Saturday, August 31, 2019

Dietary Supplements and Muscle Growth

Dietary supplements or food supplements are an important source of nutrition which do not usually form an essential part of our daily food intake. They can be rightly termed as life-sustaining elements, for they are almost indispensable for a balanced health regime. Dietary supplements can offer significant health benefits. Broadly the dietary supplements are products that contain fatty acids or amino acids, vitamins, botanical plants, minerals, herbs, and other herbal extracts or a combination of any of these ingredients. These food supplements come in the forms of powder, capsules, pills or liquid.Some of the dietary supplements which are considered to be extremely beneficial for muscle growth are Weight Gainers, Creatine, Vitamin E, Protein powders, Vitamin C, and essential fatty acids. Our main focus here will be Proteins and Creatines. Protein: Derived from the Greek work proteios, meaning first, Proteins are a group of organic compounds, forming an integral constituent of every living cell. The food which we consume contains proteins which are further broken down into amino acids by the digestive juices present in the stomach and intestine.The resulting amino acids can be reused by the body to maintain muscles, bones, body organs and blood. Forming an inherent component of skin, muscles, hair, ahrmones, cartilage, antibodies and enzymes, Proteins activate, regulate and defend the body chemistry. (Fillmore. 1999) Thus they serve as the essential life blood of a healthy structure and healthy system. The major kinds of proteins are Hemp seed, egg white, Soy protein, and Casein protein. Whey protein isolate is a catalytic protein to rev up the repair and growth of muscle tissues after an intense physical activity.Casey protein as compared to others of its kind is a slow acting protein which works best if taken while going to bed, supplying the body with an uninterrupted flow of amino acids for repair and during the sound sleep at night. (Driskell, 2000) Prote in Intake: The decisive factors for the ideal amount of protein intake are the total calorie consumption (particularly the consumption of sufficient fats and carbohydrates for energy), and the person’s fitness targets. The maximum amount of protein, processed for tissue building is approximately 0. 9 g protein per pound of body weight.  (Fillmore. 1999)No more protein can be stored in the body in anyway. The unprocessed or the remaining protein is either used for producing energy by converting to carbohydrates or stored as fat. Since protein-rich foods are more expensive as compared to carbohydrate-rich foods, eating lots of extra protein instead of adequate carbohydrates is not advisable. Side Effects: Just as excess of anything is not healthy; the same idea works in case of protein intake also. Excessive proteins can be detrimental to one’s health and physical performance in the following enumerated ways.†¢ Contrasting to the carbohydrates or fats, the breakdo wn of proteins into energy results in the production of nitrogen waste products, such as urea, ammonia, uric acid, etc. Excretion of these waste products by Kidneys is fundamental. Excessive production of urea can lead to exhausted and fatigued kidneys and they may start to fail. This is why some researchers advise that the protein consumption should be restricted to 1g/lb per day. (Driskell,2000) †¢ A lot of protein can lead to dehydration, for excessive water is required to excrete the excessive urea.†¢ Protein-rich food intake (especially from animal sources) paves the way to acid generation in the body. Consequently the bones start releasing calcium as a fender to the overmuch acid load. High calcium loss occurs, when finally both the acid and calcium get excreted in the urine. (Driskell,2000) †¢ Several animal proteins (such as whole fat milk, cheese, chicken with skin and red meat) are enriched with saturated fats, the absolute determinants of high blood cholest erol level as well as heart disease.Further more, many protein bars contain palm oil (another highly saturated ingredient) and hydrogenated vegetable oils (a source of Tran’s fat) which further increase the high cholesterol level and heart health risks. †¢ High protein intake may mean inadequate intake of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the only vital source of fuel during intensive anaerobic exercise (for e. g. weight training). Undue accumulation of protein is bound to deprive the muscles of all the carbohydrate, and thus the individual will not find himself capable of exhaustive training.Muscle growth will inevitably be affected. Creatine: Creatine is an organic acid, naturally present in the body, comprising of three amino acids: methionine, glycine and arginine, that is responsible for the provision of short energy bursts to muscle cells. Scientific studies have provided significant evidences that creatine tends to increase strength, energy and muscle mass. Even mo re, recent studies have shown that creatine accelerates brain function and beats down mental fatigue. Are Creatines Beneficial?Various researchers have found out enough supporting evidences for the beneficial functions of creatine, it carries out its function most effectively and that is to retain water in the muscles, so crucially needed for muscle growth. (Becque, 2000) When creatine phosphate is abundantly stored in the muscle, the muscle is likely to retain more water in its cells. The more hydrated a muscle is, the better will be the production of protein as well as its breakdown. The retention of water in the muscles is an indicator of its readiness for building new muscle. Hydrated muscle will even lead to enhanced level of Glycogen synthesis.Adequate protein synthesis along with effective training is bound to boost up muscle growth. However it should be remembered that increased muscle growth can only be attained by consuming creatine as well as working out. Side effects: â € ¢ Use of supplements may lessen the body’s own creatine synthesis; however has a reverse effect when its consumption is cut off. †¢ The personal experiences of some athletic trainers suggest that creatine users are often susceptible to muscle cramps, muscular spasms as well as pulled muscles. (possible reasons might be dehydration or over training)†¢ There is also a growing regarding kidney and liver damage as well as the risk of restraining body’s natural synthesis of protein. According to one case report, a healthy young man of around 20 years, developed severe nephritis (Kidney inflammation) after the consumption of 20 g of creatine every single day for four weeks. However the ideal recommended dosage of supplement is 20 g for 5 days, followed by the dosage of 3 g daily. People with inherited kidney disease, those with already existing kidney troubles and the other susceptible individuals (such as people with diabetes) should either curb or avoid creat ine supplements.  (Becque, 2000)Androstenedione: Androstenedione: also termed as â€Å"andro†, is a food supplement cited to pose substantial health risks, usually linked with steroids. Marketed mostly for athletes and body builders it has been advertised as an ultimate source to catalyze muscle growth and reduce fat. Among women users of this supplement, it increases the risk of breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Children as users of this supplement, suffer the risk of early puberty and premature stoppage of bone growth.In March 2004, 23 companies were requested by FDA to stop marketing and supplying androstenedione constituting dietary supplements. (U. S food and drug admin, 2004) Conclusion: Everyone has an inborn desire to look great and everyone wants an easy way out. As a matter of fact, there is no easy way out. There is no shortcut to achieve physical fitness, a sturdy and well proportioned body except salubrious nutrition and out-and-out hard work. Supplements w ork, but they cannot replace nutritious food and vigorous training. Eat well and work out, that’s the only way to attain your desired result.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Assessment of the Interactive Behavior Style

According to the DISC Platinum Rule Assessment, the â€Å"Interactive† behavior style defines people who are highly focused on other people. They love being around groups and they are fond of being involved in groups. They are generally extroverts and they do not like to be alone. They love working with other people. And they are very sociable. According to the assessment, people who are â€Å"interactive† get their motivation from being around other people. Their ultimate goal is to get other people’s recognition. They want to earn applause, acceptance, and complements.If recognition from other people is not present, they will ultimately lose their interest in whatever they are doing. Their drive to strive for their goals comes from other people. Most of the time, their ultimate goal is to earn to be appreciated. As for their decision making and their lifestyles, people categorized under the â€Å"interactive† behavior are very fast paced. They do not lik e routines. They are very spontaneous. Because of their liveliness, they usually want to do a lot of things all at the same time. Even if they are still involved with one activity, they jump to another task. That is why they often end up so disorganized.Aside from disliking everyday habitual activities, interactive people also don’t like facts. They do not like details. Instead, they generalize information. They base their conclusions on â€Å"guesstimates† than on highly objective and empirical data. That is why they often exaggerate. Interactive people also work well with others. Because they are sociable, they usually tend to attract the attention of others. They also have the ability to motivate others in order to work towards a common goal that they also pursue. They are perfect for those professions and careers that require excellent rapport with other people.They should be in the field of sales, entertainment, public relations, social welfare, and the like. Appl ication of Strengths and Weaknesses Just like what the assessment states, I am optimistic. I see life as an opportunity to do various activities. I am positive and cheerful. Everyday, my greatest accomplishment seems to stem from fulfilling one or two lively activities. Even if there is really nothing to do outside, I make it a point to go out and to look for something that I can occupy myself with. I love being around other people and that is probably why I value my friends so much.I also like going to parties and other social activities. I make it a point to form new friends despite the fact that I already have many acquaintances. Whenever I go to social gatherings, I make it a point to meet a new friend. I am one of those few people that you cannot alienate even if you expose me to groups of people that I do not know. I am also persuasive and very motivating. I can easily talk my friends into doing something I believe is terrific. In addition to that, I am very enthusiastic. I th ink it is a total waste of time to be lying around and doing nothing.I love engaging in various activities, even those which I am not very familiar with. I am passionate about living life to the fullest. However, because I do love engaging in many activities, I often become careless primarily because I am often preoccupied with so many things all at the same time. This is also probably the reason why I often end up being disorganized. My initially planned schedule for the day often gets tangled with the other activities that I usually want to slip in it. Analysis of the behavior assessment The analysis seems to be quite accurate in describing the prime motivators, strengths, and weaknesses of a person.The data yielded is very useful primarily because it was very thorough in describing the assessed person. It includes the possible conflicts associated with his set of strengths and weaknesses, as well as the possible steps that can be taken to solve such conflicts. The data provided i n the assessment can largely contribute to overall self-improvement. Understanding your tendencies and gaining insight on your personality can improve rapport and communication with other people. It can predict job performance and potential leadership skills (Kierstead, 1998). It can also be used in understanding the personalities of other people.In a personal case, it can help one concentrate on his strengths while altering his weaknesses. However, it should be noted that people should not confine their identities to the discussed test results (Carey,2004). Also, I have noticed that some characteristics of a particular behavior type often overlap some of the traits of the other types. Though the delineation between the types is often very obvious in the initial description, the question of exclusivity between the characteristics can be observed in the specific details of the subtypes of the behavior assessment.Also, although the results of the assessments are quite accurate, it sho uld be noted that people should not confine their self concept with the descriptions provided by behavioral evaluation, no matter how elaborate they are. Regardless of how complete and concise the assessment results are, people should realize that the results were based on a personality evaluation taken during a certain period of time at a certain moment in a person’s life. In simple terms, it is relatively an accurate assessment of someone’s here and now.It should be noted that people are rapidly evolving beings that can radically alter their behavior and personality over time, based on the set of experiences and challenges that come their way. A person with an interactive behavior type can transform into one who has a cautious or dominant behavior after having one of those life changing experiences or major life turn points. Basically, a technical generalization of the personalities of men should not be regarded as the sole indicator of how a person should be interpr eted.It should not be sued as a basis of what kind of people should one get along with. Confining your analysis of people into four types or sixteen subtypes can greatly promote stereotyping. As such, these should not be used as the sole basis of interaction with other people. In order to ascertain the adaptability and the efficiency of this behavior evaluation, such forms of assessments should be taken regularly in order to form comprehensive and accurate concepts of one’s self.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Antimitotic Prodrugs Advantages And Disadvantages

Antimitotic Prodrugs Advantages And Disadvantages Abstract The intricate prodrug therapy has made possible the synthesis and identification of novel drug discovery that have significant structural modifications or intermediate derivatives which may facilitated and enhanced therapeutic parameter during in vitro and in vivo studies. Along with improved target delivery of prodrugs provides the capability to not only overcome certain limitation of antimitotic drugs, but to increases the chances to undergo clinical phase trial studies to get in to action. Development of these new prodrugs as improved alternatives gone through from significant challenges; nevertheless these potential therapies also use to analysed and give suggestion about their further development by clinical studies. Introduction Cancer is diseases in which the body’s cells become abnormal and split without control. Cancer cells may show aggression nearby tissues. They may spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body. [1, 2, 3]. Now the days there are mainly three types of treatments are in use surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Among these, surgery and radiotherapy are to be employed for specific treating are and chemotherapy employed during the systemic treatment of metastases in local as well as regional cancer cells. Chemotherapeutic drugs can be divided in to alkylating agents, antimetabolites plant alkaloids (antimitotics), topoisomerase inhibitors, and other antitumor agents. All of these drugs affect the cell division or DNA synthesis and translation, and function in other ways. The proliferation rate is the play the key role in for the effects of these drugs thus; they are not much selective of tumours. Chemotherapy is treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells and make them less active. It is the treatment of disease by chemicals, especially by killing micro-organisms or cancerous cells. In popular usage, it refers to antineoplastic drugs used to treat cancer or the combination of these drugs into cytotoxic standardized treatment regimen. In its non-oncological use, the term may also refer to antibiotics, long time use of chemotherapy consequences natural cell deaths in the treatments of tumour [4]. Sometime these agents produce remission and re-growth which result in proliferation of cancer cells along with resistance of drugs. Although, intense researches have been conducted in the field of cancer, there are some pioneering ideas need to come in this field to decrease toxicities, physicochemical properties and therapeutic index [5]. The use of prodrug is generally established as a strategy to improve the physicochemical, biopharmaceutical or pharmacokinetic properties of pharmacologically potent agents, and thereby increase the develop ability and usefulness of a potential drug [6,7]. The aim of the prodrug establishment is to improve (i) physicochemical properties like solubility, chemical stability, taste and odour etc. (ii) selectivity; (iii) pharmacokinetic and pha rmacodynamic problems and (iv) therapeutic index. Thus; by these improvements, we can overcome the formulation’s challenges of the drugs [8, 9]. The most of the antimitotic prodrugs developed with conjugating prodrug molecules to low to high molecular weight molecules like sugars, enzymes, vitamins, antibodies, polymers and nanoparticals. These are the carriers which transport prodrug in to tumour and drug release with conjugating the drug to the carrier through a spacer that include particular point which make the specific targeting of the drug. These carriers are very complicated in the structure and demand very hard work to make carries linked prodrugs. Hetrogenecity, biodistribution, expression of multidrug resistance, interstitial pressure and amount of the drug reaching to the target site, are the problems which make the task more difficult. Along with that targeting properties will preserved or not with structural changes are major problems in the formulation of carrie r liked prodrug molecules.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

From market research to proposal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

From market research to proposal - Assignment Example The taxi business within the surroundings of Lessos is strong and growing. The population is cosmopolitan of approximately 400,000 people and the community is dynamic. The area has low unemployment rates partly because the economy is diversified. In addition Lessos has world renowned museum that attracts tourists and people to the region. The taxi will target both direct consumer business and commercial business. Consumer accounts are usually cub accounts and payable immediately. All taxis are dispatched to the customers’ place of business and their trademark will be cleanliness of the taxi and driver as well as their quick response to customers. Currently there are only two taxi cabs in Lessos area.Bekiro taxi is the largest one and could be considered potential competitor. This is mainly because they are skilful and experienced in handling large numbers of clients. In addition they have a fleet of 52 vehicles and have most of the prestigious accounts in town. The other taxi company manages to generate profits yet they have a small income base and driving outdated equipment in poor condition. Prices are fixed by the city using regulated meters. Increases are usually annual as a result meter errata is usually high in Lessos area. The only metered challenge that can pose as a problem is the metered waiting time which can be adjusted. Most taxi companies do not offer to take credit cards hence locking out potential customers. If this challenge is eradicated a wide range of people would consider taxi as a better substitute to bus services. Riverroad taxi will carry out its operations in a unique way. The concept will be drivers to own their own vehicles and operate in accordance to the company’s policies and procedures. This concept will allow the company to make savings by avoiding costs associated in operating a fleet of vehicles such as maintenance costs. The revenue from the taxi operations is based on one factor; operations fees.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Is the Sentence of Death Appropriate for Those Who do not Kill Essay

Is the Sentence of Death Appropriate for Those Who do not Kill - Essay Example An even bigger debate can be ignited on the issue of the death penalty concerning those that participate in what is considered a capital crime, but do not actually commit the crime themselves. In deciding this issue, and in respect to the Eighth Amendment prohibiting â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment†, the Supreme Court has adopted both a subjective and an objective approach, swinging back and forth between the one that serves objectively to the one that serves subjectively, and back again to the more objective method. In this paper, we examine both approaches, as well as personal opinions regarding them. Introduction The death penalty, as decided and imposed by the laws of the United States of America, has a long and illustrious history of being debated, enacted, struck down, and otherwise discussed. Though the United States is the only democracy in the Western Hemisphere that actually retains the use of the death penalty as a punishment to criminals, it demands certain crit eria and other factors are present before it comes into consideration or is used as a part of the criminal process (Scheb & Scheb II, 2011). Complicating the debates that surround the death penalty are those cases which question its use in punishing those that were not actually involved directly with the capital crimes committed, yet received the death penalty as a sentence; the same applies to those that were juveniles at the time they committed a capital crime and when the mental status of a suspect or defendant is challenged and/or proven to be of such a nature that he or she could not have understood the crime that they were committing. In the article â€Å"Executing Those Who Do Not Kill: A Categorical Approach to Proportional Sentencing†, by Joseph Trigilio and Tracy Casadio, we are asked to examine the historical and current policies of the United States Supreme Court in regards to those who are only accomplices in felony cases, cases in which they did not kill or inte nd to kill, with regards to the view on the sentence of capital punishment, especially given the criteria that the death penalty may be viewed as â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† as per the United States Constitution, Amendment VIII. Given the extent of the debate on the death penalty itself, even in light of recent legislation that has banned its use in cases concerning juveniles and those of diminished mental capacity it is not an exaggeration to say that the death penalty, while not taken lightly as a part of the criminal process, will never lose its status as a debated issue, even among the United States Supreme Court. Objective versus Subjective Approach The Supreme Court of the United States has succeeded in bouncing back and forth in differing methods of evaluation for capital punishment. There was a time that an objective approach was taken, such as in the cases of Enmund v. Florida 458 U.S. 782 (1982), 399 So.2d 1362 (Fla. 1981), 454 U.S. 939 (1981) and Coker v. G eorgia 433 U.S. 584, 97 S. Ct. 2861, 53 L. Ed. 2d 982 (1977). Though a two part analysis took into account the objective factors of current legislation at the time of the decision as well as a subjective analysis involving human dignity as it related to the use of capital punishment as a means of retribution and deterrence for crimes, the fact remained that cases were decided based on objective means (Trigilio & Casadio, 2011). This method was then applied to many cases, including Coker v. Georgia

Monday, August 26, 2019

Molecular Biology of the Cell Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Molecular Biology of the Cell - Assignment Example Be it the way the petals of a sunflower are arranged, or the way feathers are organized on a bird’s wings, patterns will be observed. Even at the microscopic level, biological order exists. Organs, for instance, are composed of a single type of tissues. Tissues, on the other hand, are composed of a single type of cells. An organism is not simply a random collection of individual cells (Gerhardt et al., 1994). Rather, it is a product of an ordered grouping of cells. Next, living things demonstrate the ability to reproduce. According to the Cell Theory, only life begets life (Alberts et al., 1994). Only dogs bear pups; only trees give off seedlings, and only bears deliver bear cubs. The third property is growth and development. Over time, multicellular organisms increase in size, as a result of the increase in the number of cells in its body. Among unicellular organisms, growth can be observed as an increase in the size of its population (Beveridge et al., 2007). Development can not be any simpler than the ones at the cellular level when DNA replicates and microtubules elongate during the course of mitosis. Fourth, living things respond to stimuli. A Mimosa pudica, for example, will close its leaves if you touch them. A sea squirt will release water from its siphons when disturbed. Organisms, whether sedentary or mobile, respond to their environment. Finally, all organisms utilize energy. A butterfly, for instance, obtains food in the form of nectar and transforms it into energy to power its activities. It might not be possible to capture or observe all of these properties within three days (e.g. giving birth) especially if the organism is sedentary. In such cases, taking a piece from the target sample for further examination might be helpful. If these organisms share a resemblance to living creatures on earth, their building blocks are similar to the morphology and properties of cells.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

COMPANY LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

COMPANY LAW - Essay Example And when this problem occurs, Black Books may find itself enmeshed in huge debts owing to corporate inactivity; (iii) loss of control on the company—this means that in the event of incurring huge debts due to poor performance, the lenders may request that the current management at Black Books be replaced by receivership or administration that are external and has little knowledge of how Black Books has been run (Mead and Sagar, 2006). The major problem associated with incurring huge debts or going insolvent is that it may destroy a company’s brand image that had been developed for years. And if this condition occurs or left to persist, it would be difficult for Black Books to regain the loyalty of its long- 2 time customers who may have begun to boycott the company’s books for another one (Omar, 2004). However, the main advantage of sourcing operating capital through loan or borrowing from lenders is that Black Books could claim tax relief on the interests payabl e to service the loan (Mead and Sagar, 2006). ... But using share capital appears safe for Black Books (if the company has chosen this method earlier on) because there would be no fear of going bankrupt owing to the restrictions on the utilization of Black Books’ assets placed under the lenders as collateral securities. Hence, Black Books can continue to operate and protect its brand image from being sullied due to insolvency and the take-over of the company’s administration by a new set of managers, who may lack adequate information about the true state of the company (Omar, 2004). 3 (ii) Black Books is expected to create debentures, which are the documents detailing the terms of borrowing capital loan from the lenders. Black Books has also indicated in the debentures some floating charges on some or all of its assets so as to fulfill the requirements stipulated by the lenders. However, some formalities must be strictly followed in order to draw up the appropriate debentures necessary for Black Books to get the loan. And each of the formalities has legal consequences as explained in the series of processes below: (a) Black Books approaches Lender to borrow ?500,000; the formality here is offering a legal mortgage of the company’s land as a security for the loan in favour of the Lender. This entails that the Lender has powers on the property—it could either restrict Black Books’ access to the land or sell it off when the company failed to pay the loan interests (Dakin et al., 2002). (b) Black Books wants to issue a first floating charge over the company's assets to the extent of ?100,000 in favour of the company's major trade creditor, Supplier, and include a "negative pledge" clause—the essence of a negative clause is to give the

Direct Approach and Communicative Language Teaching Research Proposal

Direct Approach and Communicative Language Teaching - Research Proposal Example The direct approach is therefore based on the theory that learning a second language shares practically the same concepts as learning the first language (Thanasoulas, 2011, par. 5). The basic framework, therefore, emphasizes the need for regular and frequent oral interaction, no translation, using the language with spontaneity, and as the minimal analytical application of grammatical rules and structures of syntax. As disclosed by Thanasoulas, â€Å"the principles of the Direct Method were as follows: (1) classroom instruction was conducted in the target language; (2) there was an inductive approach to grammar; (3) only everyday vocabulary was taught; and (4) concrete vocabulary was taught through pictures and objects, while abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas† (Thanasoulas, 2011). The direct approach is therefore based on the theory that learning a second language shares practically the same concepts as learning the first language (Thanasoulas, 2011, par. 5 ). The basic framework, therefore, emphasizes the need for regular and frequent oral interaction, no translation, using the language with spontaneity, and as the minimal analytical application of grammatical rules and structures of syntax. As disclosed by Thanasoulas, â€Å"the principles of the Direct Method were as follows: (1) classroom instruction was conducted in the target language; (2) there was an inductive approach to grammar; (3) only everyday vocabulary was taught; and (4) concrete vocabulary was taught through pictures and objects, while abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas† (Thanasoulas, 2011).c. How might they be useful for your context and why? The approach can, therefore, be applicable and used in one’s personal context through frequent instruction and use of the second language one intends to learn where focus could be highlighted on everyday conversational language. The instructors could show pictures and visual illustrations of conc rete words to assist in familiarization; and as indicated, to grasp abstract words, the instructor could use more familiar words to associate the meanings to new and abstract concepts.  Ã‚  d. What are their limitations? As revealed and as eminent, the limitations and difficulties of this approach is the amount of time needed to learn the second language given the classroom type and time frame. To effectively use this approach, one must not be pressured by time and also by budget or financial constraints. For example, if English as a Second Language is determined to be learned using the direct approach, living longer in the United States and conversing frequently with this language as practical application is most preferred.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Restaurant Management Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Restaurant Management - Outline Example This outline follows the analysis, that is done before opening of any sort of business enterprise in today’s environment. Though one might surmise that a food and drink related business like a restaurant would be readily accepted by the local and visiting clientele of any area of London, tastes and traditions differ and one has to account for the different wishes and requirements of various social groups. For example, the pricing of the items must be kept such that the customers can afford a meal now and then, with continuing attractions like foreign cuisine and local celebrations being the focus of attention for the new and existing customers. The success of any business venture is based on the mix of new and old customers returning to the restaurant again and again. At the same time, cooking, presentation and quality standards must be ensured. Conducting a feasibility study for developing a new business requires analysis of present and likely future market conditions. The lo cation and look of the restaurant, proximity to public shopping areas, internal ambience and quality of meals and service were analyzed in this outline, as well as a variety of good ideas to keep the customers interested, that are mentines as key factors of success. In conclusion, the researcher excretes the main means to an end, such as local culture, traditional delicacies, kids corner, free parking and good locale and outdoor eating habits of Cheltenham residents, which he is confident will make this venture a resounding success.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Persepolis and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring Essay

Persepolis and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring - Essay Example It is one of a kind movie, for it is rare that politico-historical subjects are treated in an animation format. This cinematic experiment has worked out well, as symbolism and abstract depictions are well suited to socio-political drama. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring is a masterpiece in its own right. This film treats such difficult subjects as nature v nurture, religion, meaning of life, human tendencies for sin, methods for salvation, etc. Broad and yet profound in its interpretative scope, the director conveys his musings mainly through visuals set amongst brilliant natural scenery. Dialogues playing second fiddle as a narrative device but are potent nevertheless. The two main characters of the two films are Marjane and the young monk respectively. The character and life story of the young monk holds a better universal appeal, as the director treats his life history via universal metaphors. In other words, the events, conditions and temptations that confront the young monk are representative of broader humanity. Religion is shown in a benign light in Spring, Summer...while it is shown as oppressive in Persepolis. Indeed, in the life of young Marjane, religion (at least those who claim to stand for it) is authoritative, repressive and cruel. In contrast, in Spring, Summer..., the young monk comes of age by committing mistakes that were discouraged by his religious code. Yet, his wise master was not prohibitive of those mistakes, although he was well cognizant of their implications. The wise and experienced master allows his ward to learn the realities of life by himself. The master is not indifferent to the wellbeing of his ward, but merely austere and understated in his guidance. For the master knows scriptures cannot substitute real life experience and that the young monk will have to eventually find his own way out of worldly temptations. Hence, the process of coming of age for the young monk is by learning to see his own shortcomings. The comp assion and warmth of the wise master was also instrumental in his growth. In contrast, in the case of Marjane, the process of coming of age is not through understanding her frailties. To the contrary, she is a regular girl with normal affections and inclinations reflecting various stages of growth. But the country in which she grows up – Iran – was going through radical political upheavals. She gets valuable guidance through elders in her family, most notably, her uncle and her grandmother. Her uncle fought the excesses of Shah’s regime and was persecuted for the same. Later, when he objected to the oppression of the Islamic regime, he was imprisoned and eventually executed. But he made a profound impression on the formative mind of young Marjane. His words of advice to her – â€Å"stay true to yourself, never compromise on your dignity† - would remain as a guiding beacon to Marjane whenever she is troubled by social and political circumstances. He r grandmother too reiterates the thoughts of her illustrious uncle and admonishes Marjane whenever she breaches those lofty standards. Marjane grows up, albeit with lots of hurdles en-route, by upholding her principles in light of strong authoritarian opposition. She doesn’t always win, as illustrated by her sad return to home from Vienna and her short-lived marriage. But, she is the stronger for it. This is evident in her last

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Persuasion Essay Example for Free

Persuasion Essay The criticism of His criticism In Jane Austens novel Persuasion. diction and subversive tone depict Austens disdain and disapproval towards the society. Sir Walter Elliot informs Anne and Mr. Shepherd about his irritation toward people who strive to rise above the society. He mentions how naval officer is a profession that transits man with obscure birth into undue distinction (Austen 14), and expresses his disgust towards the officers growing old in appearance sooner than any other man. Sir Walter declared, l was in company with two men Admiral Baldwin, the most deplorable looking personage you can imagine I never saw quite so wretched an example of what a seafaring life can do (Austen 14). Austen Implies the superficial nobllltles like Sir Walter Elliot who insist trivial matters such as appearance supplant other elements of a man. The diction includes deplorable and wretched, which illustrate Jane Austens perspective toward the members of upper class. She uses Sir Walters absurd contempt for the sailors to portray her contempt for the materialistic nobilities. hen Admiral Baldwin Is the example of a seafaring life can do, Austen portrays Sir Walter as one, too (Austen 14). She sets Sir Walter as the example of what an overindulged life can do to people; they do not understand the torment of toil and labor of the mind as they possess the authority and wealth (Austen 14). Therefore, Sir Walter Elliots negative diatribe on the navy conveys Intentions and feelings of Austen towards the peerage. As Sir Walter continues on his anecdote to denunciate the social workers whom do not adhere to what he values, he asserts, They are all nocked about, and exposed to every climate, and every weather, till they are not fit to be seem It Is a pity they are not knocked on the head once (Austen 14). Sir Walter who is on a highly acknowledged position would rather Judge an individual effortlessly through ones physical appearance than recognizing their true worth. Jane Austen has included irony to reveal her opinion to the Judgmental aristocrats; she gives pity to the society where the foolish upper class men obstinately relate peoples quality with ones appearance. While the workers were exposed to every climate and every weather, the prestigious aristocrats peacefully remained indoors with their luxurious benefits. Austen deprecates the society consisted of immoral nobilities; she believes the peerage Is a pity not knocked on the head once. She holds the opinion that the hollow nobility are not fit to be seen. In response to Sir Walters diatribe, Mrs. Clay begins off her return with a mild explanation of each profession and their loss of personableness on looks as they get devoted to the profession. It Is only the lot of those who are not obliged to follow any, who can live In a regular way o hold the blessings of health and a good appearance to the utmost: I know no other set of men but what lose something of their personableness when they cease to be quite young (Austen 15). Austen expresses her disagreement with Sir Walters shallow judgments through Mrs. Clays clarification on the relationship between toll and mans look In regard of natural effect of time. This strengthens Austens tone of disgust towards the wretched upper class; her attitude oward the members of the aristocracy is revealed through Mrs. Clays subtle to rise above their status by praising the nobility; Mrs. Clay attempts to place herself with the level of Sir Walter. Another ironic tone of Austen is depicted as Mrs. Clay mentions a life of living in a regular way. This is ironic due to a well known fact that the nobilities of high society live in an distinguished way compared to the people in middle classed society. Austen stresses on the essence of appearance for the peerage to signify her chastising tone of the society where pride and self-admiration re the prominent traits of the nobility. The prejudiced society where only the rank and superficial appearance signifies ones reputation and quality was well illustrated in the story of Persuasion to emphasize the insincerity of ignorant and shallow- minded aristocrats. Until the society today, people cannot escape illogical Judgments only based on the appearance or the social status of a person. Bibliography Austen, Jane. Persuasion. 2nd ed. Ed. Patricia Meyer Spacks. New York: W. W. W. Norton Company, New York, 2013. 14-15. Print.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Different Approaches In Child Psychotherapy Children And Young People Essay

Different Approaches In Child Psychotherapy Children And Young People Essay In this paper, after a summary of explanations of why child psychotherapy is important in 0 to 3 years of age group, some different psychotherapy approaches will be introduced. The paper will be focus on psychoanalytic / psychodynamic models; however, other approaches will be described. Every approach will be examined in theoretical and practical aspects. Introduction The very beginning years of human life attracts the attention of researchers in recent years. Especially in the period of 0-3 years of age, brain development is very fast and also the basis of the characteristic features is discarded. Through the psychotherapy practices with adult patients, the importance of early childhood times on mental health began to understand more. Today we know that early childhood experiences have power to affect rest of ones life in physical, emotional, cognitive or social areas (Movder, Rubinson Yasik, 2009). Therefore, in the early years of childhood, therapeutic interventions are quite valuable to minimize the risk factors of future problems. The main goal of this paper is to make a summary about different approaches in early childhood psychotherapies. Although there are hundreds of different therapy techniques in the literature, this paper will only focus on some of the technique which use in 0- to 3-year-old-children. Psychotherapy in 0- to 3-year-old-children: from past to present The therapeutic work with children had begun with the case of Little Hans who had been analyzed by Freud (1909). Hans was five years old when Freud started to treat him. On the other hand, a two and three-quarters-year-old patient Rita, was treated by Klein (1960). This was the first case study in 0 to 3 years of age group. At the beginning of the therapeutic work with children, it was known the effect of the psychoanalytic ideas. Later, child psychologists, who work with different schools, developed different approaches and different techniques. Some of them were non-directive and took the child to the center. Others were directive and focused on parent-child relationship. In this paper, I will focus to psychoanalytic / psychodynamic theory based approaches. And then, I will shortly mention some other approaches. Psychoanalytic Play Therapy This therapy approach is based on Freuds classic psychoanalytic thoughts. Anna Freud (1946 as cited in Astramovich, 1999) and Melanie Klein (1960) established the framework of this therapy technique. They stayed loyal to the some of the basic concepts of psychoanalysis such as unconscious materials and defense mechanisms. But still there were some differences between them. According to Klein (1960), children play purely symbolic games. In this regard, childs play is similar to free association in adults and must be analyzed and interpreted by the therapist. Klein stated that even little children have insight capacity; therefore she found it important to interpreting the child. In her view, interpreting the unconscious symbols and metaphors will help the child to understand his or her real feelings. So that the anxiety level of the child will decrease. She also mentioned about the transference process in children. When she began to treat her two and three-quarters-year-old patient Rita, she was going her home and playing with her toys in her room. But then, she thought that this process may not let the transference occur, and consequently she proposed to analyze child in consulting room, not in the childs house. (Klein, 1960) Anna Freud (1946) thought different from Klein in some matters. She brings two main objections to Kleins methodology. Firstly she mentioned about the issue of free association. According to Freud, childs play cannot think as a version of free association in adults. She believed that a childs play is not always symbolic; it could be a replaying of real events. She also thought different in transference process. In terms of her point of view, the childs interest to the therapist can be seen as an affectionate attachment rather than transference (Freud, 1946). According to Astramovich (1999) toys and childs play are tools to get unconscious material. The therapist tries to make the unconscious processes conscious, and to gains insight into the child. Therefore, the therapist should be empathic and encourage the child to develop a transference relationship. The main goal of this technique is to foster the awareness of wishes and conflicts; and help to children to improve tolerance to their own feelings. Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) CCPT was developed by Virginia Axline (1947) who was student of Carl Rogers. This approach based on Rogerian view. Axline gave place to some of the basic concepts of humanistic theory such as unconditional positive regard, genuineness and empathic understanding. Although Axline herself did not work with the 0 to 3 years of age group, CCPT is used for this period. In a study (Frick-Helms, 1997) 2.8 year old child was treated with this approach. According to Axline (1947) this is a child-led, nondirective approach. It has two main purposes: to help for change and to increase the self-determination of the child. There are no diagnostic interviews before the treatment. Past is past and the child will tell his or her story when the time comes. Therefore, CCPT therapist does not focus to interpreting the child. In play room, the child is free to do what he or she want. The therapist follows the child; accommodates childs steps and not try to lead to the child or not hurry up to solve the problems. The therapist must be vigilant and tender to the childs requirements. Acceptance and understanding of the child is crucial. When the child realizes that he or she accepted by the therapist, it increases the self confidence of the child. (Axline, 1947) CCPT also focuses the recognition of the childs real self. Moustakas (1959 as cited in Astramovich, 1999) mentioned that the lack of recognition of the real self shows negative effect on children and thus, children can not reveal their potentials. The therapists task is to help the child for realization his or her own real self. This process will bring emotional insight to the child. Jungian Analytic Play Therapy This approach is based on Carl Gustav Jungs theoretical view about human psychology. Jung (1954 as cited in Robson, 2010) believed that we all have two types of unconscious: personal and collective. And both of them have archetypes which contain ideas, images, voices and etc. In his point of view, the therapist should provide a reliable environment to the child for playing and revealing the unconscious material. Then the therapist interprets the play and that gives a chance to therapist to promote the child through a healing process (Robson, 2010). There is not enough information about the practice of this approach with 0 to 3 years of age group. However, I can mention about a kind of Jungian sandtray therapy technique called as sandplay therapy which is suitable for every age period. I will touch on this subject later in sandtray therapy chapter. Psychoanalytic Parent Infant Psychotherapy The foundations of this approach come from psychoanalytic theory. It is a version of psychoanalytic play therapy for 0 to 2 years of age period. Therefore, some changes are made. According to Baradon (2005) one of the changes is the position of parents in the therapy process. Unlike classical psychoanalytic view, parents have crucial position in this approach. The therapist tries to support parents to enable better relation with the infant, to enable emotional regulation of both themselves and their infants. Also this approach more focused on the infants to support their development. Positive attachment behaviors, babys coherent sense of self, potential developmental risks, separation and individuation process are worked with parents and infants together. (Baradon, 2005) Baradon also mentioned that, in this approach, the relationship between parents and their infants is seen as patient. The therapist tries to establish a laborsaving environment for the therapy and leans on the relationship. Transference and counter-transference processes; defense mechanisms and resistance are taken into consideration by the therapist. The therapist also procures guidance to parents about the care of the baby. Other important features of this method are assessment and observation of the infant. Psychoanalytic Parent Infant Psychotherapy may use in group settings. It also should be noted that each session is videotaping in this approach. (Baradon, 2005) Filial Therapy (FT) This approach was developed by Drs. Bernard and Louise Guerney in the late 1950s. According to Drewes (2009) FT is a kind of multi theoretical psychoeducational approach which exploits other approaches such as family therapy, play therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. In this technique, the therapist teaches and guides parents as they learn how to play their children. FT is suitable for children 2-12 years of age. It is also useful in group settings. Individual parent sessions generally continue between 15 to 20 one-hour sessions. And group sessions meet for two hours between 10 to 20 weeks. Drewes also mentioned that FT practice begins with an intake session. Then the therapist observes the family while they are playing together. This observation process takes about 20 minutes. Right after the observation, the therapist talks with parents about the play and tell them the FT method. Then the therapist plays with the child in a non-directive way in order to teach to parents how to play. Meanwhile, parents watch the therapist. Towards the end of the session the therapist and parents discuss about the childs play. The therapist listens to parents empathically and answers their questions (Drewes, 2009). When the training period starts, the therapist trains to parents about playing skills. Parents learn four basic skills: structuring the play, empathic listening, child-centered imaginary play and limit-setting skill. Later, the therapist acts like a child and parents play with the therapist. Parents are encouraged to show what they learn about the play. The therapist gives them feedbacks. After that, parents play with their own children with the supervision of the therapist. Finally, towards the end of the treatment, parents practice the play in the home settings. (Drewes, 2009). Theraplay (Attachment-Enhancing Play Therapy) Theraplay is a short-term therapy approach which is based on attachment theory (Booth Jernberg, 2010). It is appropriate to children from eighteen months to twelve years. The core aim of this approach is to improve a safe, compatible, playful relationship between a child and his or her parents. According to Booth Jernberg (2010) the treatment plan of theraplay practice is generally for eighteen to twenty-four sessions. Every treatment plan includes; assessment, treatment and checkup phases. In assessment phase, the childs behaviors and the parents attitudes are assessed by the therapist. In the first treatment phase there can be one or two therapists. If there are two therapists, while one of the therapists is playing with the child; the other one, the interpreting therapist, works with parents. In the beginning of the treatment parents do not join to play sessions. They watch their child from two-way viewing mirror with the interpreting therapist or they watch from videotape after the session (if there are not two therapists). The interpreting therapist talks about the rationale of the theraplay, the problem areas of the child, wishes, concerns and expectations with parents. In the second treatment phase, after observing process, parents play with the child in theraplay r oom. In this phase, four basic skills are taught to parents: structuring, challenging, intruding and/or nurturing. After a termination session, the checkups phase comes. Checkup sessions are made quarterly in first year and annual thereafter. (Booth Jernberg, 2010) Watch, Wait and Wonder (WWW) / Infant-Parent Psychotherapy (IPP) I will introduce these two approaches as together because both of them were developed by same team at the Hincks-Dellcrest Childrens Mental Health Centre (Toronto, Canada). WWW and IPP are effective on infants and based on psychodynamic principles such as unconscious, transference, countertransference and potential space ( Tuters, Doulis Yabsley, 2011). Also these concepts are considered in conjunction with the attachment theory. One of these two approaches is WWW. First W tells to parents watch the play of the infant! What is the infant doing? Second W tells to parents wait the infants play. Dont hurry! Let the infant take to lead in the play! And third W tells to parents wonder about the infants play. What is the infant trying to tell you? The infants play is seen as potential space between the infant and the parent ( Tuters et al., 2011). There are two basic principles of WWW. To accept the leadership of the infant in the play and to accept that the play has a symbolic meaning. Every WWW session has two parts. In first part, the infant plays and the parents are asked to play with the infant on the floor. In play, leadership must be in the infant and the parents should follow the child. In second part the play and the thoughts and feelings of parents are discussed with the therapist. Infant-Parent Psychotherapy (IPP) approach is similar to WWW. Their basic principles are same, but there are some little differences between them. In IPP, in order to show the effect of parents unresolved past issues, the therapist is more active in play. And also countertransference process is more considered in IPP (Tuters et al., 2011). The Developmental, Individual-Differences, Relationship-Based (DIR) Approach This approach was developed by Stanley Greenspan and it provides a multi-dimensional system in order to assess and support of infants and children with different developmental characteristics (Greenspan Wider, 2006). It is especially effective for children who have autism spectrum disorder, down syndrome, learning disorders and developmental disorders. However, DIR approach is suitable to define the childs and familys features. According to Greenspan (2006) the D expresses developmental levels. It gives an idea about that question: Where is the child in developmental continuum? The I expresses individual differences. It emphasizes biologically based capacities such as auditory processing, motor planning and etc. And the I expresses relationship. It calls attention to the relationship between the child and the parents. DIR approach benefits from floortime, which is a kind of play technique, so as to practice the model. Floortime is performed with little children on the floor. Taking into account the childrens individual differences, floortime supports their developmental levels relationship skills. (Greenspan Wider, 2006) Interactional Guidance This approach was developed by Dr. Susan McDonough so as to understand mother-infant relationship through the interactive play experience. It aims to consolidate the relationship between infant and the mother and to increase the mothers enjoyment from interactions with the infant (Balbernie, 1998). Core concepts of this approach are therapeutic alliance and strengths of the family. According to Balbernie (1998) the model focuses on strength features of the family system and tries to consolidate them. The mothers past is not analyzed. Transference dynamics are considered but there is no fully interpretation. Treatment phase contains 5-12 sessions. Videotape is used in this approach. Ecosystemic Play Therapy (EPT) This approach was developed by OConnor who emphasizes the importance of the childrens whole ecosystem. According to OConnor (1997) EPT is a multi theoretical approach. It is not based on only one perspective. The main aim of the EPT is to promote the childs abilities in order to cope with their needs. The basic role of an EPT therapist is to replace the core beliefs of the child with a functioning way. And also, the therapist tries to make the system to be more responsive to the requirements of the child. (OConnor, 1997) Caregiver-Toddler Play Therapy This approach deals with disturbed relationship between the caregiver and the toddler. According to Schaefer Kelly-Zion (2008), the main goal is to improve this disturbed relationship with the play. There are three constituent in this approach. First, the therapist establishes a simultaneous relationship with the toddler and the caregiver. Second, the therapist is able to speak for the child and that supports the communication between the toddler and the caregiver. And third, the therapist guides to caregiver for teaching relational skills. In the beginning treatment, the therapist is very active, but then the caregiver is expected to be more active. (Schaefer Kelly-Zion, 2008) Sandplay Therapy It is a Jungian version of Sandtray Therapy which is developed Dr. Margaret Lowenfield. A Jungian therapist, Dora Kaff, adapted Sandtray Therapy to a Jungian perspective and she called this new version as Sandplay Therapy. According to Zhou (2009) this is an expressive therapy which is appropriate for all ages. This approach helps to emerge nonverbalized emotions. In this technique, children play with sand, water and little miniatures. The symbols in the play reflect personal and collective unconscious and with the help of the therapist the ego of the child is restructured (Zhou, 2009). Conclusion If we consider human life such as a building; 0 to 3 years period correspond to foundation of it. And if this foundation is not strong enough; this building encounters with the risk of falling down. Today, although preventive approaches has already started to gain importance, in some cases, more serious interventions are needed. Child psychotherapies in 0 to 3 years of age group meet this need. The main goal of this paper was to mention different psychotherapeutic approaches which use in 0 to 3 years of age group. It is impossible to mention all approaches therefore I have tried to describe most known and most effective approaches. However, psychotherapy world is not static, in time, different new approaches will emerge.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Philosophy of Education :: Philosophy of Teaching Statement

Philosophy of Education I fell in love with learning when I was only a small child. With the support and encouragement of my parents, I have come to know the value of education and have a desire to instill this same sense of structure in students I will come in contact with. For this reason, and a few others, I decided to become a teacher. Ever since I was a younger I loved the idea of school and was eager to get started. All throughout my life I have had a passion for learning and always knew that I was meant to teach. The first time I truly realized that I was born to teach was when I taught my smaller cousins before they started kindergarten. I was ten years old and my cousins would soon start school. I started working with them four months before they enrolled. By the time school started they knew how to count to ten, write their names, and say their ABC’s. When I think back I realize I was proud of myself. However, I can remember at the time only being proud of them. I think one of the most important concepts of teaching is letting the children know they are the ones that have accomplished a goal. I feel that the purpose of education is to instill a basic sense of knowledge in those who want it. I do not think education is something that should be forced, but I would highly recommend the entire education process. However, I do not feel that education is meant for everyone. I feel that people are born with an inner desire to learn. Gradually, those people turn that desire into a lifelong career. I hope to encourage my students to try their best and be content with their abilities. I do not believe that all children are able to reach the same academic level but I do feel that each individual child has his/her own way of understanding things that will make sense to him/her. I hope to emphasize the variation of the ways to learn in my classroom. Different ways of learning include, but are not limited to, the following: visually, verbally, and kinesthetically.

William Carlos Williams :: essays research papers

William Carlos Williams was born September 17, 1883 in Rutherford, N.J. His father had emigrated from Birmingham, England, and his mother from Puerto Rico. He was admitted in 1902 to the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, where he met two poets, Hilda Doolittle and Ezra Pound. A long term friendship ensued between Pound and himself, such that Williams said he was able to divide his life into two distinct segments: Before Pound and After Pound.1 From 1906 to 1909 Williams did his internship in New York City, writing verse in between patients. His first book was published in 1909, just before a trip to Leipzig to study pediatrics. In the following years Williams wrote not only poems, but short stories, novels, essays, and an autobiography. In 1946 he began Paterson, an attempt to write an epic poem about the city. Williams died in 1963, while working on the sixth book of Paterson. William Carlos William Carlos Williams based his life on helping the poor and all aspects of the human world that appealed to him were in their most basic form. What appealed to Williams was not the glitzy and glamourful, but the true qualitites sometimes being old and worn out. He found that pride was more important the materialistic qualities. Many of his poems explore nature and use it to explore and explain human behavior as he sees it through his own eyes. A few of these poems that use simplistic language to paint a very descriptive and clear picture of other aspects of life are Love Song, Apology, Pastoral, and Tract; all produced by William Carlos Williams. But there were few things which were very specific and stood out in his works. All these poems use nature to explore aspects of human life. A theme which exists in all of these poems and most of Williams' literature is the simplicity of the language he uses. Many believe he did that in order to separate himself from other poets of his time. Most people believe his justification for the simplicity of his language was because he wanted to stand out, be remembered, and be praised. I agree with them, but maybe it's just the kind of language that appealed to him and he thought would appeal to others as well. The first poem entitled Apology portrays that quality of looking for the true aspects of nature and humans, not the materialistic ones.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

HITLERS BODY AND THE BODY POLITIC :: essays research papers

HITLER'S BODY AND THE BODY POLITIC __________________________________ I study ideology as if manifest content of a dream, seeking to comprehend the ideology's latent content or unconscious meaning. I observe recurring images and metaphors within ideological productions. Through systematic analysis of these recurring images and metaphors, it is possible to reveal the deep structure of an ideology. Ideologies are social constructions. However, why do they exist? What is the nature of the psychic work that they perform? I suggest that ideologies constitute vehicles for working through deep-rooted psychological issues. Hitler's ideology, for example, represented the medium through which Hitler attempted to come to terms with the problem of death. Hitler's project was to create a people so closely united-fused together--that they could think, feel and act as a single organism. Such a body politic would be indestructible, not only in the present but in the future as well. Hitler and the Nazis devoted their lives toward creating an organism that would be different from all other organisms. They aspired to fashion a body (politic) that was so healthy and powerful that it would not succumb to death. The Jew in Hitler's ideology was a force working to destroy Germany. National Socialism was the attempt to come to terms with this destructive force. The "Final Solution"--concluding phase of Hitler's struggle against death-represented a form of radical surgery whose purpose was to "remove" Germany's death instinct, quash the process of disintegration. ___________________________________________________________________ The complete paper by Richard A. Koenigsberg is available for the first time as an on-line publication. To read HITLER'S BODY AND THE BODY POLITIC, please visit: http://home.earthlink.net/~libraryofsocialscience/online_pubs.htm ___________________________________________________________________ Hitler had projected the struggle of "life against death" into the political arena and waged a furious battle to "maintain the body of the people." Hitler aspired to defeat death by embracing the idea of a body politic that could live forever. However, in spite of his efforts, Hitler could not rid himself of "anxiety of being destroyed from within." The "Jew" represented Hitler's experience and perception of his own death instinct, recognition or realization that all bodies die. In spite of Hitler struggle to deny death, he could not entirely repress the voice of truth. Yet Hitler refused to heed this inner voice declaring that all bodies die.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Economic Reaction Paper Essay

This article reviews the developments of consumer prices in the euro area during the 2008-09 recessions. The European economy is commonly measured by using what is called the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). The HICP is a price stability and inflation indicator used by the European Central Bank system, assembled using methodsthat are generally accepted throughout the European Union (E.U.). The European Central Bank uses the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices to assess when changes to short term interest rates are needed to adjust inflation levels in European economies. Compared with previous recessions, overall HICP inï ¬â€šation experienced a sharp decline, but this was the result of the greater impact of commodity price developments on the food and energy components of the HICP, rather than a response to the exceptional changes in economic slack. In fact, the more domestically generated parts of inï ¬â€šation, as measured by the HICP excluding food and energy, were re latively resilient given the severity of the recession. This resilience was in line with the weakening relationship between the degree of economic slack and inï ¬â€šation that has been observed over the last twenty years. Nominal rigidities in the labor markets, especially as inï ¬â€šation approached zero, and stronger expectations of inflation may have played an important role in the negative ï ¬â€šuctuations in price and wage inï ¬â€šation over the economic cycle. In the United States, developments in inï ¬â€šation excluding food and energy were also broadly in line with those during previous recessions. However, the labor cost adjustment in the United States was quicker to reï ¬â€šect the economic conditions than in the euro area as a whole, and was the result of both lower wage growth and gains in productivity. The ï ¬ ndings on past inï ¬â€šation adjustments can help to determine the outlook for euro area inï ¬â€šation. In particular, they can help to explain why the currently available inï ¬â€šation forecasts and projections for 2012 from private and international organizations remain elevated, despite the slowdown in growth observed in 2011. To fully understand this article, one must understand that changes in commodity prices have a direct impact on the food and energy components of the HICP, as commodities are either consumed directly or constitute signiï ¬ cant input into the ï ¬ nal product, therefore drastically effect GDP and GNP. In the case of the energy component, crude oil is the basis for reï ¬ ned energy products, such as  transport fuels and heating oil. Crude oil prices also have a strong impact on gas prices and, to a lesser extent, on electricity prices. This is what is called profit push. When crude oil prices go up, generally all other prices go up due to oil’s general overhead and it’s versatile usage in the production and transportation of goods and services. The level of oil prices also has implications for the weight of energy in the HICP basket. The above-average price trend of energy products, together with rising energy consumption, has translated into a steadily growing sha re of energy in total consumption. As a result, the weight in the HICP basket in 2011 was over 10%, which is almost double what it was in the 1970s. Mechanically, this implies that any given percentage increase in energy prices will have a greater impact on overall HICP inï ¬â€šation than in previous decades. There are several reasons why weak disinï ¬â€šation pressures may arise, even in the presence of signiï ¬ cant changes in economic activity. One of the main reasons is labor market rigidity. According to this article, labor costs account for around 27% of euro area ï ¬ rms’ total production input costs. Therefore, rigidities in the adjustment of these costs can explain a substantial part of any lack of responsiveness of inï ¬â€šation. Labor costs are ultimately determined by the combination of wages and productivity. The growth rate of unit labor costs actually increased until the end of 2008, when economic activity reached its lowest point in the recession, and this, owing to a relatively smaller fall in employment, translated into productivity losses. At first glance, I was a little taken back by all the info rmation that I was reading. But after analyzing the information, I started to understand the European economy and how inflation is manipulated. After reading this article I feel like I have a better grasp on economic rigidity in Europe and how labor is one of the main reasons for this. I feel like this article is important because it shows the causal effects from crude oil prices to goods and services in the economy. I personally enjoyed reading and analyzing this article.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Internship Report on Customer Satisfaction on the Services of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited Essay

Part-1 Introduction 1.1 Background of the report: The internship is a dynamic approach for practical knowledge gathered at this study. My effort was for practical job experience through internship for business communication skills as well as banking sectors. As a student of BBA for the requirement of the internship program, I was assigned to The MBL for my practical orientation. This report is done as partial requirement of the 3 months internship program for the BBA students of Department of Marketing, Bangladesh University of Business and Technology. The internship work is done on a bank, namely Mercantile Bank Limited (MBL). The students were asked to prepare reports on their assigned jobs after the completion of the Internship in the respective organizations. The topic of the report is â€Å"Customer Satisfaction on the services of MBL.† 1.2 Significance of the Report: The economy of our country has a lot left to be desired and there are lots of scopes for massive improvement. In an economy like this, banking sector can play a vital role to improve the overall social-economic conditions. As our country is an under develop country, the banks play the role of an intermediary and can mobilize the excess fund of surplus sectors to provide necessary finance, to those sectors, which are needed to promote the sound development of the country. The banks provide different types of services to its counter parts, like general banking services or finance or investing which results transaction of currency. To do this they also need capital, assets and other factors which effects directly in the bank performance. This report will help to understand the customer satisfaction on the services of MBL. As a result, we can have a clear idea about customer satisfaction on the Services of MBL. 1.3 Scope of the Report: MBL is always trying to improve their customer service in every sector, but in today’s competitive business world, banks need to give additional concentration to the client’s requirements, in order to stay at the top. Therefore, besides dealing with the general attributes of Different Services, I have been trying to put more concentration on the customer benefits and other customer related facilities in this report while I have been doing my internship. 1.4 Objectives of the Report: 1.4.1 Broad Objective: The broad objective of this report is to identify the customer satisfaction on the services of MBL. 1.4.2 Specific Objectives: * To find out the different services of MBL that is offered to its clients. * To identify the 7p’s analysis of MBL. * To identify the weakness, problems, opportunity of MBL. * To identify the level of customer satisfaction. * To explore the opportunities and competitive advantages that has been ignored by MBL. 1.5 Methodology: 1.5.1 Types of Research: It is both exploratory & descriptive research in nature. 1.5.2 Sources of Data: I have collected data from the two sources, one is primary source and another is secondary source. 1.5.2.1 Primary Sources: * Conversation and questioning with the different clients by questionnaire survey. * Observing the total environment. * Employee of foreign exchange, credit & others. 1.5.2.2 Secondary Sources: Secondary Data Which data is already published that’s called Secondary data or Secondary data is data collected by someone other than the user. Secondary data are very much important for conduct an efficient study and to have faithful result. 1.5.3 Data Collection Procedure: 1.5.3.1 Primary Data: The primary data collection process includes: * Questioner survey 1.5.3.2 Secondary Data: * Brochures of MBL. * Annual report of MBL. * Official website. * www.google.com 1.5.4 Questionnaire Design: This is a well structure type of questionnaire and used for conducting customer satisfaction survey and acquire primary data. Here average time was 20 minute for every respondent. There are 20 questions on the questioner. Question type was close ended. 1.5.5 Sampling Plan: 1.5.5.1 Target Population: All clients of MBL Gulshan branch in Dhaka city. 1.5.5.2 Sampling Element: Individual clients of MBL . 1.5.5.3 Sampling Frame: No well structured sample frame was found. 1.5.5.4 Sampling Procedure: Non probability convenience sampling procedure is used. 1.5.5.5 Sample Size: I have taken 50 customers as my sample. 1.5.6 Data analysis and reporting: Quantitative and qualitative data collected and analyzed according to acceptable standards of practice. Different tables and graphs were used to make the data meaningful. 1.6 Limitations: * Lack of customer co-operation. * Lack of adequate knowledge about any other financial institutions. * It was very difficult to collect all data, which is very essential. * Due to time limitation many aspects could not be discussed in the present study because Banking is a vast subject. * Lack of experiences on Banking. * Every organization has their own secrecy that is not revealed to others. Despite the limitation, I have tried my best to prepare the report. If you find any mistake please consider it cordially. Part -2 Overview of the company 2.1 Company Background: Mercantile Bank Limited was incorporated in Bangladesh as a public limited company under the Bank Company Act, 1991, on May 20, 1999. After obtaining license from Bangladesh Bank to carry on banking business, the bank commenced its operation on June 2, 1999 with an authorized capital of Tk 800 million divided into 8 million ordinary shares of Tk 100 each. On 31 December 2001, its paid up capital was Tk 596.5 million Mercantile Bank Limited went for public issue of shares on October 21, 2003. There are 30 sponsors involved in creating Mercantile Bank Limited. During this short span of time the MBL has been successful to make a position as a progressive and dynamic financial institution in the country. The MBL has been widely acclaimed by the business community, from small entrepreneurs to large traders and industrial conglomerates, including the top rated corporate borrowers for forwarding-looking business outlook and innovative financing solutions. Thus within this very short period of time it has been able to create an image for itself and has earned significant reputation in the country’s Banking Sector as a bank with vision. The Bank has made significant contribution to the growth of Readymade Garments sectors by handling huge amount of export Letters of Credit. Recently it has 75 Branches with 1,668 efficient employees. 2.2 Vision: To be the best Banking service provider in Bangladesh at a reasonable cost & giving more services & facilities to the small ,medium ,large sectors to improve the socio economic condition in Bangladesh. 2.3 Mission: To meet the challenges of 21th century & to meet the expected future result, MBL offering many attractive services to the customer .they increased the FDR rate from 12.5 to 13.33 to collect more deposit from customers & to increase the saving tendency of the clients.MBL recently introduced Super Benefit Deposit Scheme (SBDS) & Education Planning Deposit Scheme (EPDS) they are long term special saving scheme through which customer can get benefits up to 10 or 15 years. 2.4 Objectives: * To achieve positive Economic Value Added (EVA) each year. * To be market leader in product innovation. * To be one of the top three Financial Institutions in Bangladesh in terms of cost efficiency. * To be one of the top five Financial Institutions in Bangladesh in terms of market share in all significant market segments we serve. * To achieve 20% return on shareholders’ equity or more, on average. 2.5 Core Values: * For the customer Providing with caring services by being innovative in the development of new banking product and services * For the shareholder Maximizing wealth of the bank * For the employer Respecting worth and dignity of individual employees devoting their energies for the progress of the bank * For the community Strengthening the corporate values and taking environment and social risks and reward into account. 2.6 Board of Directors: * Chairman Md. Abdul Jalil, M.P * Vice Chairman  Morshed Alam Mohd. Selim * Director  M. S. Ahsan Alhaj Akram Hossain (Humayun) Md. Anwarul Haque Dr. Toufi que Rahman Chowdhury Golam Faruk Ahmed Engr. Mohd. Monsuruzzaman Bilkis Begum Md. Tabibul Huq A. S. M. Feroz Alam A. K. M. Shaheed Reza Md. Nasiruddin Choudhury Md. Shahabuddin Alam Syed Muhammed Abbdul Mannan, M.P Alhaj Mosharref Hossain Israt Jahan M. A. Khan Belal Dr. Matiur Rahman, M.P * Managing Director & CEO A.K.M. Shahidul Haque 2.7 Operational network organ gram: Chairman| Managing Director| Deputy Managing Director| Executive Vice President| Senior Vice President| Vice President| Sr. Assistant Vice President| Assistant Vice President| First Assistant Vice President| Senior Executive Officer| Executive Officer| Senior Officer| Officer| Junior Officer| 2.8 Deposit Services: * Monthly Saving Scheme (MSS) Monthly Saving Scheme is one of the most popular deposit products in different communities that introduced to attract small savers for building up their habit of savings and thereby build up a healthy capital base for the economy. The monthly installments are in various sizes and one can adopt the schemes for a period of 03 years, 05 years, 08 years or 10 years. * Monthly Benefit Deposit Scheme Under this scheme, depositor will get a certain sum of money in each month proportion to his/her deposit during the entire tenure. Benefit starts right from the first month of opening an account under this scheme and continues up to five years. On maturity, the principal amount is paid back. Objectives of this scheme are to help the retired persons for investing their retirement benefits, Create investment opportunities for Non-Resident Bangladeshi. The Minimum deposited amount is BDT 50,000 or its multiples and the tenure is five (05) years. * Double Benefit Deposit Scheme (DBDS) The main attraction of DBDS is that, the deposited amount will be double in tenure of 5.6years. Minimum deposited amount should be BDT 10,000 or its multiples. In case of premature encashment interest will be paid on Saving A/C Rate. Loan may be granted up to maximum 80% of the deposited amount, but minimum principle amount must be BDT 20,000. * Quarterly Benefit Deposit Scheme The ‘Quarterly Benefit Deposit Scheme’ will be maintained for a period of 3 (three) years and the minimum amount of deposit is BDT 50,000.00 (fifty thousand) or its multiples. Interest will be paid on quarterly basis. Benefits start right from the first quarter of opening the scheme. On maturity, principal amount will be paid back. Savings account is needed to maintain this scheme. * 1.5 Time Benefit Deposit Scheme Under this scheme, deposited amount reserved for 4.25 years (or 51 months) and the minimum amount of deposit is BDT 50,000.00 (fifty thousand) or its multiples. After 4.25 years maturity, 1.5 times of the deposited amount will be paid back to the account holder. * Advance Benefit Deposit Scheme Under Advance Benefit Deposit Scheme, one can deposit a certain amount of money for two years. The depositor will receive the benefit on yearly basis. The benefit amount of first year will be received in advance at the time of deposit. On maturity, the depositor will get back the principal amount with the benefit amount of second year. That means Interest is paid in two Phases, first phase paid initially and second phase paid after maturity. Loan may be granted up to maximum 70% of deposit. 2.9 Loan Services: * Consumer Credit Scheme Consumer’s Credit Scheme is one of the popular areas of collateral-free finance of the Bank. People with limited income can avail of credit facility to buy household goods including computer and other consumer durables. * Lease Finance This scheme has been designed to assist and encourage the genuine and capable entrepreneurs and professionals for acquiring capital machineries, medical equipments, computers, vehicle and other items. Flexibility and easier term and conditions of this scheme have attracted the potential entrepreneurs to acquire equipments of production and services and repay gradually from earnings on the basis of ‘Pay as you earn’ * SME Loan Scheme Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Loan Scheme has been introduced to provide financial assistance to new or experienced entrepreneurs to invest in small and medium scale industries with a comparatively low rate of interest as the same is assisted by the Bangladesh Bank wither financing facilities. * Personal Loan Scheme Personal Loan Scheme has been introduced to extend credit facilities to cater the needs of low and middle-income group for any purpose. Government and semi government officials, employees of autonomous bodies, banks and other financial organizations, multinational Companies, reputed private organizations and teachers of recognized public and private schools, colleges and Universities are eligible for this loan. * Car Loan Scheme Car Loan Scheme has been introduced to enable middle-income people to purchase Cars/SUVs/Jeeps. Government and semi-government officials, employees of autonomous bodies, banks and other financial organizations, multinational companies, reputed private organizations, teachers of recognized public and private universities and businessmen are eligible for this loan. * Home Loan Scheme To meet the growing need of housing for middle and lower-middle income people, MBL has introduced Home Loan Scheme. * Overseas Employment Loan Scheme Overseas Employment Loan Scheme is designed to facilitate the Bangladeshi youths seeking employment aboard but unable to meet the expenses to reach the workplace from their own sources. The ultimate objectives of the scheme are to promote skilled / semi-skilled manpower to different countries across the world as well as to provide support to Government Policy considering priority of this sector. By availing loan under this scheme, the active youths of middle and lower middle class can get overseas employment. 2.10 Marketing Mix: (1)Product: MBL now offering various kind of deposit screams for the customers with retail Banking, corporate finance, asset, equity brokerage and security. (2) Price: Price means value that a customer has to pay to take any service.MBL take’s a charge from the deposited account & charge interest on lone. (3)Place: Recently MBL has 75 Branches all over Bangladesh & they are opening new branches for improving their customer services. (4) Promotion: MBL use TV, print media to communicate with the customers. (5)People: MBL has 1668 efficient employee to provide their services & many sells representatives on the field. (6) Process: Process means, the procedure mechanisms and flow of the activity by which the service is delivered. They always try to provide services as early as possible. (7) Physical Evidence: Physical environment means, the environment in which the service is delivered .MBL established their branches in all important places & they provide their service’s in a comfortable & friendly environment for their customer. 2.11 SWOT analysis: * Strengths: * Strong customer relationship or customer loyalty. * More than 70 branches with 1668 efficient employee. * Excellent Service quality. * Strong Management team. * Reasonable interest rate. * Weaknesses: * Delay in service delivery. * Long Account opening process. * Introducer require in opening current account. * Low promotional activity. * Opportunities: * Technological advantage. * Mobile banking. * Offering new deposit scheme. * SME banking. * Threats * Political changes. * Technological improvement. * Increasing number of banks. * High government rule & fixed interest rate by Bangladesh bank. 2.12 Corporate Profile: Name: Mercantile Bank Limited Established: May 20, 1999 Head office: 61, Dilkusha Commercial Area Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh PABX: 9559333, 9553892 Key People: Md. Abdul Jalil, M.P Industry: Finance (Bank) Services: retail banking, corporate finance, Finance, asset, equity brokerage and security. Branches: 75 Employees: 1668 Profit: 3,004.17 million (2011) Website: www.mblbd.com Part-3 Theoretical Aspects Marketing Theory: * Marketing: The process by which companies create value for the customer & build strong relationship with them in order to capture from customer in return. * Marketing Management: Marketing Management is a business discipline which focuses on the particular application of marketing techniques & the management of firms marketing resource & activity. * Marketing Research: The systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization. * Target Market: A set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. * Market Segment: A group of consumers who respond in a similar way to a given set of marketing efforts. * Market Positioning: A clear, distinctive and desirable place of a product relative to competing products in the mind of target consumers or Create a positive image on customers mind. * Market: Market is a system, procedure for exchanging goods & service where two parties agree to sell or buy any product or service in a particular value or price. * Market Offering: Some combination of products, services, information, or experiences offered to a market to satisfy a need or want. * Product Concept: The idea that consumers will favor products that offers the most quality, performance, and features. * Production Concept: The idea that consumers will favor products if that are available and highly affordable. * Selling Concept: The idea that consumers will not buy enough of the firm’s products unless it undertakes a large scale selling and promotion effort. * Marketing Concept: The marketing concept that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfaction better than competitors do. * Societal Marketing Concept: Maybe a company ought to make good marketing decisions by considering consumers want, the company’s requirements, consumers’ long-run interests and society’s long-run interests. * Service: Any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. * Customer Satisfaction: Dependent on the products perceived performance relative to buyer’s expectations or the extent to which a product’s perceived performance matches a buyer’s expectations. * 7p’s in Detail: FIG: 1 * Products: The product is the most important aspect of the marketing mix. Products have both tangible and intangible benefits. Tangible benefits include benefits, which can be measured such as the top speed of a car. Intangible benefits are benefits that cannot be measured such as the enjoyment the customer will get from the product. It is important that the product is changed as necessary to bring it up to date and prevent it from being overtaken by competitors. The term â€Å"product† refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. Here are some examples of the product decisions to be made: * Variety * Quality * Design * Features * Brand name * Packaging * Services * Sizes * Warranties * Returns * Price: It is very important that the correct price is charged for a product. If the price is too high consumers will avoid the product as they will believe it to be too expensive yet if the product is priced too low they may believe that there is something wrong with the product for it to be so cheap. Also if the company charges too low a price, it may not cover its costs. There are many different pricing strategies that companies can use to decide on a price for their product including market and psychological pricing methods. Some examples of pricing decisions to be made include: * Pricing strategy (Skim, penetration, etc.) * Suggested retail price * Volume discounts and wholesale pricing * Cash and early payment discounts/ bonus * Seasonal pricing * Bundling * Price flexibility * Price discrimination. * Place: The place is where you can expect to find your customer and consequently, where the sale is realized. Knowing this place, you have to look for a distribution channel in order to reach your customer. * Distribution channels * Market coverage (inclusive, selective, or exclusive distribution) * Specific channel members * Inventory management * Intermediaries * Distribution centers * Order processing * Transactions * Reverse logistics * Promotion: In the context of the marketing mix, promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the communication of information about the product with the goal of generating a positive customer response. Marketing communication decisions include: * Promotional strategy (push, pull, etc.) * Advertising * Personal selling & sales force * Sales promotions * Public relations & publicity * Marketing communications budget However, the strategies for the four P’s require some modifications when applied to services. For example, traditionally promotion is thought of as involving decisions related to sales, advertising, sales promotions and publicity. In services these factors are also important, but because services are produced and consumed simultaneously, service delivery people are involved in real-time promotion of the service even if their jobs are typically defined in terms of the operational function they perform. * People: All human action that plays a part in reference and information services delivery namely the librating personnel. * Process: Process means, the procedure mechanisms and flow of the activity by which the service is delivered. * Physical Evidence: Physical environment means, the environment in which the service is delivered & firm & customer interact, & any tangible components that facilitate performance or communication of the service. * SWOT analysis: FIG:2 * Strengths: * What advantages does your organization have? * What do you do better than anyone else? * What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can’t? * What do people in your market see as your strengths? * What factors mean that you â€Å"get the sale†? * What is your organization’s Unique Selling Proposition? * Weaknesses: * What could you improve? * What should you avoid? * What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses? * What factors lose you sales? * Opportunities: * What good opportunities can you spot? * What interesting trends are you aware of? * Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale. * Changes in government policy related to your field. * Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes. * Local events. * Threats: * What obstacles do you face? * What are your competitors doing? * Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing? * Is changing technology threatening your position? * Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems? * Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business? Gaps Model of Service Quality: FIG: 3 1. Customer gap: Difference between customer expectations & perceptions. 2. Provider gap 1: Not knowing what the customer wants or expect. 3. Provider gap 2: Not selecting the right service design and standards. 4. Provider gap 3: Not delivering to service designs & standard. 5. Provider gap 4: Not matching performance with promises. Part-4 Analysis and Findings Questionnaire Survey Analysis: In every survey, it is essential to analyze the survey results and follow the findings as a guideline of development of the project. The survey reports are shown below with graphical representation in percentage basis. (1) What type of account you maintain with this bank? FIG: 4 From the graph, it is seen that 23 of the respondents are MSS holder, 10 of the respondents have FDR, 13 of the respondents have current account and 4 have the other account. Here most of the respondents have Monthly saving scheme (MSS) Here bank should give importance on other accounts. (2) Why you choose mercantile bank? Or reason of choosing this Bank? FIG: 5 From the graph, it is seen that the 11 respondents choose this bank for the number of branches of the bank, 15 for location of the bank, 3 for reputation of the bank, 16 for service of the bank, 5 for personal relationship. Here most of the respondents choose this bank because of the service and location of the bank. (3) What are the services of this bank you usually use? FIG: 6 From the graph, we found that the 20 respondents use MSS of this bank, 3 uses LC of the bank, 9 uses current account of the bank, 7 uses FDR of the bank, 7 uses Card & 4 uses locker service of the bank. Here most of the respondents use MSS and current account services of the bank. (4) Are you satisfied with the service charges of the bank? FIG: 7 From the graph, we can see that the 25 respondents said moderate, 14 respondents said service charges are high, and 11 respondents said the service charges are low from some other banks. (5) Are you satisfied with the account opening procedure? FIG: 8 From the graph, we can see that the 23 respondents are satisfied with the account opening procedure, 12 are very satisfied and 15 are dissatisfied. Here most of the customers are satisfied with the account opening procedure. (6) Are you a debit card holder of this Bank? FIG: 9 From the graph, it is seen that the 14 respondents are card holder and 36 respondents are not. Here the respondents who have account in the bank they can apply for the card. (7) Do you think the numbers of ATM booths are sufficient? FIG: 10 From the graph, it is seen that the 76% respondents think that the numbers of ATM booths are not enough and available, 24% respondents think that the numbers of ATM booths are sufficient. So, most of the respondents are not satisfied with the number of ATM booths. (8) Do you think MBL takes longer time to issue a card? FIG: 11 From the graph, we can see that 20 respondents think they don’t take longer time to issue a card, 20 respondents think they take a longer time & 10 respondents think they take a very long time. (9) Are you satisfied about ATM services? FIG: 12 From the graph, it is seen that the 17 of the respondents are satisfied with the ATM services, 20 respondents are dissatisfied, and 13 respondents are in moderate position. Here most of the respondents are dissatisfied with the ATM services. (10) Are you satisfied with the branch location? FIG: 13 From the graph, we can see that 18 respondents are satisfied, 14 respondents are dissatisfied, and 18 respondents are in moderate position. (11) Where do you first know about this bank? FIG: 14 From the graph, 0 respondents know from TV, 20% respondents know from news paper, 36% respondents know from bill board & representatives, 44% respondents know from friends & family. (12) Are you satisfied with the different interest rates that are offered by MBL? FIG: 15 From the graph, we can see that 36% respondents are satisfied with the interest rates, 50% respondents are in moderate position & 14% respondents are dissatisfied with the interest rates. (13) Are you satisfied with the different promotional campaign of MBL? FIG: 16 From the graph, we can see 0 respondents are highly satisfied ,3 are satisfied, 26 are in neutral position,12 are dissatisfied ,9 are highly dissatisfy about the promotional activities of MBL. (14) Do you think the employees are highly efficient? FIG: 17 From the graph, we can see that 5 respondents are highly satisfied on the work of employees of MBL.15 respondents are satisfied & 26 respondents are in neutral position & 4 respondents are dissatisfy. As a result more or less all respondents are satisfied for the employees. (15) Do you think the process of taking loan is very easy? FIG: 18 From the graph ,we found that 0% respondents are highly satisfied with the lone processing ,28% respondents are satisfy with it, 24% respondents are in neutral position ,48% are dissatisfy on the lone taking process. Part-5 Major Findings Major Findings: Mercantile Bank Ltd actively participate in the growth and expansion of the national economy by providing various kind of services. While analyzing the policies and procedures & analyzing the customer satisfaction of the Bank the following areas were mostly viewable. * Most of the respondents have MSS account. * Most of the respondents choose this bank because of the branch location & services of the bank. * Most of the respondents come to this bank for the MSS, FDR & savings accounts. * Most of the respondents are satisfied with the MBL charges. * Most of the respondents are satisfied with the account opening procedure of the bank ,but respondents had to face some difficulties to open current account because it require introducer who already have current account on MBL. * Most of the respondents don’t use card of this bank. * Most of the respondents are not satisfied with the number of ATM booths. * Most of the respondents are not satisfied with the system of issuing a card. * Most of the respondents are not satisfy with the ATM services. * Most of the respondents are satisfied with the branch location. * Most of the respondents know about the bank from friends & family. * Most of the respondents are satisfied with the MBL interest rate. * Most of the respondents are not satisfied with the promotional actives of the bank. * Most the respondents are satisfied with the MBL employee’s attitude and behavior because they can expertly solve the banking problem. * Most of the respondents think the loan processing system is not easy & high interest rate on personal loan. Part-6 Recommendation Recommendation: MBL has an efficient and excellent management team and performing with a great expertise and care. The limitations can be overcome by some measures to make the performance outstanding. I have some suggestions for The MBL according to my observations out of my survey on 50 customers. Those are given below: * The bank should offer more facilities on other account to attract more customers. * The bank should build a strong image on market through covering new area. * The bank should provide more attractive features & plan to attract more customers. * Customers are satisfied with MBL charges, so the bank should attract large number of customer through using this low cost strategy. * The customers are satisfied with the account opening procedure of the bank. But the bank should introduce an easier process to open current account. * The bank should provide more facilities in the ATM cards. * They should increase the number of ATM booth because the Customers are not satisfied with the number of it. * The bank should give more importance on the system of issuing a card as early as possible. * The bank should give more concentration on the ATM services because the customers are not satisfied with it. * The bank should find new important area to make new branches & search opportunity for the bank. * The bank should increase their advertisements. * The bank’s customer are happy with the interest rate, through this advantage the bank should attract more customers. * The bank should increase the promotional actives on TV, print media & radio. * The bank has many efficient employees an efficient employee can attract the customers, so the bank should give more importance on that. * The bank should introduce an easier process for giving lone. Part-7 Conclusion Conclusion: Mercantile Bank Limited is a strong and effective player in the financial system. It is a solid, forward-looking, modern local bank with a record of sound performance. It is a new generation bank. It is committed to provide high quality financial services /products to contribute to the growth of GDP of the industrialization, boosting up export, creating employment opportunity for the educated youth, rising standard of living of limited income group and overall sustainable socio-economic development of the country. The bank has the vision to be the best Private Commercial Bank in Bangladesh in terms of efficiency, capital adequacy, asset quality, sound management etc. it is now one of the top most profitable commercial bank. As concluding remark the bank is able to attain a leading role with the 13 years success story but to remain in Strong position among new generation banks, the bank must face new challenges. The bank must make a positive attempt to be more outward looking in their goals and aware of what is happening. They must also emphasize on the domestic scenario more closely and analyze any certain trends and strategies of their competitors. The bank must accept any failures and think of them as an objective to pursue future goals instead of blaming such failures on other factors and in this way the Bank will be able to keep on playing its important roles in our economy. Part-8 Bibliography Bibliography: * Annual Report (2009) of Mercantile Bank Limited. * Annual Report (2011) of Mercantile Bank Limited. * Circular of Mercantile Bank Limited. * Interview with the Credit section of employees Mercantile Bank Limited, Gulshan, Branch. * Interview with SME and retail banking section of Mercantile Bank Limited, Gulshan Branch. Books reference * Principles of Marketing- 12th Edition- Philip Kotler. * Marketing Management- 13th Edition- Philip Kotler. * Service Marketing- 4th Edition- Zeithamal & Bitner . Internet reference * www.google.com * www.wikpedia.com * www.yahoo.com * www.answer.com * www.mblbd.com Part-9 Annexure Raw Table: 1. What type of account you maintain with the bank? * MSS 23 * FDR 10 * Current 13 * Others 4 2. Why you choose mercantile bank? * Branch number of the bank 11 * Location of the bank 15 * Reputation of the bank 3 * Service of the bank 16 * Personal relationship 5 3. What are the services of this bank you usually use? * MSS 20 * LC 3 * Current Account 9 * FDR 7 * Card 7 * Locker 4 4. Are you satisfied with the service charges of the bank? * Very high 0 * High 14 * Moderate 25 * Low 11 * Very low 0 05. Are you satisfied with the account opening procedure? * Good 23 * Very good 12 * Poor 15 * Very poor 0 06. Are you a debit card holder of this Bank? * Yes 14 * No 36 07. Do you think the numbers of ATM booths are sufficient? * Agree 12 * disagree 38 08. Do you think MBL takes longer time to issue a card? * Disagree 20 * Strongly Disagree 0 * Agree 20 * Strongly agree 10 * 9. Are you satisfied about ATM services? * Satisfy 7 * Dissatisfy 20 * Moderate 13 10. Are you satisfied with the branch location? * Yes 18 * No 14 * Moderate 18 11. Where do you first know about this bank? * TV 0 * News Papers 10 * Bill-board & sells representatives 18 * Friends & Family 22 (Likert scale) No.| Question:| Highly Satisfy| Satisfy| Neutral| Disagree| Highly Disagree| 12.| Are you satisfied with the Services offered by the MBL?| 0| 20| 21| 9| 0| 13.| Are you satisfied with the different charges & interest rates that are offered by MBL?| 0| 18| 25| 7| 0| 14.| Do you think the numbers of branches are satisfactory compare to other Banks?| 0| 20| 23| 7| 0| 15.| Are you satisfied with the different promotional campaign of MBL?| 0| 3| 26| 12| 9| 16.| Do you think the employees are highly efficient?| 5| 15| 26| 4| 0| 17.| Do you think the process of taking loan is very easy?| 0| 14| 12| 24| 0| 18.| Are you satisfied with the total working process of the MBL?| 0| 11| 30| 9| 0| 19.| Do you think MBL provides a very good after sales services in ATM sector?| 0| 9| 20| 13| 8| 20.| Do you think MBL take longer time to open LC?| 0| 20| 16| 14| 0| Questionnaire: Dear respondent, ————————————————- I’m a student of BBA program studying in Bangladesh University of Business & Technology (BUBT). I was assigned to prepare a report on â€Å"customer satisfaction of the Services of Mercantile Bank LTD† which is a partial fulfillment of my internship program. As a result, some information would be needed from you. It is assured that all the information will keep confidential and solely use in this report only. Name:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Sex: a) Male b) Female Occupation:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Express your opinion by giving (√) marks. You may choose more than one option where necessary. 01. What type of account you maintain with the bank? A) MSS C) FDR B) Current D) Others 02. Why you choose mercantile bank? A) Branch number of the bank C) Location of the bank B) Reputation of the bank D) Service of the bank E) Personal relationship 03. What are the services of this bank you usually use? A) MSS B) LC C) Current Account D) FDR E) Card F) Locker 04. Are you satisfied with the service charges of the bank? A) Very high C) Good B) High D) Poor E) Very poor 05. Are you satisfied with the account opening procedure? A) Good B) Very good C) Poor D) Very poor 06. Are you a debit card holder of this Bank? A) Yes B) No 07. Do you think the numbers of ATM booths are sufficient? A) Agree B) Disagree 08. Do you think MBL takes longer time to issue a card? A) Disagree C) Strongly Disagree B) Agree D) strongly agree 09. Are you satisfied about ATM services? A) Satisfy c) Dissatisfy B) Moderate 10. Are you satisfied with the branch location? A) Yes B) No C) Moderate 11. Where do you first know about this bank? A) TV B) News Papers C) Bill-board & sells representatives D) Friends & Family Please put tick (√) on appropriate place. Statement| Highly Satisfy | Satisfy| Neutral| Disagree | Highly Disagree| 12. Are you satisfied with the Services offered by the MBL?| | | | | | 13. Are you satisfied with the different charges & interest rates that are offered by MBL?| | | | | | 14. Do you think the numbers of branches are satisfactory?| | | | | | 15. Are you satisfied with the different promotional campaign of MBL? | | | | | | 16. Do you think the employees are highly efficient?| | | | | | 17. Do you think the process of taking loan is very easy?| | | | | | 18. Are you satisfied with the total working process of the MBL?| | | | | | 19. Do you think MBL provides a very good after sales services in ATM sector?| | | | | | 20. Do you think MBL take longer time to open LC?| | | | | | THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND COORDINATION. Surveyor Signature:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Contact No:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦