours on the floor with them (Dupont, 1995) and paid close attention to their complaints, aches and pains, tics and fidgets, energy cycles, and states of sexual arousal. Psychoanalytic theory and practice, while once began with radical potential, conformed to promote the ideologies of the dominant social order. It involved the leaving behind of a vision of human liberation inRead MoreTaking a Look at Pranic Healing 523 Words   |  2 Pages Introduction Pranic Healing was developed by Master Choa Kok Sui as a result of 20 yrs of research he developed as an advanced energy healing system that facilitates deep relaxation and vibrant health for both practitioners and recipients. It is based on the fundamental principles that the body is a self-repairing living entity that possesses the ability to heal itself and that the healing process is accelerated by increasing this life force that is readilyRead MoreAlbularyo Essay1485 Words   |  6 Pagesurbanization of most places. Though many do not believe in albularyos anymore, there are still just as many who believe that healings from an albularyo work. Contrary to popular belief, an albularyo, literally meaning herbalist, can be found not just in the provinces, but also in the cities. The techniques used by each albularyo may differ, but they all work if done correctly. The healings of an albularyo can be successful if both the albularyo and the patient have faith, the illness can be cur ed using herbsRead MoreA New Experience And Deeper Healing1409 Words   |  6 Pagesthat can provide a new experience and deeper healing. Perhaps you have attempted several different techniques, but nothing has given you the healing you’re truly desperate for. Life is a hard journey at times it feels you climb mountains to only be pushed off the other side. Getting up can be hard, but there are so many helpful resources to fit many types of healing needs. In today’s society, doctors will throw handfuls of medication to help in the healing process, and for some this attempt at numbingRead MoreHow I Heal After A Divorce Or Breakup?975 Words   |  4 Pages It might be frightening to let yourself experience all the pain that comes with a loss. Sometimes you believe that the emotions are too intense to bear or you might be stuck in despair permanently. Just know that grieving is vital to the whole healing process. The grief pain is exactly what you need to get over the failed relationship and to move on with your life. Even if your grief feelings are intense, they always fade with time. How to grieve after a divorce or breakup: Don’t resist your feelingsRead More A Study of the Healing Process from Slavery and Racism Essay2566 Words   |  11 Pagesmany just as Harriet Jacobs expressed â€Å"I once saw a slave girl dying after the birth of a child nearly white. In her agony she cried out, â€Å"O Lord, come and take me!† Her mistress stood by, and mocked at her like an incarnate friend (Jacobs 20).†The energy released from slavery is interminable and will always live on throughout African-Americans. Although, being practiced years before, slavery became well prominent in America in the 18th century. African-Americans were beaten, starved, and deprivedRead MoreThe Secret Of Relationship885 Words   |  4 Pagesphotograph nature’s beauty. I began to scan Shelly’s energy field for pictures, feelings, thoughts, creative beginnings or a direction to lead with right now. What revealed it’s self to me was unusual because it wasn’t from the present but in fact a previous lifetime. I saw that Shelly had had a lifetime as an indigenous man in Mexico. Interestingly, Shelly had been married to a Mexican man and was fluent in Spanish now. In looking at her on an energy level I felt that even though she appeared to beRead MoreThe Health And Wellness Of The Field Of Medicine815 Words   |  4 Pages How Sickness is Related to Energy Our bodies are surrounded by a field of electromagnetic energy. This energy has been called many things through the years, but it is most commonly known as an aura. 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Monday, May 18, 2020

Origins Of Servqual Model - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 15 Words: 4523 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? In chapter 1, an overview of the whole dissertation has been provided. It can be considered as a backbone of the dissertation with the clear objectives and purposes stated. As an illustration, the chapter has mentioned about the overview of Vietnam banking system as well as credit services in Vietnamese bank in general and BIDV in particular. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Origins Of Servqual Model" essay for you Create order Moreover, chapter 1 has also presented about the significance of this study, research scope, research purpose, the research questions, research hypotheses. Moving to chapter 2 of this dissertation, SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction and its theories and concepts will be discussed. Moreover, some literature reviews of critical factors determining customer satisfaction in different industries, customer satisfaction on variety of banking services and credit facilities in Vietnam as well as other countries will be mentioned. Lastly, the limitations of previous researches will be concluded. 2.2 SERVQUAL Model 2.2.1 Origins of SERVQUAL Model Managers in banking industry are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are customer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Given the financial and resources constrains under which banks must manage it is essential that customer satisfaction are properly met and measured and that from the customer satisfactions, any gaps in services quality are indentified. This information the assists a manager in identified cost à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" effective ways of closing services quality gaps and of prioritizing which gaps to focus on a critical decision given scare resources. SERVQUAL Model which is a popular model of quality research of services and the most common application in the marketing research as well as other industries such as hospitality and economy. It can be said that the origin of SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 based on expectation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" perception gap model. In 1985 work, Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry illustrated that consumers quality perceptions are influenced by a series of four distinct gaps occurring in organizations. These gaps on the service providers side, which can impede delivery of services that consumers perceive to be of high quality, are: Gap1: Difference between consumer expectations and management perceptions of consumer expectations. Gap2: Difference between management perceptions of consumer expectations and service quality specifications. Gap3: Difference between service quality specifications and the service actually delivered. Gap4: Difference between service delivery and what is communicated about the service to consumers. Gap5: Difference between service expectation and perceived service quality According to Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry (1985), perceived service quality is defined in the model as the difference between consumer expectations and perceptions, which in turn depends on the size and direction of the four gaps associated with the delivery of service quality on the marketers side. In addition, Brown and Bond (1995) stated that the conceptual of service quality also called the expectation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" perception gap model is one of the best received and most heuristically valuable contributions to the services literature. The model identifies the keys discrepancies or gaps relating to managerial perceptions of service quality, and tasks associated with service delivery to customers. The Gap 1, Gap 2, Gap 3 and Gap 4 are identified as functions of the way in which service is delivered, whereas Gap 5 pertains to the customer and as such is considered to be the true measure of service quality (Shahin A., 2006). 2.2.2 Dimensions of SERVQUAL Model As Shahin A.( 2006) concluded that one service quality measurement model that has been extensively applied is the SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al . (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al. , 1990). SERVQUAL as the most often used approach for measuring service quality has been to compare customers expectations before a service encounter and their perceptions of the actual service delivered (Gronroos, 1982; Lewis and Booms, 1983; Parasuraman et al., 1985). The SERVQUAL Model is derived from the study of Parasuraman, ZeithamI, and Berry in 1985 and originally 10 dimensions of service quality were reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/knowing the customer, tangibles. Later, ZeithamI, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988 tested the variables and reduced them to five factors including tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance (combining communication, credibility, security, competence and courtesy) and empathy (combining understanding and knowing the customer with accessibility (Saleh, F. and Ryan, C., 1991). Figure 2.1 SERVQUAL MODEL Reliability Responsiveness Customer satisfaction Services quality Tangibles Assurance Sympathy Ravichandran et al, 2010 Reliability Reliability shows the ability to provide services accurately, on time, and credibly (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). This requires consistency in the implementation of services and respects commitments as well as keeps promises to customers. Responsiveness This criterion measures the ability to solve the problem fast, deal with customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ complaint effectively and the willing to help customers as well as meet the customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ requirements (Parasuman, 1988). In other words, responsiveness is the feedback from banks to what customers want. Tangibles Tangibles are the images of the facilities, equipment, machines, attitude of staffs, materials, manuals, and information systems of the bank (Parasuman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). In others words, the tangibles refer to the effect of physical facility, equipment, personnel and communication materials on customer (Sureshchandar, Rajendran and Kamalanabhan, 2001). The atmosphere also called servicescapes influences directly both employees and customers in physiological, psychological, sociological, cognitive and emotional ways (Sureshchandar, 2001). Assurance This element creates credibility and trust for customers, which is considered through professional services, excellent technical knowledge, attitude courtesy, and good communication skills, so that customers can believe in the quality of firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s services. Sympathy Sympathy is the caring, consideration, and the best preparation for customers, so that they can feel as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“guestsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? of the firm and are always welcome at any times, anywhere. Human factors are the core of this success and the more caring the bank gives to customers, the more customer understanding increases. 2.2.3 Applications of SERVQUAL Model There is no doubt that a firm wants to survive in a competitive environment, they have to ensure about the quality of products and services they are supplying to the market. Some firms provide only services therefore the quality of services is an important issue for all of these firms. Competing goods firms such as department stores, supermarket may sell a wide range of products and quality of services is a primary means of competitive differentiation. Firms that supply only services like telecommunication companies, airlines etc. have a little to offer if their quality is not good (Berry, 1986). It can be said that SERVQUAL is multiple à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" item scale with good reliability and validity that help firms to have better understanding evaluation the services expectations and perception of customer and improve the services as well. Parasuraman et al. (1988) claimed that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“SERVQUAL provides a basic skeleton through its expectations/ perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a particular organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. SERVQUAL shows its best valuation when it is used to track service quality trends as well as in combination with other forms of service quality measurement. Moreover, SERVQUAL is used to evaluate the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s quality according to the five services dimensions by averaging the difference scores on items making up the dimensions (Parasuraman et al.,1985). Similarly, an overall measure of service quality in the form of an average score across all five dimensions. Determining the relative importance of the five dimensions affecting customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ overall quality perception is one potential application of SERVQUAL. Another application of SERVQUAL is used in categorizing a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s customers into several perceived quality segments on the basis of their individual SERVQUAL scores (Parasuraman et al.,1988). 2.3 Theories and concepts of SERVQUAL Model 2.3.1 Definition 2.3.1.1 Service quality Service quality is a concept that has aroused considerable interest and debate in the research literature because of the difficulties in both defining it and measuring it with no overall consensus emerging on either (Wisniewski, 2001). Besides, there are many different definitions of what is meant by service quality. The most common definition used to define service quality is the extent to which a service meets customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ needs or expectations (Lewis and Mitchell, 1990; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994; Asubonteng et al ., 1996; Wisniewski and Donnelly, 1996). Service quality can also be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and perceived service. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and the result is customer dissatisfaction (Parasuraman et al ., 1985; Lewis and Mitchell, 1990). 2.3.1.2 Customer Satisfaction There are several definitions of customer satisfactions that come from the different point of views of researchers on customer satisfaction. For example, in opinion of Oliver (1981) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Satisfaction is a psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations is coupled with the consumers prior feelings about the consumption experienceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. While Kotler (2000) defined satisfaction as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a personà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a productà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) said that satisfaction can be associated with feelings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement, and delight. While Hansemark and Albinsson (2004) stated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“satisfaction is an overall customer attitude towards a service provider, or an emotional reaction to the difference between what customer s anticipate and what they receive, regarding the fulfillment of some need, goal or desireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. 2.3.2 Service Quality Realizing the growing importance of services quality to compete on the service dimensions of the augmented product, several scholars have examined the problems of measuring and managing service quality (Baumann, Burton, Elliott and Kehr, 2007; Bitner, Booms and Tetreault, 1990; Boulding, Kalra, Staelin and Zeithaml, 1993; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006; Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993; Robledo, 2001). However, service quality is more difficult to measure than goods quality (Gronroos, 1982) due to the intangibility of services. For this reason, firms actually find it more difficult to understand how customers perceive services and evaluate service quality (Zeithaml, 1981). According to Lewis and Booms (1983) service quality is a measure of how well the service level delivered matches customer expectations. Delivering quality service means conforming to customer expectations on a consistent basis. Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) also shared the opinion with Lewis and Booms (1983) by the statement: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Service quality perceptions result from a comparison of consumer expectations with actual service performanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. To demonstrate the above statement, Parasuraman et al (1985, 1988) proposed the SERVQUAL scale for measuring the service quality. Cronin et al. (1992) summarized four different measurement models for service quality these are SERVQUAL, SERVPERF, Weighted SERVQUAL, and Weighted SEVPERF. However, SERVPERF was regarded as the best of four models. Furthermore, Martilla et al. (1977) conducted the Importance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Performance Analysis which was considered as another measurement for service quality. 2.3.3 Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is generally considered among the most important long term objectives of firms. The marketing concept suggests that a satisfied customer will be more likely to repurchase products or use the services again than those are dissatisfied (Al à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Wugayan et al., 2007). Al à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Wugayan et al, (2007) also concluded that it is generally accepted that satisfaction is a psychological state that results from consumer experiences after consumption. Additionally, the basic conceptualizations focus on either or both of two aspects: the customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ initial expectations in relation to product attributes and the customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ perceptions of the product performance in relation to these expectations. There are many different factors influencing customer satisfaction these are friendly employees, courteous employees, knowledgeable employees, helpful employees, accuracy of billing, billing timeliness, competitive pricing, service quality, good value, billing clarity and quick services (Hokanson, 1995). In order to gain the customer satisfaction, first of all firms have to understand and satisfy their customer needs and wants (La Barbera and Mazursky, 1983). According to Kotler (2000) customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ needs illustrate the felt deprivation of a customer. Meanwhile customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ wants refer to the form taken by human needs as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. Singh, H. (2006) indicated that customer satisfaction affect positively and directly to an organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s profitability. Hoyer and MacInnis (2001) claimed that satisfied customers form the foundation of any successful business as customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, brand loyalty, and positive word of mouth. To some extents, the consequences of a lack of customer satisfaction need to be taken into account. According to Hoyer and MacInnis (2001), dissatisfied consumers can decide to discontinue purchasing the good or service; complain to the company or to a third party and perhaps return the item, or engage in negative word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" mouth communication. From summarizing a numerous previous researches about satisfied customer and dissatisfied ones, La Barbera and Mazursky (1983) made a conclusion that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“satisfaction influences repurchase intentions whereas dissatisfaction has been seen as a primary reason for cus tomer defection or discontinuation of purchaseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Moreover, customer satisfaction affects positively and directly customer loyalty as well as customer retention. According to Sivadas and Baker-Prewitt (2000), there is an increasing recognition that the ultimate objective of customer satisfaction measurement should be customer loyalty. It can be denied that high customer satisfaction will result in increased loyalty for the firm and that customers will be less prone to overtures from competition (Fornell, 1992). Anton (1996) also shared his opinion with statement: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“satisfaction is positively associated with repurchase intentions, likelihood of recommending a product or service, loyalty and profitabilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Clearly, customer loyalty brings customer retention to repurchase or use the products and services the firms supply. In addition, long-term customer retention in competitive markets requires the business to go beyond mere basic satisfaction and to look for ways of establishing ties of loyalty that will help ward off competitor attack (Clare, 2001). 2.3.4 Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is often defined as the customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ post-purchase comparison between pre-purchase expectation and performance received (Oliver, 1980; Zeithaml et al., 1993). The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction has been discussed in numerous previous papers during the past decade. First of all, many researchers present that service quality has positive related relationship with customer satisfaction. In other words, service quality influence customer satisfaction and vice versa customer satisfaction influence quality (Jun and Cai, 2010). There is no doubt that in the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s today intensive competition, once a business wants to survive, they have to improve the service quality that helps them to achieve a different advantage over their rivalries. Service quality, therefore has become one of the critical factors for satisfying and retaining valued customers in every industries and banking is not an exception. Many scholars indicate that high service quality results in customer satisfaction and loyalty with the product or service. A satisfied customer will have the willingness to recommend someone else, reduction in complaints and the bank can achieve the customer retention. Furthermore, a satisfied customer is likely to be a loyal customer who will give repeating business to the firm (Heskett et al., 1997). More importantly, according to Bedi (2010), the cost of retaining existing customer by improving the quality of product and services is perceived to be significantly lower than the cost of achieving the new customers. On the other hand, when regarding the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in some industries as banking, some scholars point out that service quality is not related to customer satisfaction under certain circumstances. For example, through numerous studies, Parasuraman et al. (1985) indicated that even though customers were satisfied with a particular service, they did not think that it was of high quality. Another scholar also agrees with this idea, Storbacka et al. (1994, pp. 24) stated that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A customer could, therefore, respond on a questionnaire that a particular bank is of high quality, even if this did not mean this customer was satisfied with using the bank. Its interest rates on loans may be too high or it might not fit the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s preferences for some other reasonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. 2.4 Previous research 2.4.1 Critical summaries of previous research a. Title: Lending Policies of Informal, Formal and Semiformal Lenders à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Evidence from Vietnam Authors: Thi Thu Tra Pham and Robert Lensink (2007) Country: Vietnam Data collection: the data used in this study are from a household survey on living standard in Vietnam that conducted by Vietnamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s General Statistical Office in 1998 with the sample of 6,002 households. Summary: This paper aims to compare lending policies of formal, informal and semiformal lenders towards household lending in Vietnam. The study points out that the probability of using formal or semi formal credit increase when borrowers provide collateral, a guarantor and/or borrow for business-related activities. The probability of using informal credit increases for female borrowers. Formal loan contract terms such as loan interest rate and form of loan repayment affect strongly default risk of formal credit. While internal characteristics of the borrowing household influent much on default risk of informal credit. Lastly, this paper aims to explore how different types of lenders try to avoid adverse selection as well as moral hazard by screening, monitoring and enforcement instruments. b. Title: Formal and Informal Rural Credit in Four Provinces of Vietnam Authors: Mikkel Barslund and Finn Tarp (2008) Country: Vietnam Data collection: A survey of 932 rural households (in four provinces of Long An, Quang Nam, Ha Tay and Phu Tho) in combination with information from the 2002 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. Summary: This paper aims to indicate how the rural credit market operates in Vietnam. Households can obtain the credit provided by both formal and informal lenders. Normally, formal loans are used for production and asset accumulation, whereas informal loans are supplied for consumption smoothening. The determinants of formal and informal credit demand are extremely different. While credit rationing depends on education and credit history, in particular, regional differences in the demand for credit are striking. The study indicates that credit policy in Vietnam only has one size fits all approach would be inappropriate. c. Title: Research on Customer Satisfaction: Take the Loan Market of the Taiwanese Region as An Example. Authors: Chih-Chung Chen, Su-Chao Chang (2006) Country: Taiwan Data collection: In this study, 650 questionnaires were distributed of which 413 valid questionnaires returned. Moreover, this research also conducted interviews five native branch office managers. Summary: This study aims to examine the feasibility of employing customer satisfaction model in the loan departments of banks. The research presents that once customer expectations are significantly as well as positively related to the bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance, customer satisfaction and loyalty will be high and the complaints will be few as the result. d. Title: Credit and Non à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Interest Rate Determinants of Loan Demand: a Spanish Case Study Authors: Manrique, J. and Ojah, K. (2004) Country: Spain Data collection: This survey contains data for 21,155 Spanish households. 430 observations were excluded due to missing and/or inconsistent information, leaving a final sample of 20,725 observations. Summary: This research aims to investigate the potential relationship between the condition of being credit à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" unconstrained and holdings loans as well as the determinants for a household being credit à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" unconstrained, consumer loans and real à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" estate loans. Spanish householdsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ desire and capacity to hold loans depends on the family size, education, permanent and transitory incomes. Lastly, this research provides deeply insights that attract credit consumers, credit suppliers, and policy makers in Spain. e. Title: Consumer Credit and Money Policy in Malaysia Authors: Kassim, Salina Hj and Manap, Turkhan Ali Abul (2008) Country: Malaysia Data collection: The study uses monthly data from January 1998 until March 2006. Data such as interest rates and bank loans come from Bank Negara Malaysiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Monthly Statistical Bulletin. Data on the economic conditions such as the CPI and the IPI are gathered from the respective publications of the Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Summary: The study aims to find out the consequences of interest rate on consumer credit in Malaysia based on empirical investigation. The authors categorized aggregate consumer loans into specific types including loans for purchase of residential property, loans for credit cards, loans for personal needs, loans for purchase of securities and so on, so forth. Through categorizing types of loans, the paper aims to present the relative sensitivity of each loan to interest rate shocks. f. Title: Credit demand of Rural Enterprise and Loan Supply in China Authors: Du Zhixiong (2004) Country: China Data collection: The two databases were collected during two fields of rural enterprises, undertaken in 2000 and 2001 in different provinces, namely, Jiangsu province in coastal China, and Anhui province in the central part of China. Summary: This study aims to supply the information about the real situation of rural enterprises financing. Moreover, this paper also illustrates information on the banking systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s restructuring and the ways banks provide credit for rural enterprises to overcome the financing constraints. Undoubtedly, the article shows useful information on financing of rural enterprises based on using data from two surveys of rural enterprises. g. Title: Deteriorating Bank Health and Lending in Japan: Evidence from Unlisted Companies under Financial Distress Authors: Fukuda, Shin-Ichi, Kasuya, Munehisa, and Nakajima, Jouchi (2006) Country: Japan Data collection: The data are taken from Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) Database Service about 3644 Japanese unlisted firms. Summary: This study aims to investigate the impacts of banksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ weakened financial conditions on loans outstanding to medium size firms in Japan. The paper examines the determinants of lending to unlisted Japanese companies in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Moreover, the study indicates that the bank health, regulatory capital adequacy ratios and ratios of non-performing loans had opposite impacts on lending. In the case of regulatory capital adequacy ratios, its deterioration had a perverse impact on the bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s lending. h. Title: An Investigation of the Relationships among Consumer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Market Share in Kuwaiti loan services Authors: Al-Wugaya, A., Pleshko, L.P., and Baqer, S.M. (2007) Country: Kuwaiti Data collection: the paper used the survey of nearly 700 customers using Kuwaiti loan services. Summary: This research aims to investigate the relationship among customer satisfaction, loyalty, and market share of loan services in Kuwaiti. Based on the research result, the authors indicate that the relationship between customer satisfaction and market share is not supported in banking industry. However, customer loyalty is pointed out to be related to market shares. Moreover, customer loyalty is not derived from customer satisfaction but rather on other factors like price, special deals or bank à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" customer relationship. i. Title: Provisioning of Rural Credit: an Indian Perspective Authors: Mishra, S., Mohanty, A.R., and Choudhury, S. (2009) Country: India Data collection: the survey covering 90,000 rural households in 6,552 villages in India was conducted from January to December 2003 by the National Sample Survey Organization. Summary: The paper aims to analysis rural credit provisioning measures as well as the rural credit delivery scenario in India through different rural financial institution. The study indicates that rural credit delivery still has been suffered from low levels of access to credit by the farming community, declining share of agricultural loan as a share of the total credit uptake, inadequate coverage of small and marginal farmers and exclusion of tenant farmers and share croppers. j. Title: The Incidence of Loan Collateralization in Small Business Lending Contract: Evidence from the UK. Authors: Cowling, M. (1999) Country: the UK Data collection: the data were used as random samples of 272 small businesses from a survey conducted by Association of British Chambers of Commerce. Summary: The paper aims to investigate the relationship between small firms and banks focusing on the incidence of loan collateralization. The study indicates that age of the small firms and close relationship with the banks that helps to reduce the incidence of loan collateralization, which implies that relationship banking can bring tangible benefits to small businesses. 2.4.2 Limitations of previous research General speaking, everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is no doubt that previous research has provided readers comprehensive knowledge about sectors it mentioned especially in customer satisfaction as well as credit facilities provided in different countries in general and in Vietnam in particular. However, the previous papers also show their limitations as there were a few studies specializing in credit facilities provided by Vietnamese banks. Further the real situation of credit services in Vietnam including outstanding loans, loan structures well as the quality of credit facilities has not been comprehensively researched. Accordingly, the customer satisfaction on credit facilities was not paid much attention by previous scholars. Therefore it can be said that the previous studies do not provide adequate information about customer satisfaction on credit facilities in Vietnamese banks. 2.5 Criticism of SERVQUAL Model It can be denied that although SERVQUAL has grown popularly and widespread applied it still has been subjected to a number of theoretical and operational criticisms as below. Under theoretical aspects, first of all SERVQUAL is criticized due to its inappropriate base on an expectations disconfirmation model rather than an attitudinal model of service quality. Secondly, it does not build on extant knowledge in economics, statistics and psychology (Francis Buttle (1996). Cronin and Taylor (1992; 1994) said that SERVQUAL is paradigmatically flawed because of its ill-judged adoption of this disconfirmation model. Moreover, they stated that perceived quality is best conceptualized as an attitude. They criticized Parasuraman et al. for their hesitancy to define perceived service quality in attitudinal terms, even though Parasuraman et al. (1988) had earlier claimed that service quality was similar in many ways to an attitude. Another criticism has been proposed by Anderson (1992), he indicated that SERVQUAL fails to draw on previous social science research, particularly economic theory, statistics, and psychological theory. Parasuraman et al.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s work is highly inductive in that it moves from historically situated observation to general theory. Andersson (1992) reckoned that Parasuraman et al. renounces the principle of scientific continuity and deduction. For theoretical aspects, Francis Buttle (1996) also presented a related set of criticism of SERVQUAL including factors involved in Gaps model, process orientation and dimensionality. In Gaps model, there is little evidence shows that the customer assess quality in terms of Perception à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Expectation gaps. For process orientation: SERVQUAL has been criticized for concentrating on the process of service delivery rather than focusing on the outcomes of the service encounter such as technical dimensions (Kang and James, 2004). In other words, the SERVQUAL measurement does not adequately explain a technical attribute of service (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). Dimensionality: SERVQUALà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s five dimensions are not universals; the number of dimensions comprising service quality is contextualized; items do not always load on to the factors which one would a priori expect; and there is a positive inter correlation between the five RATER dimensions (Buttle ,1996). Under operational aspects, many scholars have argued that the components of SERVQUAL fail to fully evaluate customer perception on service quality in certain industries (Cronin Taylor, 1992; Finn and Lamb, 1991). Two attributes of service was proposed by Gronroos (1984) which have been identified as dimensions of service quality relied on the conceptualization of service quality as between expectation of service and perceived service. Rust and Oliver (1994) extended Grunionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ model by providing a three-component model explaining service quality through service product, service delivery and service environment. Whereas Brady and Cronin (2001) suggested three service quality dimensions including service outcome, consumer-employee interaction and service environment. It can be said that the conceptualization of service product/service outcome and service delivery/consumer employee interaction is consistent with the idea of technical attribute as well as functional att ribute derived from Gronroosà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ model. (Ravichandran K., et al, 2010). 2.5 Chapter Summary To conclude, first of all SERVQUAL Model measuring the customer satisfaction as well as its theories and concepts have been presented. After that this chapter has reviewed many academic previous researches about critical factors determining customer satisfaction in different industries, customer satisfaction on variety of banking services and credit facilities in Vietnam and other countries have been mentioned. However, these previous researches cannot illustrate perfectly all aspects related to this dissertation therefore the limitations of previous researches have been summarized.

Monday, May 11, 2020

Definition and Examples of English Morphology

Morphology is the branch of linguistics (and one of the major components of grammar) that studies word structures, especially regarding morphemes, which are the smallest units of language. They can be base words or components that form words, such as affixes. The adjective form is  morphological. Morphology Over Time Traditionally, a basic distinction has been made between morphology—which is primarily concerned with the internal structures of words—and syntax, which is primarily concerned with how words are put together in sentences. The term morphology has been taken over from biology where it is used to denote the study of the forms of plants and animals ... It was first used for linguistic purposes in 1859 by the German linguist August Schleicher (Salmon 2000), to refer to the study of the form of words, noted Geert E. Booij, in An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology. (3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2012) In recent decades, however, numerous linguists have challenged this distinction. See, for example, lexicogrammar and lexical-functional grammar (LFG), which consider the interrelationship—even interdependence—between words and grammar. Branches of and Approaches to Morphology The two branches of morphology include the study of the breaking apart (the analytic side) and the reassembling (the synthetic side) of words; to wit, inflectional morphology concerns the breaking apart of words into their parts, such as how suffixes make different verb forms. ​Lexical word formation, in contrast, concerns the construction of new base words, especially complex ones that come from multiple morphemes. Lexical word formation is also called lexical morphology and derivational morphology. Author David Crystal gives these examples: For English, [morphology] means devising ways of describing the properties of such disparate items as a, horse, took, indescribable, washing machine, and antidisestablishmentarianism. A widely recognized approach divides the field into two domains: lexical or derivational morphology studies the way in which new items of vocabulary can be built up out of combinations of elements (as in the case of in-describ-able); inflectional morphology studies the ways words vary in their form in order to express a grammatical contrast (as in the case of horses, where the ending marks plurality). (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003) And authors Mark Aronoff and Kirsten Fuderman also discuss and give examples of the two approaches this way: The analytic approach has to do with breaking words  down, and it is usually associated with American structuralist linguistics of the first  half of the twentieth century....No matter what language were looking at,  we need analytic methods that are independent of the structures we are examining; preconceived notions might interfere with an objective, scientific analysis. This is especially true when dealing with unfamiliar languages.The second approach to morphology is more often associated with theory than with methodology, perhaps unfairly. This is the synthetic approach. It basically says, I have a lot of little pieces here. How do I put them together? This question presupposes that you already know what the pieces are. Analysis must in some way precede synthesis. (Mark Aronoff and Kirsten Fudeman, What Is Morphology? 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011)

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Week 3 Case Study 2 Submission Essays - 1251 Words

Week 3 Case Study 2 Submission Asa J Opie Sec 310 Professor Nerove Strayer 7-20-2014 Week 3 Case Study 2 Submission A critical infrastructure is defined as any facility, system, or function which provides the foundation for national security, governance, economic vitality, reputation, and way of life. (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/NIPP_InfoSharing.pdf)In short, critical infrastructure is by definition essential for the survival of the nation. The USA PATRIOT Act specifically defines critical infrastructure as systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, (Jena Baker McNeill and Richard Weitz, 2010) so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating†¦show more content†¦First of all, one could base the concept in notions about the value of human life. This asset value approach is usually taken when the idea of continuity is considered. The way its usually put is by saying that the continuity, or continued operation, of a critical infrastructure is essential for the maintenance of human life and/or the maintenance of some standard of living that people have become accustomed to. The continuity of critical infrastructure is essential to avoid panic and hysteria during the impact of a disaster. Every day, a persons life is shaped or affected in some way by one or more critical infrastructures. Life, as we know it, is not possible without critical infrastructures, and they are all connected together in a system of systems where failure in one can cascade into a failure of all. This line of thinking is not only important to authorities who want to make sure that life stays worth living, but it is also the hope and dream of terrorists to find that one small chunk in the armor which makes the whole house come down. 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Healthcare Current regulatory policy Free Essays

The Current regulatory policy touching on the healthcare professionals is grounded on the believe that the marketplace of these professionals services fails because of the lack of full information concerning the healthcare services on the part of the consumers of these services (Haas-Wilson, 2010). That way a number of professionals in this field can offer low quality services at prices that are not commensurate to the quality of the services to gullible consumers without the fear of being told to account for these compromised services that even flout professional ethics of the healthcare profession (Haas-Wilson, 2010). Healthcare professional are always very quick to defend the existence of these regulations arguing that they ensure that healthcare professionals are offering high quality healthcare services to each and every client of these services irrespective of whether they are informed of their right to quality healthcare services or not (Drake, 2008). We will write a custom essay sample on Healthcare Current regulatory policy or any similar topic only for you Order Now Whether they ensure quality service to clients the way healthcare professionals argues is still a subject of intense debate. However, it is not in contention that by dictating the minimum qualification and experience that a healthcare professional should have in order to practices, there a big number of quacks who are restrain from infiltrating the lucrative healthcare market (Drake, 2008). The regulatory agencies that have been mandated to pass rules and regulations that will be used to govern the practice of the healthcare professional is also another major step at protecting the clients of these services and ensuring that they get only the best and most appropriate services. The restriction especially on advertising on the other hand which also makes up these regulations also go along way in enabling that the clients of these services make informed decision free from any influence when looking for the healthcare services. Reasons for the existence of mal-distribution of physicians in spite the high number of physicians graduating from medical school The problem of mal-distribution of the healthcares professional is not a new phenomenon in the United States especially in the rural areas (Rapaport, 1980). This has continued despite the government intervention and even the high number of medical graduates graduating from our universities and other institutions of higher learning offering medical disciplines. Healthcare professional in this case refers to the likes of nurses, nurse practitioners, physician, and physician assistants. One of the reasons for this state of affair is due to the fact a large number of healthcare practitioners prefers to locate their medical facilities in the metropolitan areas because of their high population (Sign, Shi, 2009). Another factor that is aggravating the already worse situation is the fact that many medical practitioners are leaving graduate school as specialists like retina specialist thereby making their application in the rural areas untenable (Sign, Shi, 2009). Effects of this distribution in the context of diverse special populations There are a number of problems that are associated with this mal-distribution in the United States, some of these concerns that are associated with this kind of lopsided distribution include cost, access and finally quality. With scanty availability of healthcare services in most rural areas the question of high cost begin to haunt the consumers of this services. The few who are practicing in these rural areas can increase costs of these services without improving on quality of the same (Sign, Shi, 2009). The same applies to the quality of the services which happens because of few practitioners, lack of enough information and inadequate regulation (Rapaport, 1980). Finally, the access of these services also becomes a problem to the dweller of these areas primarily because of the high healthcare practitioner to patient’ ratio (Rapaport, 1980). References Haas-Wilson, Deborah, (2010). The Regulation of Health Care Professionals Other Than Physician. Retrieved 25 July 2010 from http://www. cato. org/pubs/regulation/regv15n4/reg15n4d. html Drake, M. Dawn, (2008). Examining the Issue of Mal-Distribution of Physician through GIS: A Case Study of Retina Specialists in the United States. Retrieved 25 July 2010 from http://www. urisa. org/files/DDrake. pdf Sign, A. Douglas Shi, Leiyu, (2009). Delivering Healthcare in American: A System Approach. Sudbury: Jones Bartlett learning. Rapaport, Eliot, (1980). Current Controversy in Cardiovascular Disease. Los Angeles: Saunders. How to cite Healthcare Current regulatory policy, Papers

Mis on Travel Agency free essay sample

Involved in the line of providing superb tour packages, we have 20 years of experience acting as very best travel agents and tour operator. Their main mission is to achieve a concrete success in the Industry and build the Brand Image of the company beyond heights. They are continuously trying to achieve the goal of being one among the Fortune companies and provide the maximum customer satisfaction. We are moving ahead with our excellent services of North India Tour package, South India Tour package, India golden triangle tour that are capable of changing the trends of the life styles. Objective of the Project: The aim of this project is to study the daily business operations of a tour and travels business/ operator, examine their existing information system in detail and suggest changes/ improvements in their existing Management Information system. As part of this assignment, we chose to study the system prevailing in Kirty Tours and Travels, Nasik. Kirty tours is a fairly big tours and travels operator having 4 branches in Nasik city and provides services like bus, rail and air ticket booking, package holiday and tours and pilgrimage bookings. In this endeavour we would like to make the business ore responsive and flexible by proposing a new MIS system which can serve the overall information needs of the business. Our proposed MIS system will tightly integrate financial, booking and customer management systems. Our MIS system integrates all phases of travel management submitting initial requests, planning, online booking, and submitting and settling travel expenses. The application includes a tailored user interface for all roles involved in processes used by travel agent. The new travel Management MIS provides an end-to-end solution for managing business of a travel agent. The solution provides features and functions that allow them to Travel planning and online booking This system enables travel agent to book flights, hotels, cars, and country-specific rail options, as well as look up related information. In addition, the application fully supports communication with customer, making interactions more efficient. Travel management reporting Travel management MIS system supports decision-making and facilitates the development and implementation of new travel management strategies. Travel Management system optimizes the entire trip life cycle, from travel requests nd approvals through planning and reservations, travel bills management, policy compliance, and analytics. These are a few reasons why the management of Kirty tours and travels should look for new / proposed MIS system: End-to-end solution -Travel Management system requires no development or additional interfaces. Integration with Finance The application is completely integrated with the financials. Reduced indirect costs We can dramatically reduce indirect costs by automating your processes and workflow. Improved compliance The proposed MIS system ensures improved compliance with travel agencys policy nd negotiated travel contracts. Booking consolidation The new MIS provides a reliable analysis of travel information and costs through synchronization with reservation systems. Improved cash flow Efficient accounting cycles and up-to-date cost information result in better cash flow. O DFD OF EXISTING SYSTEM STUDY OF EXISTING SYSTEM The existing system at Kirty tours and travels is mostly based on manual operations. The daily operations of Kirty tours can be described as follows: 1 . Customers normally approach Kirty tours and travels booking office in person or over phone to book his travel needs/ requirements. . Tie-ups with prominent travel booking websites enables Kirty tours to search for the most suitable travel packages to the customer. This search is done by one of the personnels of Kirty tours online using a desktop terminal. 3. Some of the travel management companies with which Kirty has tie-ups with are 0 Beam http://travel. beam. co. in/ 0 Suvidha http:// suvidhatravels. in/ 0 Cleartrip http://www. cleartrip. com/ 0 Make My Trip http:// www. makemytrip. com/ 0 Yatra http://www. yatra. om/ 4. Commission to Kirty tours from these travel management organisations is based on number of bookings done rom their respective websites. 5. Once the booking is done from a website, billing/ invoicing takes place, again manually and the ticket is handed over to the customer. keeping work is currently happening at the Mumbai Naka branch of Kirty tours. 7. Kirty tours have 4 branches in Nasik and employs on an average 3 employees in each branch to service the customers. As evident from the existing system description, there is no linkage between the Finance team and people working in the branches who book customer orders. The functional departments are working in isolation and hence there is no linkage between the different functional teams. There is no MIS system that is currently being used in the business enterprise. Only personal computers are used by the employees booking the customer orders to find/ search for a travel package. As the current work process is completely dependent on online travel management portals, the daily operations are very arbitrary and random. Also the end of month commission owed by various online travel management companies to Kirty tours can be known only online in their respective portals. Thus the business has a high degree of dependency on these online portals. There is also a need to ntegrate all the four branches and the finance team for better communication and functioning of the business. Hence, there is enough scope for the business to improve their operations and make it more efficient by having an MIS system. As per the new information system, Kirty tours and travels instead of working with travel management companies like Make My Trip, miatra, Cleartrip, now will ave direct tie-ups with prominent domestic airlines such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher airlines, Spice Jet, Indigo, Indian and Go Air etc. For this to happen, Kirty tours has to enter into an agreement with these airline companies and can become a direct franchisee (Authorised tour operator) of these airline companies. Thus Kirty tours will now be directly working under the airlines instead of working under 3rd party travel management companies. Some of the main advantages of this direct alliance are: 0 Greater degree of transparency and flexibility in terms of ticket ooking and confirmation: Kirty tours having entered into an agreement will have greater privileges now and can offer Credit Periods to customers. Kirty tours will have quotas booked for each flight and thus will have greater visibility of flight seat status and likes. Hence, it will be highly unlikely that for a given flight, the customer will return without having booked a ticket; therefore this leads to greater customer satisfaction. Being a direct franchisee of airlines, Kirty tours will now get their total payment or commission as per their bookings and this information can be directly btained real time from the airlines application. 0 A high performance MIS system will now interact with applications of prominent airways and hence service time also reduces drastically. Thus effectively the new/ proposed MIS system will directly operations of the business i s expected to become more responsive, smooth and efficient. On similar lines, the application will interact with the IRCTC website of Indian railways to cater to customers who wish to undertake train Journeys. However for bus Journeys and travel bookings, the proposed MIS application still has to work with interfaces like Neeta Tours, RedBus. n etc. The daily operations using the new MIS system can be expected to be as given below. 1. Initially the customer approaches KIRTY TRAVELS for their customer needs. Inputs like travel mode/ stay options/ travel date are collected from the customer. 2. Kirty tours will now use their online MIS application (Instead of using the 3rd party travel management websites) and directly connect to airlines/ railways/ bus ticket booking application online. Based on the given inputs, different travel options are suggested to the customer. Upon the consent of the customer a provisional booking is made. . The customer must confirm the booking (provisional) within 3 days by sending a deposit of 10% of the total cost. On the receipt of the deposit, the reservation module sends the details from the provisional booking file to the confirmed booking file. 4. Four weeks before the departure is due, the accounts module sends an automated generated invoice to the customer for the remaining dues. 5. Once the full payment is received, accounts module sends an acknowledgement that no dues are left to the customer service module which then delivers the confirmed tickets to the customer. 6. The entire proposed MIS system will run as an online real time MIS application. Investments in terms of software application, hardware services and work stations are needed. 7. In order to achieve a higher degree of flexibility and ease of operation, the proposed application can be integrated with the currently existing auditing tool that is tally for easy auditing. 8. Also since every customer transaction is saved in the database of the proposed system. So Kirty tours and travels will now be informed to a much greater extent about the details of their travel bookings and have passenger details. This important customer data can be analysed at a later stage to make some important business decisions. Some of the drawbacks of the existing system that can be completely eliminated with the introduction of MIS system at Kirty tours are: 0 Faster processing of customer requests or orders, thus leading to higher levels of customer service. The customer satisfaction levels are surely going to increase. Enhanced reputation and thus increase in customer loyalty. Earlier because of interfaces, order processing was tedious and time consuming. 0 Having an accounts module inbuilt in the MIS system and integration with Accounts department system Tally system) will make the financial processing and audit process for the business at the end of the year easy and convenient. All the payments from the airways will directly be credited to the bank account of Kirty tours and also the proposed system will have visibility over the money transactions. Hence greater degree of financial control is being offered. 0 Integration also among the branches of Kirty tours will give them greater visibility over the business operations of their branches; which was earlier not possible because of stand-alone operations of all branches. 0 Also lesser orkload on employees because of the automated MIS system and hence greater levels of employee satisfaction. The equipments that need to be procured/ purchased and installed for the new MIS system are: 1 . Network Servers: A high performance server from either IBM or Dell is required on which the proposed online application will run. This server should also run a fast and efficient database such as SQL Server or Oracle DB. 2. The storage capacity of the database is decided to be 3 Terabytes considering the magnitude of operations of Kirty tours. Out of this capacity 1 TB is used for operational purposes, hile 2 Terabyte is used for back-ups and archiving. 3. An efficient firewall with antivirus is very essential for smooth operations of the online MIS system and protection against malicious software threats and attacks. 4. Data-cards and LAN wires for interconnectivity is necessary for interconnection of system/ workstations in the LAN. . Apart from the above mentioned hardware requirements, an online tool for managing the entire daily operations is also necessary. This will be the online software application for provisional order booking, order confirmation, order ancellation, rescheduling, ticketing and billing/ invoicing. O TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY Feasibility study is carried out t decide whether the proposed system is feasible for the company. The feasibility study is to serve as a decision document and it must answer three key questions: 1. Is there a new and better way to do the Job that will benefit the user? 2. What are the cost and the savings of the alternative(s)? 3. What is recommended? Technical feasibility: Technical feasibility centres on the existing computer system i. e. Hardware, Software etc. Kirty tours and travels require SQLI Oracle database management that are all easily available with extensive development support through manuals and blogs. The requirements of the system for Kirty tours and travels are also quite standard and on par with what industry leaders (such as Cox and Kings, Thomas Cook, Sita tours and Travels) use. Network connection to inter-connect all the branches can be done through a common server. Thus the proposed application is technically feasible. Economic feasibility: Economical Feasibility is the most frequently used method for evaluating the effectiveness of a candidate system. More commonly known as Cost/ Benefit analysis, the procedure is to determine the benefits and savings that are expected from the candidate system and compare them with costs. If the benefits outweigh costs, then the decision is made to design and implement the system. The cost benefit analysis in qualitative and quantitative terms is done in the next section. Operation feasibility: A simple to use, user friendly system is being proposed for managing information in Kirty tours and travels. This system is definitely feasible in operational terms. PERT CHART Computing Platform 10 Begin 1 2 Installation 4 Testing 9 5 6 12 6 12 Prepare Site 3 10 35 Follow up 0 Node 0 Activity Measuring units in Weeks COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS The cost benefit analysis can be divided into 2 parts namely: Quantitative Analysis: We propose that after the introduction of MIS system in Kirty tours, business revenues are going to increase by 40% in value terms. The cost involved in setting up the MIS system is analysed below. 1. Cost incurred in setting up of the MIS 2. Cost involved in training the personals on usage of the system. 3. Cost involved in the annual or biennial maintenance of the proposed MIS system. Hardware components ike databases and databases that are used for data storage form a part of the proposed MIS system. These systems are to be maintained on a regular basis to avoid technical glitches. The system development team will thus have to gather every requirement or need of the system and should work on the design of the system. Here all the requirements will be in functional terms and this has to be converted into technical design documents for further usage. Design Specification Once the requirements for the system have been documented and are validated, software engineers design a software system to meet them. This phase is sometimes split into two sub-heads such as architectural or high level design and detailed design. The high level design deals with the overall module structure and origin rather than the details of the module. The high level design is defined by designing each module in detail known as detailed design. Separating the requirements analysis phase from the design phase is an instance of a fundamental what/how dichotomy. The general principle involves making a clear distinction between what the problem is and how to solve the problem. The purpose of the design phase is to specify the particular system, which will meet the stated requirements. The proposed system is an online MIS, design documents (both high level and low level designs) highlighting the Graphical user interfaces (GU), business logic, interfaces with other airline applications are to be designed first and should get validated from us or from Kirty tours and travels. After obtaining the consent of the client, coding and development is to be started. Coding Module Testing This is the phase, in which actual system development activities are taken up. Individual modules of the proposed system will be developed and will be tested in isolation for their functionality and logic. This phase known is known as Coding/ development and module testing phase. Integration System Testing This is the next phase in the traditional Waterfall Model. In this phase all the modules that have been developed before and tested are basically linked/ integrated together. The integrated module now forms an entire system in totality and will be tested for functionality, logic and robustness. The ystem will also be thoroughly checked for end-to-end data flow. Database entries and performance are also monitored and tested. Data-flow to Tally system will also be tested. User profiles and accounts are created and are checked for thoroughness. will be tested by the client or client team i. e. personnels of Kirty tours and travels or by us. The criteria for validation here will be Ensuring all our requirements and needs are correctly addressed in the system functionality. Ease of use/ user friendliness of the new system Performance of the system. Once the system is checked and tested for the above mentioned criteria, the system s ready for delivery and deployment. However if the client is not satisfied with the system, rework has to be done to modify the system as per clients needs. Delivery, Deployment Maintenance Once the system passes all the tests and its subsequent activities, only after that it is delivered to the customer. This phase is known as delivery stage. In our case, the system will have been tested by the client and client team for acceptance. We expect the system to be ready for deployment in this phase. In the deployment phase, the software code/ application is loaded/ deployed in the pplication server, centralised database is installed and all the branches of Kirty tours and travels will have to be interconnected through application network. The new application infrastructure is now ready for use. After the successful completion for the delivery stage the system enters into the maintenance phase. As a result of this any modifications made to the system after initial delivery is usually attributed to this particular phase. Unlike a conventional software system, this MIS system is fairly less complex and hence annual or biennial maintenance of database, server and network hardware components would suffice.

Friday, May 1, 2020

Censorship and the Redression of Societal Imbalances free essay sample

Art, culture, and policy: three factors that govern our lives day In, day out. Although the relationship between them may not always be apparent, they both reflect and progress one another. If one were to change, the others would have to adapt. Im Nick Thomson, owner of Atlantic Records, long time social commentator, and avid fan of music. As can be inferred from the works of Irish poet Seams Haney, art has the power to redress social imbalances. However, politically based censorship is a roadblock faced by any artist that wishes to do so.Whether It be race, religion, ideology, financial class, gender, age, and Just about any other demographic or otherwise exclusive label, if the barrier of unnecessary censorship is broken there is no limit to what art can achieve. Censorship has been around ever since organisms were able to communicate, stemming from the instinct of living creatures to avoid what is seemingly dangerous, unusual, or offensive in any manner. Modern censorship Is a little more refined than that, with a range of categories, and laws that vary from region to region.Weve built cultures around the value of self-censorship and the needless censorship of everything around us for our comfort. The category that is most detrimental to the redressing of social imbalances is political censorship, in which a governing body prevents the free expression of information or ideas that may not support their image, objectives, or power. This often means the prohibition of public broadcast, being stocked in retailers, and In extreme cases, the very possession of the art piece. While this seems Like something that would only exist In preemptively dictatorships, It Is very much present In modern democratic nations such as the U. S. , England, and Australia. Two artistic movements that have been able to work round political censorship are punk in sass England, and hardcore hip-hop in the U. S. In the late ass and early ass. The goal of the artists in both of these movements was to shock the public and the government into paying attention to the silenced, uncommon viewpoints of social outcasts and minority groups, as well as the struggles they faced. The punk movement can be typified by the song God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols and no, this was not a cover of the British national anthem. The lyrics of the song reflect the previously silenced anti-monarchist viewpoints held by a minority of the English at the time. They express the distrust, disappointment, and disapproval that the artists held for the Monarchy, even going as far to say that the Queen is as dangerous as a hydrogen bomb. In light of the explanation of political censorship provided earlier, It probably wont surprise you to know that this Is the most extensively banned song In the history of British radio.But through stores that were brave enough to stock the record, God Save the Queen quickly became one of the highest selling singles of the time having well and truly worked around the harsh censorship that was implemented on the song, a task that is not done by many, ND done well by even less. The groups influence can be seen in the approval rates of British citizens for the monarchy, having dropped from a majority In favor of the monarchy In the early ass, to a balanced 48% by 1997, and freely expressing Immediate censorship and abasement. Of the aforementioned hardcore hip-hop movement, N. W. A were by far the most famous, infamous, impacting and insightful group. With an acronyms name standing for Inning With Attitude, controversy for the group was inevitable. Their seminal 1988 album Straight Auto Compton was refused airplay on many stations, and even attracted investigations from the F. B. I. The album focused on exposing the police brutality of the time, the negative impacts of the illicit drug crack cocaine, the gang culture built around the drug, and the discrimination that black and Latino {Touts suffered at the hands of the authority. When questioned on the confronting content on the album, the groups producer, DRP. Deer is quoted to have said Were like news reporters. Were telling everybody exactly whats going on in the streets. Thats all it is. Due to the lack of conventional news coverage of these issues prior to the albums release, the middle and upper class knew little to nothing of what life in the hetero of California was really like. Since the late ass, studies show that discriminatory police brutality has dropped by as much as 70%, which has to be put down to the new found awareness that N.W. A gave to the people of America. While it may seem that these artists managed to break the barrier of censorship with ease, the truth is that it was a long and arduous process. There are many more artists that never get past political censorship, many messages that are never delivered, and many imbalances that are never redressed. All that needs to be done is the abolition of policies that support political censorship. But how do we stop this? How do we change a policy that is built around human culture, and continually reaffirmed by our own censoring thoughts and actions?The answer is simple. All we need to do is Change our thought processes. When something is strange or offensive, dont immediately hide it from view. Look a little deeper and take what you can from it, grow from it. Unlock your investigative potential, and we will see more instances of art redressing imbalances in all aspects of life. As we grow as individuals, the culture Nil reflect our growth. And in turn, policy will reflect the growing culture of investigation rather than needless, petty censorship.