Nursing practices - Past, Present and Future Essay

Nursing practices - Past, Present and Future - Essay Example ppened and whether these changes are relevant and significant not just in the nursing profession itself but as well as in the health care delivery to patients. Before, nurses are deemed associated with and only secondary to physicians. The role of nurses then were limited to menial delivery of patient care such as changing bandages, changing of bed linens, providing sponge bath and procedures that are deemed around as dirty work (Casciato 2011; Kessler et al., 2012, p. 22). Today, the job role of nurses have made an impact and leaped over the years from a low profile shadowed job by a physician and emerged now as independent profession that has made a major impact in the health care industry. The utilization of nursing job roles in the industry can be seen in the presence of emerging nursing branches such as school nursing, occupational health nursing, travel nursing, home health nursing and community health nursing. This is a proof that the job roles of nurses are not just limited to the traditional hospital bedside care and extends to even broader aspect of health. Allen cited that the phenomenal changes in the nurses’ job content happened during the 1960’s. First as a result of medical science that have expanded and delegated clinical responsibilities to nurses. Second, was due to the growing numbers of chronically ill patients requiring care. True enough the job role of the nurse has expanded in response to the changing populations and the philosophical shift toward health promotion rather than illness cure (Masters, 2009, p. 176). Education can be pointed as the biggest turning point nurses had in the advancement of the career. Before, nurses are merely educated just trained. Now, nurses are more educated having Bachelor’s, Master’s and even Doctorate degrees. Education and training has made nurses equipped with even greater knowledge that made the nursing profession cope up with the technological advancement and modernization. Indeed

Kant, Harry Frankfort, etc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Kant, Harry Frankfort, etc - Essay Example Going by this logic Galbraith refutes the fact that production is done to satisfy wants since most of the times it is production that creates wants. Demands of consumers can have immoral roots but still that becomes valid reason in the society for production. However, Galbraith questions this validity since production which is the method of fulfilling wants itself becomes creator of demand. He compares this situation with â€Å"the efforts of the squirrel to keep abreast of the wheel that is propelled by his own efforts† (Galbraith, 135). Galbraith has established advertising and promotions as reflection of this direct link between production and demand. One major objective of advertising, as per Galbraith, is to create demand for a product even if that demand did not previously exist. The emphasis lies on enhancing advertising budget if the producers want to arouse consumer interest for their products. Thus, Galbraith concludes that demands which are created by strategic pers uasion of advertisements cannot be very urgent (Galbraith, 136). Hayek confirms that consumers will not have demand for something if it never was produced like no one can demand for a non-existent thing. Hayek has agreed with one part of Galbraith’s argument, i.e. demands are urgent only when they are inherent. However, Hayek considers inherent demands as those which are associated with basic needs of humans like food and shelter. Needs for other products originate only when people see and observe other people using and enjoying them. Thus, it is the cultural environment that creates desire and so Hayek does not agree with Galbraith’s theory that demands are not urgent if they are not inherent as this theory invalidates the â€Å"whole cultural achievement of man† (Hayek, 1). Moreover, Hayek believes that hardly any demands are absolute and all demands are â€Å"acquired tastes† since demand for most goods â€Å"produce feelings

The Dramatic Scenes Of Romeo And Juliet English Literature Essay

The Dramatic Scenes Of Romeo And Juliet English Literature Essay Romeo and Juliet is a story of love set in Verona that has an unfortunate tragic ending. At the beginning of the play, the audience is shown the prologue of the play that familiarizes them with the tragic ending to come. In the play the audience sees a lot of contrast between love and hate and contrasts of emotions will become apparent as you continue through the play. The masked ball is at the very beginning of the play. Dramatic irony is allowed to run throughout the play as from the prologue the audience can tell that Romeo and Juliet are both going to collide and fall in love and this will happen despite the fact that they are from feuding families. As the audience hears in the prologue: A pair of star-crossd lovers take their life. This means that they have met only through fate and chance and that they will both die together. When they meet at the ball they have no idea to whom one another is and after enquiring they soon find out that they are from rivaling families. The prologue was preformed in a sonnet, which consists of 14 lines and 10 syllables in each line. Once Juliet realizes that Romeo is a Montague she immediately tells herself that: My only love sprung from my only true hate! This denotes that Juliet had just thought she had found the right person who she loves but she cannot love him, as he is her born enemy, a Montague. Romeo and Juliet are sharing actions. This shows that Romeo and Juliet have quickly become attracted to each other. The audience can see the couples togetherness; now Romeo and Juliet can also see their togetherness as they both exchange the hand position of prayer. This equates with the religious imagery and connotations within their speech. It is also showing that the relationship between the couple will expand onto a more faithful way. The audience sees that Juliet is reluctant to kiss Romeo when she says: If I profane with my unworthiest hand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. Using a religious metaphor, Romeo remarkably talks Juliet in to allowing Romeo to kiss her. However this metaphor offers more uses. O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do! They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. A way in which Shakespeare has made this scene dramatically important is as the way that Shakespeare portrays Romeos thoughts when he first meets Juliet in a very poetic and romantic way. This becomes dramatically important as Romeo then links to a dove surrounded by ugly crows: Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear, So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows. From this the audience can tell that Romeo is completely shocked about Juliets appearance and beings to demonstrate her beauty. This is showing love at first sight with Juliet and after the first time he lays eyes on her he says: Did my heart love till now? Romeos use of language and speech is a lot more poetic in contrast to Lord Capulets jesting language. Capulets speech is fun and majestic in comparison to Romeos language being extremely dramatic and said in a serious manor and being very austere about what he is saying. It is almost as if it is too late for Romeo and Juliet as they fall in love before they find out each others identities The Montagues and Capulets fight takes place in the opening scene of the play. In this the audience can see an indication that the romance between Romeo and Juliet is set to become very complex due to the fighting between the two families and that their relationship could end in tragedy. This scene is very important as it gives the scene a lot of structure. The themes that the audience can take from this scene are: marriage, love, hate and conflict. Marriage in this scene refers to Paris bid to marry Juliet. Love in this scene refers to Romeo and Juliet unexpectedly converging and then instantly falling in love. Hate is found in this scene when Romeo and other close friends of the Montague Family, who are also foes of the Capulets, attend the Ball uninvited. And the audience sees conflict in this scene when Tybalt finds out Romeo is attending the Ball and wants him to immediately be removed. When Tybalt suddenly realizes that Romeo is at the ball the feeling of the atmosphere immediately changes as there is conflict and confrontation between Romeo and Tybalt, the audience knows this as Tybalt proclaims: Ill not endure him. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] He shall be endured. From this you can see that the two phrases are matched and that there is now a lot of anger coming from Tybalt sparking tension between the two characters that the audience immediately will pick up. A lot of thing said in Romeo and Juliet are said in a similar way to a poem, this is called iambic pentameter just as the audience sees when Tybalt exclaims. Ill not endure him, He shall be endured. This line is split, but the two different sentences are similar, the audience can tell that this is an argumentative conversation in this part if the play as by the way the sentence is converged. Tybalt utters: Fetch me my rapier boy. From this the audience can see that Tybalt has longed to fight Romeo and is more than willing to do so. The audience may decide to interpret this as anger and tension being created from the feud between the two rivalling families. And doing so will make the audience excited and ambitious. The story ends in tragedy and the audience is then left to feel sympathetic for Romeo and Juliet, as it was fait that played a very big are in the story. As just after one died the other died not knowing and reasoning into why one another died, but just assuming it was cause on their behalf. Not only this but Shakespeares use of dramatic affect really heightens the feeling that the audience receives from the play.

Homes for the Homeless Essay example -- Sociology, Homelessness

Homelessness is a major health issue around the world that needs to be addressed. Many individuals in a community often misinterpret the cause of homelessness. Comments towards homeless people such as â€Å"get a job† or â€Å"go to school† often are used freely by members of soci-ety because they fail to look at the comprehensive of this oppressing issue. Homelessness has a strong link to the determinants of health (DOH), most notably income and social status (Fingfeld, 2010). The article, â€Å"No Funding for Homes for the Homeless† speaks on the issue of homeless-ness within the city of Prince Albert. Furthermore, the article illustrates that homelessness is a community issue not solely an individual issue. Therefore, this paper will discuss the issue of homelessness within Prince Albert and propose a plan of action for the community to see the â€Å"bigger picture† and address this issue utilizing a critical social approach. Homelessness The term homelessness can be used to recognize individuals and families living outdoors, in need of â€Å"core housing,† in emergency hostels, in shelters, and who are precariously being housed (Crowe, 2008). Stats Canada’s 2006 census found that 19,630 people in Canada are being housed in a shelter at any given time (as cited in Stuart et al., 2008). The most common homeless individuals are males aged 35 to 64 with an overrepresentation of Aboriginals (Stats Canada as cited in Stuart et al., 2008; Begin et al. as cited in Stuart et al. 2008). Crowe (2008) explains that homelessness is an emergency in almost all Canadian communities and that a ma-jority of communities are struggling with the same problems including an increasing number of homeless families, shortage of shelter space, concern about the ... ...Haradon, & Phinney, 2008). Therefore, if the government works with programs like the homes for the homeless in the community homeless rates will be de-creased within the city. Conclusion All in all, homelessness is a growing issue and requires social action to overcome the inequities. A nurse has the ability to help decrease inequities in society by working at an indi-vidual, community, and political level. CST can be used as a framework to target the issue and work with the homeless population. Many variables influence homelessness therefore a multi-factorial approach is required to produce a positive outcome. Further, taking into account the determinants of health, the underlying cause of an individual’s homelessness will be determined. Homelessness is an issue that affects the entire community, and should be addressed in a profes-sional manner.

Socius Meaning And The Neighbor

The socius and the neighbor are two ways of relating with others. The socius pertains to the relationship with a group or a person through social function. In my understanding, this is a functional kind of relationship based on one’s label such as a student, for example, for being a part of an organization. Thus, in other words, the socius is the arbitrate relationship I have with others. The neighbor however, is a personal way of encountering the other as a person. It’s a relationship that develops deeper in degrees. It usually starts from an initial encounter that develops into a higher level of intimacy. Therefore, the neighbor is the abrupt relationship with others. On The Level of Astonishment: In the parable of The Good Samaritan, the Levite and the priest were surprised by the event they encountered before them but since they had a prior commitment and being a responsible member of an institution, they were unavailable to entertain the man. The traveler however did not have any institution to answer to which makes him available for the man in need. Through the encounter, the traveler became present to the man. His behavior is his natural character because he’s doing such an act without an institution being a catalyst. The Last Judgment on the other hand unveils the prophecy regarding the encounter of the Samaritan with the man. It is astonishing for the Samaritan to know the meaning of his simple, compassionate act. The Samaritan symbolizes the great acts of humans and encounter Christ in a way. Through this the message â€Å"Go and do likewise† is made known. On The Level of Reflection: There is no such thing as a â€Å"neighbor† if we base it on Sociology because according to its definition, Sociology is the systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings. That is why in this point of view, the neighbor is called a â€Å"man of regret, dreams and myth† meaning it doesn’t exist. The socius would refer the neighbor as outdated. The parable of the Good Samaritan would bring us to the reflection that if there are no beggars to be given charity in the future where humankind will no longer suffer or experience hunger, because of men’s ability to evolve technology, then there’s no place for a neighbor. People will be a part of an association and the parable and the prophecy will have lost its meaning. This would bring us to the understanding that the socius is the â€Å"man of history† meaning he can mold the olden times. On The Level of Meditation: Both the socius and the neighbor are two dimensions of relating with others, an encounter. It shows how human relationship is in the current society. The neighbor is the private relationship we share with others and the socius is the publicity we make with our colleagues. In reality, there is no safe abode in our private lives without the protection of a public administration. Therefore the neighbor emerges from the socius. But also, man is awakened when he is socially stripped. Charity is humble. It is the common intention of the socius and the neighbor, their common ground. The socius and the neighbor are the two faces of charity. It is charity that gives meaning to the social interaction and to the event of the encounter. An encounter is not dependent on history with its disputation between the socius and the neighbor. But history ropes the extent of charity.

Role of Icb in the Development of Capital Market in Bangladesh: a Performance Evaluation of Icb Sponsored Mutual Funds

INTERNSHIP REPORT Dept. of Business Administration Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. INTERNSHIP REPORT Role of ICB in the Development of Capital Market in Bangladesh: A Performance Evaluation of ICB Sponsored Mutual Funds Supervisor Ms. Nafsaniath Fathemaf Lecturer Department of Business Administration Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. Submitted By Muhamad Abul Lyse 4th Year 2nd Semester (2nd Batch) Reg No: 0099730014 Dept of Business Administration Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet Date of submission: July 06, 2006 Date July 06, 2006 It is an immense pleasure for me to certify that this internship report entitled â€Å" Role of ICB in the Development of Capital Market in Bangladesh: A performance evaluation of ICB sponsored mutual funds† submitted to the department of Business Administration, Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet is an original work done by Muhammad Abul Lyse, a student of BBA 2nd Batch of Department of Business Administration, bearing the Registration number 0099730014. He has successfully completed the internship program at Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) and prepared this report on the aforesaid title under my supervision. I wish him every success in his endeavors. Signature: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ms Nafsaniath Fathema Lecturer, Dept. of Business Administration Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology Sylhet-3114. July 06, 2006 Ms Nafsaniath Fathema Lecturer, Dept. of Business Administration Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology Sylhet-3114. Sub: Submission of internship report Dear Madam, Have the pleasure in submitting my internship report titled â€Å"Role of ICB in the Development of Capital Market in Bangladesh: A Performance Evaluation of ICB Sponsored Mutual Funds . As an integral part of my BBA degree, I have been assigned to work on the topic, with a view to well integrate the theoretical knowledge I have learned throughout my four years of study and thus to fine tune these knowledge with practical work experience in a financial institution like ICB, the pioneer and largest Investment Bank of the country. The Internship Program was very much valuable as it helped me to gain a real life experience working in a professional environment. I tried my best to get an in depth coverage of the topic and emphasized on using authentic data I am grateful to you for your kind suggestion and helpful advice in preparing this report. Once again, thank you very much indeed for giving me the opportunity to work under your kind supervision. Yours Sincerely Muhammad Abul Lyse Reg. NO: 0099730014 Department of Business Administration (2nd Batch) Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. Contents part one Chapter one : iNTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO: icb and ITS FUNTIONS CHAPTER tHREE: role OF ICB IN THE CAPITAL MARKET OF BANGLADESH CHAPTER FOUR: PERFORMANCE OF icb CHAPTER FIVE: SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES OF ICB part two CHAPTER ONE: ICB SPONSORED MUTUAL FUNDS CHAPTER TWO: findings and recommendations of an actiOn an PLAN Detailed contents pART ONE CHAPTER 1: iNTRODUCTION 1. Objective of the Study1 2. Scope of the Study1 3. Methodology of the Study2 4. Limitations of the Study4 CHAPTER TWO: ICB AND ITS FUNCTION 1. Background of the ICB5 2. Objectives5 3. Functions of ICB6 4. Business Policy7 5. Capital Structure7 6. Share Price of ICB8 7. Share holding Position of ICB9 8. Products of ICB11 9. ICB at a Glance14 10. Investors Scheme of ICB16 11. Organization Structure of ICB20 12. ICB Mutual Funds22 13. ICB Unit Funds23 14. Development Activities of ICB27 CHAPTER THREE: ROLE OF ICB IN THE CAPITAL MARKET OF BANGLADESH 3. 1 Capital Market28 3. 1. 1 Role of Capital Market in the Economic Development of a Country28 3. 1. 2 Investment Process29 3. 2 Financial Market30 3. 2. 1 Objective of the securities Market30 3. 2. 2 The Role of Government30 3. 3 Financial Market of Bangladesh31 3. 3. 1 Money Market32 3. 3. 2 The non-Securities segment of the Capital Market32 3. 3. 3 The Securities-segment of the Capital Market32 3. 4 The Elements of Security Market33 3. 5 Creating a Supply of Good Securities in Market333. 6 The Origin and development of Capital Market in Bangladesh33 . 7 The Present Scenario of Bangladesh Capital Market35 CHAPTER FOUR: PERFORMANCE OF ICB 4. 1 Role of ICB in the Capital Market of Bangladesh36 4. 2 Operational Activities of ICB41 4. 2. 1 Consideration of Applications41 4. 2. 2 Commitment42 4. 2. 3 Disbursement 46 4. 2. 4 Loan Portfolio47 4. 2. 5 Trustee, Custodian, and Issue Manager48 4. 2. 6 Lease Financing49 4. 3 Portf olio Management50 4. 4 Other Operational Activities51 4. 4. 1 Advance against ICB unit and Mutual Fund certificates Scheme51 4. 4. 2 Consumer Credit Scheme52 4. 4. 3 Merchandising Operations52 4. 4. 4 ICB Mutual Fund52 4. 4. Transaction of Securities53 4. 5 Participation in International Activities53 4. 5. 1 ICB’s involvement with South Asian Development Fund (SADF)53 4. 5. 2 Investment in South Asia Regional Fund (SARF)54 4. 6 Financial Result of ICB 55 4. 6. 1 Total Expenditure56 4. 6. 2 Net Income56 4. 6. 3 Dividend57 4. 6. 4 Some Key Financial Ratios58 CHAPTER FIVE: THREE SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES OF ICB 5. 1 Subsidiary Companies of ICB595. 2 ICB Capital Management Limited (ICML)59 5. 2. 1 Background of ICML 5. 2. 2 Vision of the Company59 5. 2. 3 Mission of the Company60 5. 2. 4 Some Salient Features of ICML investors’ Scheme60 5. . 5 Advantages of ICML Investors’ Scheme61 5. 2. 6 Margin Loan61 5. 2. 7 Financial Performance of ICML63 5. 3 ICB Asset Management Li mited (AMCL)63 5. 3 ICB Securities Trading Company Limited (ISTCL)66 PART TWO CHAPTER ONE: ICB SPONSORED MUTUAL FUNDS 1. Some key issues of Mutual funds 68 1. Definition of Mutual Funds 68 2. Types of Mutual funds 68 2. ICB Mutual Funds 69 1. Nature of Business 70 2. How to buy existing Mutual funds 70 3. Management of the funds 70 4. Assets of ICB Mutual funds 70 5. Management fee, Charge etc. 71 6. Declaration of Dividend 71 3. Operational Highlights of ICB Mutual Funds 72 4. Financial Statement Analysis of ICB’s Mutual Funds 76 1. Earnings Per Share (EPS) 76 2. Dividend Per Share 78 3. Dividend Payout Ratio 79 4. Earning Yield Ratio 80 5. Dividend Yield Ratio 81 6. Price Earning Ratio 82 CHAPTER TWO: FINDINGS AND recommendation 1. Finding about The Capital market of Bangladesh83 2. 1. 1 Lack of Confidence83 2. 1. 2 Frequent Monetary Change83 2. 1. 3 Liquidity Crisis84 2. 1. 4 Volatile Market Situation84 2. 1. 5 Absence of good Securities85 2. 1. 6 Absence of Government initiative85 2. 1. 7 Market Maker85 2. 1. 8 Awareness85 2. 1. 9 Lack of knowledge85 2. 1. 10 Mass Participation86 . 2 Findings about Investment Corporation of Bangladesh86 2. 2. 1 Services stopped by ICB86 2. 2. 2 Unfair dividend Policy of Mutual funds86 2. 2. 3 Irredeemable Mutual funds87 2. 2. 4 Absence of efficiency in Portfolio management of MF87 2. 2. 5 Lengthy Processing87 2. 3 Recommendation of an Action Plan88 2. 4 Conclusion 90 Bibliography 92 Acronym and Appendices I. Appendix : Or anagram of ICB II. Appendix: Balance Sheet and Income Statement of ICB Executive Summary Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), established in 1976, is virtually the only Investment Bank in Bangladesh. In a broader sense, ICB is both an investment Bank and Development Financial Institution. (DFI). ICB plays a pivotal role to encourage and broaden the base of investment and thereby to help to develop a vibrant capital market in Bangladesh. ICB caters to the need of institutional support to meet the equity gap of emerging new companies. ICB works with a view to mobilise savings of general public and inspires small and medium savers for investment in securities. As s single entity, Government of Bangladesh holds majority shares of ICB (i. e. 27%). With diverse functions, ICB operates on commercial basis, provides financial assistance to projects subject to their economic and commercial viability and arranges equity and loans singly or through consortium of financial institution. Functions of ICB include; purchasing of shares and debentures including placement and direct participation, managing existing mutual funds and investment accounts, providing investment counseling to investors and helping government to its divestment programs. The following report titled â€Å"The Role of ICB in the development of Capital Market in Bangladesh: A Performance Evaluation of ICB Sponsored Mutual Funds† contains a comprehensive overview of ICB with special emphasis on ICB’s role in the development of capital market in Bangladesh. Likewise, an analysis of ICB sponsored Mutual funds is made with detail financial analysis as ICB since its inception, have been performing a pioneering role in the capital market of Bangladesh by managing the portfolios of ICB’s eight mutual funds. Since 1980, ICB floated a total of eight mutual funds with paid up capital of Tk 17. 0 crore. After taken a restructuring program of ICB under Capital Market Development Program (CMDP) initiated by the government of Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and in terms of power conferred in the ICB ordinance three subsidiary companies, namely (1) ICB Capital Management Limited (2) ICB Asset Management Company Limited and (3) ICB Securities Trading Company Limited have been created and made operational to carry out merchant banking, mutual fund operations and stock brokerage functions respectively. The report is divided mainly into two parts. Part One contains a comprehensive coverage of ICB with its role in the development of capital market in Bangladesh and Part Two establishes part one by analyzing the ICB sponsored Mutual funds as ICB plays a central role in the capital market of Bangladesh by managing its eight mutual funds. Part One consists of Four Chapters. Chapter One includes the objective, scope, methodology and limitations of the study. Chapter Two describes historical background, objectives, business policies, functions, capital structure and products of ICB. Chapter Three explain the financial market and various segments of financial market of Bangladesh. The chapter also establishes the role of ICB in the development of Capital Market in Bangladesh. Chapter Four illustrates the performance of ICB. Chapter Five includes a description of three subsidiary companies of ICB. Part Two consists of two chapters. Chapter one evaluates the ICB sponsored mutual funds. This chapter initially deals with some theoretical concepts of mutual funds and then an in-depth financial performance of ICB mutual funds. Chapter two includes some findings of the study with recommendation of an action plan. The report ends with a bibliography and an appendix. Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Head and Associate professor of the Department of Business Administration of Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet and All of the Teachers of the Department especially to my supervisor Ms Nafsaniath Fathema who constantly inspired, supervised, and encouraged me with valuable advice and cooperation through the whole period of my internship Program. I would also like to express my special regards to Ms Nasreen Sultana, AGM of the Personnel Department, who allowed and gave me the opportunity to work in Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, the pioneer Investment Bank of the country. I am also highly grateful to the authority of ICB and all the AGMs of various departments who helped me a lot and cooperated me during my internship period. I am in pleasure to the express my gratitude to the internship and placement committee of the Department of Business Administration especially to the oordinator of the committee, Mohammad Imtiaz Ferdous, also the Assistant Professor of the Department of Business Administration. I would like to extend my special thanks to Ms Sharmin, Senior Principal Officer of Personnel Department, Subashis Chakrabarti, Assistant librarian of the ICB and all the respective officers of ICB for their cordial cooperation and helpful advice. As the first work of my life, I would bear this fond memory of ICB for the re st of my life. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |PART ONE | | | | | | | | |CHAPTER ONE | | | | | |INTRODUCTIONS | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1. 1 Objective of the Study Learning by doing is an effective way of acquiring knowledge. To have a real life exposure, each student of Department of Business Administration, of Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology has to carry out an internship program as an integral part of his/her BBA degree. Since, only the theoretical knowledge can not make one fit for increasing competitive situation of the world, the internship placement committee had placed me at ICB for a period of three months. Other objective of this study is as follows: ? To relate academic knowledge with real life business world. ? To have an overall idea about the role of ICB in the capital market of Bangladesh with a special emphasis on ICB sponsored Mutual Funds[1]. ? To analyse the profitability of ICB sponsored mutual funds. ? To find out prevailing drawback and lacking of ICB, if there is any, and recommend an action plan. 1. 2 Scope of the Study The scope of this report is only one organisation i. e. Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) and specially the Mutual Funds as it is the focus area of this report. It has been mentioned earlier, the main objective of the study is to analyse the role of ICB in the development of Capital market in Bangladesh with an emphasis on ICB sponsored mutual funds. The report gives an overview of ICB followed by a part on financial involvement of ICB. The report establishes the theoretical and conceptual framework comparing with which the capital market will be judged. There is one elaborate part that deals with the ICB sponsored mutual funds. The study will also present some problems of ICB observed during the internship coupled with some recommended action plan. 1. Methodology of the Study Methodology can be referred as underlying principles and rules of organization or the philosophical systems that work at the backdrop of any study. It clarifies the problems involving the research in a very ordered and systematic fashion. Strategies are det ermined at this stage for future implementation. In conducting any formal survey and preparing any research paper two kinds of data i. e. Primary Data and Secondary Data, are used. I tried my best to collect both types of data and information and have firm intention to emphasis on primary data as it is often up-to-date and more useful than any published information. Initially we collected raw data from departments of ICB and then sort out useful information relevant to my paper. Approaches and methods that have been used to prepare this report are as follows. 1. Personal interview: ICB has 25 departments and three subsidiary companies so far. I personally interviewed almost all AGMs of all departments and talked with the senior Principal Officer, principal Officer and other officer of concerned departments. 2. Briefing Session: Division heads (DGMs[2]) and department heads (AGMs) or their approved officials gave briefs about their respective departments. Information gathered from these sessions has been used in the report. 3. Published reports: a large amount of data are taken from the published sources such as ICB’s annual reports of previous years, Annual reports ICB Mutual Funds, Monthly review of Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange. 4. Selection of the sample: the sample area of this study covers the head office of ICB. Since the central financial activities are done under surveillance of the Head office of ICB, so the selection of sample of this study is justifiable. Data collected from different divisions of ICB are all equally important segments of sample used in this study. ICB as a national investment institution has added a tempo in developing the capital market of Bangladesh. As a result of this importance the selection of ICB as the sample area of this study is presumably the demand of the time. 5. Time schemes: As stated earlier since the purpose of this internship program is an exposure to practical life, the ICB management has deputed me to all the division, departments, sections and cell to acquire hand-on-experience about each of them. I have visited the departments according to the following schedule. | |Name of the Departments |From |To | |   |   | |   | |1 |Personnel Department |27. 03. 2006 |28. 03. 006 | |2 |Secretary Department |29. 03. 2006 |   | |3 |Planning research and Business development Dept. |30. 04. 2006 |09. 04. 2006 | |4 |Management Information Dept. |10. 04. 2006 |12. 04. 2006 | |5 |Securities Analysis Dept. |13. 04. 2006 |16. 04. 2006 | |6 |Investor's Dept |17. 04. 2006 |19. 04. 2006 | |7 |Shares Dept. and reconciliation Cell |20. 04. 2006 |25. 04. 2006 | |8 |Unit sales Dept. |26. 04. 006 |27. 04. 2006 | |9 |Unit registration and collection Dept. |30. 04. 2006 |02. 05. 2006 | |10 |Mutual Fund Dept. |03. 05. 2006 |07. 05. 2006 | |11 |Central Acco unts Dept. |08. 05. 2006 |10. 05. 2006 | |12 | System Analysis Dept. |14. 05. 2006 |15. 05. 2006 | |13 |Programming Dept. |16. 05. 2006 |17. 05. 2006 | |14 |Loan Appraisal Dept/Lien Cell |18. 05. 2006 |21. 05. 2006 | |15 |SAARC Cell |22. 05. 006 |—- | |16 |Project Implementation Dept. |23. 05. 2006 |—- | |17 | Loan Recovery and Monitoring Dept. |24. 05. 2006 |25. 05. 2006 | |18 |Project Loan Account Dept. |28. 05. 2006 |—- | |19 |Public Issue Dept. |29. 05. 2006 |—- | |20 |Trustee Dept. |30. 05. 2006 |31. 05. 2006 | |21 |Law Dept. |01. 06. 2006 |04. 06. 2006 | |22 |Audit and Method Dept. |05. 06. 2006 |06. 06. 2006 | |23 |Department Control Dept |07. 06. 006 |—- | |24 |Establishment Dept. |08. 06. 2006 |11. 06. 2006 | |25 |public Relation Dept. |12. 06. 2006 |—- | |26 |ICB Asset Management Company Ltd |13. 06. 2006 |15. 06. 2006 | |27 |ICB Capital Management Ltd |18. 06. 2006 |20. 06. 2006 | |28 |ICB Securities Trading Ltd |21. 06. 2006 |2 6. 06. 2006 | Table 1. 1: Schedule of working at ICB 1. 4 Limitations of the Study Limitations are obvious in any study so do here. Since this is an internship report, the limitations regarding the internship programm has acted as the limitation of the study. The findings we figured out, and the recommendation we made may not be 100% accurate and may not represent the exact situation. Eventually, in completion of my study, a number of constraints and limitations I faced. These can be considered as follows: ? Performance analysis of ICB and its mutual funds may not represent the current condition of the organisation and its mutual funds as all the analysis are based on the data of June 30, 2005. Since the current year financial disclosures are not public yet, so the analysis is a little backdated. ? Officials of ICB maintain a very busy schedule. So they were not always able to provide enough time to enrich the intern students every time, even if they had the intention to do so. ? Due to security reasons and organizational privacy we didn’t have access to some core areas of ICB. ? I had to go almost every department of ICB during my three months internship programm at ICB. Three months is a very short span of time to get an in-depth knowledge about a giant organization like ICB. ? The area covered by the report â€Å"The role of ICB in the development of Capital Market in Bangladesh: A Performance Evaluation of ICB Mutual Funds† concerns a huge a number of activities and it is very difficult to sketch a total picture of the financial activities in a report of this short scale. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |CHAPTER TWO | | | | | |ICB AND ITS FUNCTIONS | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2. 1 Background of the ICB The investment corporation of Bangladesh (I CB) was established on 1st October 1976, under â€Å"The Investment Corporation of Bangladesh ordinance, 1976† (no XL of 1976). The establishment of ICB was a major step in a series of measures undertaken by the Government to accelerate the pace of industrialization and to develop a well organized and vibrant capital market particularly securities market in Bangladesh. ICB caters to the need of institutional support to meet the equity gap of the companies. In view of the national policy of accelerating the rate of savings and investment to foster self –reliant economy, ICB assumes an indispensable and pivotal role. Through the enactment of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (Amendment) Act 2000 (no 24 of 2000), reforms[3] in operational strategies and business policies have been implemented by establishing and operating subsidiary companies with ICB as the holding company. 2. 2 Objective As the country’s Pioneer Investment Bank, ICB has been working to assist the small investors in mobilizing their savings. ICB works with a view to broaden the base of the investment of the country, ensure mass participation of general people in the capital market and thus to contribute towards the GDP of Bangladesh. ? To encourage and broaden the base of investments ? To develop the capital market ? To mobilise savings ? To promote and establish subsidiary companies for business expansion. ? To provide for matters 2. 3 Functions of ICB To develop the capital market of Bangladesh, and mobilise the savings of small investors, ICB carry out a range of diversified functions. With a solid view to foster and accelerate the economic growth of the country, ICB provides all sorts of financial services to the potential sector. Ensuring equal distribution of economic benefits gained by the economy among the grass root level is one of the main objectives of ICB. Various functions of ICB can be mentioned as follows. Unlike any other financial institutions, ICB maintains a portfolio of the government comprised of different securities of listed companies and helps government advising regarding fiscal and monetary policy of the country. As a market maker it floats mutual funds, issues unit certificates, underwrites securities and manages issuance of securities. | | | |Underwriting of initial public offering of shares and debentures | | |Underwriting of right issue of shares | |Basic |Direct purchase of shares and debentures including Pre-I[4]PO placement and equity participation | |Functions |Providing lease finance to industrial machinery and other equipments singl y or by forming syndicate | |Of |Managing investors' Accounts | | |Managing Open End and Closed End Mutual Funds[5] | |ICB |Operating on the Stock Exchanges | | |Providing investment counseling to issuers and investors | | |Participating in government investment program | | |Participating in and financing of, joint-venture projects | | |Dealing in other matters related to capital market operations | | |Trusty, Custodian, Bank Guarantee | | |Consumer Credit | 2. 4 Business Policy The corporation has adopted a realistic business policy framework within which its operation is conducted. The corporation, acts on commercial consideration with due regard to the interest of industry, commerce, depositors, investors and to the public in general. | | | | |To provide financial assistance to projects subject to their economic and commercial viability. | |Business |To arrange consortium of financial institutions including merchant banks to provide equity support to | |Policy |projects and thereby spread the risk of underwriting. | |Of |To develop and encourage entrepreneurs. | |ICB |To diversify investments in securities. | |To create employment. | | |To encourage Investment in IT sector. | | |To encourage Investment in joint venture capital/project. | 2. 5 Capital Structure | Capital Structure of ICB -as on June 30, 2005 (Tk in crore) | |Authorised capital |100. 00 | |Paid up capital |50. 00 | |Reserve |84. 11 | |Retained profit |5. 6 | |Long term govt. Loan |5. 25 | |Debentures |61. 80 | |Others |24. 89 | |Total |231. 41 | Source: Drawn based on the data of ICB Annual Repo rt 2004-2005 Figure 2. 1 Capital Structure of ICB Share price of ICB Share price of for the last year was as follows: Fig 2. 2: 2. 7 Share holding Position of ICB Equity participation from a range of institution along with the government of Bangladesh has made the capital structure of ICB as a unique. Nationalised banks, Private commercial banks, Bangladesh Bank including the general public have ownership in ICB. |Shareholding position of ICB (as on June 30,2005) | |Shareholder |No. of share holder |No. of shares |Percentage | |Governments of Bangladesh |1 |1350000 |27. 00 | |Nationalised Commercial Banks |4 |1137220 |22. 4 | |Development Financial Institution |2 |681550 |13. 63 | |Insurance Companies |3 |618286 |12. 37 | |Bangladesh Bank |1 |600000 |12. 00 | |Denationalized Private Com Banks |2 |454263 |9. 08 | |Private Commercial Banks |3 |28286 |0. 7 | |Foreign Commercial Banks |2 |26531 |0. 53 | |First BSRS Mutual Fund |1 |6900 |0. 14 | |Other Institution |9 |26949 |0. 54 | |General Public |927 |70015 |1. 54 | | Total|955 |5000000 |100. 00 | Table 2. 2: Shareholding Position of ICB Source: Annual Report 2004-2005 [pic] Figure: 2. 3 Shareholding position of ICB 2. 8 Products of ICB Private Placements ICB is authorized to act as an agent of the issuers and investors for private placements of securities. Under this arrangement, ICB places securities to individuals/institutions on behalf of the issuer for which it charges fees. ICB also acquires shares/securities for its own portfolio both in pre-IPO placement and equity investment. Underwriting[6] In order to raise long term equity from the primary market, the government bodies, enterprises, corporations or companies may seek intermediary assistance from ICB in the form of underwriting. Because of its long and proven experience, reputation, asset back up and established network of regional offices, ICB is in an excellence position to attract the potential investors to the proposed issue of shares, debentures and other securities for successful flotation of IPO and placement. Custodian and Banker to the Issues To act as the custodian to the public issue of Open-end & Closed-end Mutual Funds, ICB provides professional services. It also acts as the Banker to the issues and provides similar services through the network of its branches. Fees in this regard are negotiable. Mergers and Acquisitions Companies willing to expand their business through mergers or acquisitions or o divestment projects that no longer viable into present capacity of operation can contact the Corporation. ICB provides professional services & advices in respect of shaping up the cost and financial structures to ensure best possible operational results. Besides, in case of divestment, the corporatio n, through network and established business relationship, bring buyers and sellers together, help them to negotiate final agreement and advice on the emerging corporate structure. Advance against Unit Certificates Scheme Advance against ICB Unit Certificates Scheme was introduced in 1998, especially designed for the ICB unit- holders to meet their emergency fund requirements. One can borrow maximum Tk. 5 per unit by depositing his/her unit certificates under lien arrangement from any of the ICB offices where from such unit certificates were issued. The rate of interest on the loan is reasonable and competitive. Corporate Financial Advice Government enterprises and Companies intending to go public issue often seek professional & financial advice on corporate restructuring & reengineering. ICB through its expertise provide such services through its expertise. Lease[7] Financing ICB Provides lease finance mainly for procurement of industrial machinery, equipment and transport. ICB prov ides professional advice and financial assistance to the intending clients. The period of lease, rental, charges, and other terms and conditions are determined on the basis of type of assets and the extent of assistance required by the applicants. Since introduction of this scheme in 1999, good responses have been received from the intending lessees. Trustee to the debenture and Securities assets ICB is acting as a trustee to the debenture issues and asset-backed securitised bonds. ICB acted as trustee to the issues of 17 companies of which 7 companies has been redeemed successfully. Bank Guarantee scheme ICB introduced Bank Guarantee scheme in 2002-03. ICB provides (i) Bid Bond for enabling the business people to participate in any tender or bidding; ii) Performance Bond for helping the business community to continue their business smoothly by fulfilling their obligations promised by them to their clients; and (iii) Customs Guarantee for solving different disagreements between the customs authority and the business classes at the initial stage. The maximum limit of guarantee is Tk. 2. 00 crore and would be issued against at east 20% cash and 80% easily encashable securities or against 100% cash margin. Re-guarantee from other financial institution is required for guarantee against the amount exceeding Tk. 2. 00 crore. Consumer Credit Scheme As part of business diversification program, ICB has introduced â€Å"Consumers Credit Scheme† in 2003-04 considering at the need of various household commodities of different employees of govt. , semi-govt. autonomous bodies and some established private sector organizations. Under this scheme one can enjoy minimum Tk 1. 0 lac but maximum 5 lac credit facilities. The rate of interest on the loan is reasonable and competitive which is fixed by the board of directors of ICB considering the bank rate and with the guidelines of Bangladesh Bank. 2. 9 ICB at a Glance |Particulars |Cumulative up to June 30, 2005 (Tk in Crore) | |Authorized Capital |100. 00 | |Paid up Capital |50. 0 | |Financial Assistance to projects (Commitment) | | |No of projects |431 | |Amount |536. 87 | |Disbursement of project loan | | |No of projects |308 | |Amount |114. 2 | |Trustee to debenture issue | | |No of companies |17 | |Amount |184. 15 | |Trustee to issue of bonds | | |No of companies |5 | |Amount |134. 6 | |Custodian/Trustee to issue of Mutual Funds | | |No of funds |4 | |Amount |60. 00 | |Manager to the issue | | |No of companies |41 | |Amount |104. 9 | |Lease financing | | |No of projects |34 | |Amount sanctioned |92. 93 | |Public Issue (ICB Assisted) | | |No of companies |111 | |Size of issue (General public) |368. 3 | |ICB Investors’ scheme | | |No of accounts opened |77207 | |Investment made |760. 82 | |ICB Mutual Funds | | |Number |8 | |Capital fund |17. 0 | |Total market value of investment |67. 66 | |Dividend per certificate in eight mutual funds for the year 2004-2005, ranges | | |from Tk 15 to Tk 210) | | |ICB unit fund | | |Gross sale |940. 8 | |Rate of dividend for the year 2004-05=Tk12 per certificate | | |ICB’s Transaction in the Stock Exchanges including subsidiaries | | |DSE |769. 90 | |CSE |268. 73 | Financial Results (For the year 2004-05) (Tk in crore) |Income |170. 38 | |Net profit after Tax |21. 3 | |Dividend (Tk per share) |12 | |Manpower (as on June 0,2005) |396 | |No of shareholders ( as on June 30, 2005) |955 | 2. 10 Investors Scheme of ICB Investor scheme is one of the core functions of ICB. Through investors’ scheme, ICB ensures Participation of small investors in the capital market of Bangladesh. The Investors' Scheme was introduced in 1977 with the objective of broadening the base of equity investment through mobilising savings of small and medium size savers for investment in the securities market. In addition to Head Office, Investment Accounts are also operated at the 7 branch offices of ICB located at Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet, and Bogra. However in view of strategic changes in policy reform, from 01 July 2002 ICB stopped opening new accounts and ICB Capital Management Ltd. started opening and managing investment accounts. ICB will continue to provide services to its existing accounts only. Table 2. 3: Comparative operational activities of the investors’ scheme in 2004-2005 and 2003-2004 |Particulars |04-05 |03-04 |Increase/Decrease |Cum as on June 30, 2005 | | | | |(%) | | |No. f accounts opened | — | — | — |72207 | |No. of accounts closed |807 |776 |4. 26 |28327 | |No. of net operative accounts |48880 |49687 |-1. 62 |48880 | |Deposit received |22. 7 |27. 31 |-16. 62 |314. 87 | |Loans disbursed |159. 5 |58. 73 |171. 58 |707. 8 | |Investment Made |118. 26 |62. 91 |87. 98 |760. 82 | |Interest accrued |25. 09 |30. 48 |-17. 68 |— | |Interest waived |19. 06 |31. 26 |-39. 03 |55. 52 | |Recovery of margin Loans |179. 6 |103. 14 |74. 13 | —| |Fund withdrawal |40. 18 |13. 09 |206. 95 | —| Further steps were undertaken to enhance the quality and speedy service under the scheme like computerization of all activities and installation of merchandizing operation management software. This enables the management to offer better and quick service to the investors including instant supply of the financial statement, portfolio, balance of the accounts, etc. Installation of telephone banking system in Investors' Account enabling investors to collect information and operate their account over telephone was at the final stage of operations. Besides, installation of Electronic display system of DSE online trading on the floor of ICB has been set up. Through investors’ scheme ICB provides the following services. Authority of Operation An account may be operated by the account holder himself/herself or he/she may authorize to another A/c. holder of investors account of ICB by written consent in the prescribed form, some one else to operate the account on his/her behalf. In case of joint account holders, account may be operated by single or joint signatories or by authorised operator. Margin Loan Presently ICB grants loan up to two times i. e. at the ratio of 1:3 against the deposits of account holder(s) subject to a maximum of Tk. 3, 00,000. 00 to an account. However, management of ICB, at its discretion, may limit such loan. Loans are repayable as per repayment schedule given by ICB. In the event of default of loan repayment, the outstanding amount may be recovered by sale of securities held in the account. Portfolio Management The account holder may use his/her equity and the loan to buy securities which ICB keeps as collateral. Purchase and sale orders are executed by ICB within the shortest possible time, subject to the availability of fund in the account and scope of matching of buyers/sellers and securities in the stock exchanges. An account holder or his/her authorized person may place purchase/sale execution order in the prescribed form, indicating whether, the order is a limit order i. e. an specifying the max. /min. rice at which he/she is willing to buy /sale, or at a market price i. e. without any limit of price. The purchase and sale orders are valid for seven and ten days respectively, if not revalidated / cancelled otherwise by the account operator. Withdrawal of Securities/Funds All or any amount of fund or securities may be withdrawn from an accou nt subject to keeping of minimum credit balance of Tk. 5000. 00 in cash or in securities to keep the account running alive. Application against IPO All activities relating to application for securities and collection of allotment letter / refund warrant and certificates, as the case may be, against the IPO[8] are done by ICB on behalf of account holder. Collection of Securities and Benefits Right shares, bonus shares, dividends, interest, converted shares etc. accruing to an account are collected by ICB from the respective companies. Registration and custodial services Registration of shares/ securities with the company is made before the closure of the company's share / debenture transfer book, after completing all the required formalities, on behalf of the account holder. Volt and other custodial arrangement for assets of the account are provided by ICB. Counseling and data support In order to develop diversified and balanced portfolio to minimize risk and maximize profit, ICB provides professional advice to its clients. Data support in the form of securities analysis sheet, daily purchase/ sale position, statement and portfolio of each account, etc. are provided on demand and on regular interval. Income Incomes from investments by way of dividend, interest, bonus shares, capital gains etc. are credited to the respective account. Expense Interest on loan (currently-12. 5%) and brokerage (0. 5% for non CDS & 0. 5250% for CDS) on sale/ purchase of securities are charged to the respective account. To encourage the small and medium savers, ICB at present does not charge fees for most of the services rendered by ICB to its customers, including fees for management, investment advice, custodial service(for non CDS securities),etc. Closing of Account An account may be closed by written order subject to settlement of fees & dues, if any. There is no provision of revival of a closed account. Risk Management Risks of investments in the securities market are minimized through prudent & professional portfolio management. 2. 11 Organization Structure of ICB Management of ICB The head office of the corporation as per the requirement of the ordinance of ICB is located at Dhaka. The board of directors of ICB is very much rich as it consists of distinguished professional and managing director of other organization. The Board consists of 11 members including the Chairman and Managing Director. The Board of Directors consists of the following members. The Chairman and Managing Director (MD) are to be appointed by the government o The directors to be appointed by the government from among persons serving under the government. o One Director to be appointed by the Bangladesh Bank o The Managing Director of Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (BSB), ex offi ce. o The Managing Director of Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Shnagsta (BSRS) o Four other directors to be elected by the shareholders other than the government. ICB- its Divisions and Departments Investment Corporation of Bangladesh split, into 25 departments and 11 divisions in its head office. Beside that ICB has seven branches in different districts. These are situated at Dhaka (local office), Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Bogura and Barisal. ICB is functionally divided into two broad wings. One is operations wing and another is Administrative wing. The functions of operational wings involve the activities of project Financing, Planning Research and Business Development, Lunching Unit and Mutual Funds (launching if new funds is now stopped and currently the function is accomplished by ICB Asset Management Ltd), transaction and maintenance of Investor Accounts. The function of administrative Wing involve the activities of Account and Finance, Legal affairs, Implementation and Recovery, Project Implementation, Law and Public Issue. It is mentioned earlier, that ICB consists of 11 Divisions and 25 departments. The following table lists all the divisions and departments of ICB. An appendix at the pf the report contains the full Organ gram of ICB. Table 2. 4 |Division |Department | |A. Administration |01. Personel | | |02. Establishment | |B. Loan Appraisal |03. Loan Appraisal | | |04. Economic and Business Research | | |05. Securities Analysis | |C. Legal Affairs |06. Public Issue | | |07. Law | |D. Merchandising |08. Investors’ | | |09. Shares | | |10. Transaction | |E. Funds |11. Unit sales | | |12. Unit Registration and Procurement | | |13. Mutual Funds | |F. Computer |14. System Analysis | | |15. Programming | | |16. Management Information System | |G. Audit And Methods |17. Audit And Methods (Head Office) | | |18. Audit And Methods (Branches) | |H. Accounts and Finance |19. Central Accounts | | |20. Project Loan Accounts | |I. Implementation |21. project Implementation | | |22. Recovery and Follow-up | |J. Secretary’s |23. Secretary’s | | |24. Public Relation | |K. Branch and Subsidiaries control Division |25. Branch Control Department | 2. 11 ICB Mutual Funds It is a recognized principle that diversification of investment reduces risk. An individual may not have the time, expertise and resources to undertake such diversification. Here arises the advantage of a Mutual Fund. Mutual Funds pool the savings of a great number of investors and make investments in a wide array of securities. In Bangladesh ICB has pioneered Mutual Funds for the sake of investors and of the capital market. Mutual Funds are also known as close ended Mutual Funds. The issued capital of a Mutual Fund is limited, that is, a Mutual Fund offers a limited number of certificates for sale to the public. The amount of capital and the number of certificates of each Mutual Fund remains unchanged. ICB Mutual Funds are independent of one another. Price of Mutual Fund certificates after IPO is determined on the Stock Exchanges through interaction of supply and demand. The market price of a Mutual Fund certificates is available in Stock exchange quotations and in newspapers. An investor can purchase any of the existing eight ICB Mutual Funds certificates through the Stock Exchanges at the prevailing Market Price. The Mutual Funds are managed by ICB as fund manager for which receives commission @1%. ICB Mutual Funds Certificates holders shall have unfettered ownership in the assets of the Fund to which they are related. In case of winding up of the Corporation the assets belonging to any ICB Mutual Fund shall not be treated as the assets of the Corporation. At present management fee @ 1% on the paid up capital of the Fund is charged annually. No amount is charged on account of custodial and trust services. The net income received on investments of Funds on account of dividend, bonus, interest, capital gain etc. are distributed amongst the Certificate Holders as per decision of the Board of Directors of ICB. Board declares such income in the form of dividend at the end of July each year. Dividends declared by ICB in the past on the Mutual Funds were very attractive. A detail analysis on ICB sponsored mutual fund will be followed on the second part of the report. 2. 12 ICB Unit Fund Sponsored by the Government of Bangladesh, ICB Unit Fund was established on April 10, 1981. Its main objective is to mobilize savings through sale of its units to small investors and invest these funds in marketable securities. The scheme provides a potential source of equity and debt to industrial and commercial concerns and thus contributes to the industrial development of the country. Unit fund is an open ended Mutual Fund. It provides an opportunity to the unit holders to invest their funds in a well managed and diversified portfolio with a high degree of security of capital and reasonable yearly returns. Investment in Units is safe and ensures a continuous and regular source of income for the holders. Units are easily encashable. As such, investment in Unit is comparatively more attractive. By investing in this scheme an investor may derive personal benefit on the one hand and also contribute towards the economic development of the country on the other. ICB units are securities within the meaning of Trust Act. 1882. Issue, Transfer and Surrender of Unit Certificates (I) Units are available in 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, & 5000 denominations. The names with addresses of the holders are recorded and dividends are dispatched to them accorded and dividends are dispatched to them accordingly. II) Units may be transferred through prescribed transfer form duly filled in and signed by the transferor and transferee. No stamp duty is required for such transfers. (III) Units may be encased by way of surrendering the certificates along with the prescribed surrender forms duly filled in and sig ned by the registered holders and no prior notice is required. The certificates are required to be surrendered at the prevailing Repurchase Price. Price Fixation: Changes in repurchase prices of units are notified through the newspapers and price of a Unit is fixed periodically by ICB as its fund manager. Among others, valuation of the assets of the Fund is taken into consideration while fixing price of a unit. Public Participation The Fund is divided into units which are generally known as â€Å"ICB Unit†. Each Unit bears a certain value in the assets of the Fund. The Unit holders are the owners of the fund and only they are benefited from it. Unit certificates can be purchased in single or joint name (s). At present maximum of 10,000 Units can be purchased in a single or joint name(S) at a time. Units are not sold to institutions. Professional Counseling Professional Counseling is rendered to the prospective & existing investors who are eager to purchase ICB Units through ICB offices and authorized Bank branches. Presently this scheme is operated by ICB Asset Management Company Limited. Investment by Bangladeshi Citizens Abroad The Bangladeshi citizens living abroad may invest in certificates on fulfillment of the following terms and conditions: (I) The value of Units purchased is to be remitted through bank channel, (II) The money invested in Units and benefits thereon are not allowed to be repatriated, (III) The investors must mention their local and bank addresses in Bangladesh for convenience of registration of Units. Investment by Foreigners Residing in Bangladesh The foreign nationals residing in Bangladesh may also invest in Unit Certificates, provided they produce certificates to the effect that money being invested are their own savings and is not borrowed as loan or overdraft from any bank. These certificates are to be collected from a Gazetted Officer or a Banker not below the rank or Deputy General Manager. Fund Management The responsibility of managing the fund rests on ICB for which management fee @ Tk. 1. 25 per Unit (net outstanding) is charged. The Corporation also discharges the responsibility of loading and unloading of securities in and from the portfolio in the interest of the Unit holders. It is also the custodian of all assets of the fund. Dividend The total income earned on investment/ deployment of funds, net of expenditures incurred, in a financial year is distributed among the unit holders as dividend. Dividend is normally declared at the end of July each year by the Board of Directors of ICB. Dividend Warrants are dispatched soon after declaration of dividend. Since launching of the scheme in 1981 till FY 2004-05 the rates of yearly dividend declared/ paid are as under: Figure 2. 4: dividend performance of ICB unit fund The graph shows that the fund provides an attractive cash dividend each year to the highest of 25% in 1988-89 and to the lowest of 11. 01% in 2004-2005. Figure 2. 5: Dividend yield on ICB unit fund The graph shows a dividend yield on opening price of the unit fund. Tax Benefits (I) Investment in Units enjoys the benefit of Investment Allowance under Sec. 44 of Income Tax ordinance 1984. (II) Units are treated as approved securities in accordance with the Section 2993 of the Companies Act. 1994 and Insurance Act,   1938. These are also treated as Securities as per Sec. 20 of the Trust Act, 1882. Cumulative Investment Plan (CIP) Under this scheme a holder instead of receiving dividend may reinvest such dividend income accrued for purchasing Unit at a confessional rate. In such case, Units are issued at Tk. 1. 00 less than t he opening price of the financial year. 2. 13 Development Activities of ICB Equity support through consortium arrangement ICB inve

Rape of Nanking essays

Rape of Nanking essays Although many people thought that the World War II started in Europe, it actually had roots in Asia with the rape of Nanking. Between December of 1937 and March 1938, at least 369,366 Chinese civilians and prisoners of war (POWs) were slaughtered by the invading Japanese troops. An estimated 80,000 women and girls were raped; many of them were then mutilated or murdered. Thousands of victims were beheaded, burned, bayoneted, buried alive, or disemboweled. To this day the Japanese government has refused to apologize for these and other World War II atrocities, and a significant sector of Japanese society denies that they took place at all. It all started in the early 1930s when Japan began its industrial revolution. They were made up of 142,270 square miles, much of it barren, and they had to feed over 6 million mouths. What they couldnt understand and believed was unfair was the fact that other countries such as Australia and Canada have more than 3 million square miles to feed 6.5 million people each. They fought the injustice of it all since these countries werent even making the most of the land that they had like the Japanese were. The Japanese felt China their manifest destiny as America did the west many years ago. They felt they needed to free Asia and allow them to prosper, since they were considered the 3rd largest power in the world at the time. With all the new technology that Japan has now, the Japanese government found itself anxious to use it to build a better society. But there was great influence by the people to use the nations military superiority over its neighbors. They wanted to start a foreig n conquest. And so it was. Every economical and political obstacle to Japans divine mission was destroyed and the plan to free Asia was underway. In 1932, a group of naval officers launched a terrorist attack in Tokyo that killed Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi and attempte...

#8220;Analytical Essay Sample on Gender Norms Based on #8220;#8221;The Last Man#8221;#8221; #8220;

#8220;Analytical Essay Sample on Gender Norms Based on #8220;#8221;The Last Man#8221;#8221; #8220; Introduction Gender is simply defined as the cultural and social construction of masculinity or feminity (Perry 8). This definition is not only enough when talking about gender as the term encompasses several factors like sexual orientation, common appearance and even forms of communication. However, this being a very wide term has led to formation of stereotype implying that men and women have to adhere to some gender roles for them to be seen socially as fit and hence some recognition in the society. In opposition to this stereotype which I believe it intends to impose and force some roles basing on gender hence favoring one gender or another. Women gender norms in the society The topic of women gender norms in the society is very instrumental in shaping up the society which is a building block to the nation. Therefore, when talking about gender roles there are various ideologies that arise hence emergency of stereotypes. This influences the way a group of people will behave and act in order to be accepted in a given gender group. For example, there has been a stereotype on how a perfect woman and man should look like. One who does not subscribe to these activities is seen as an outcast and thus not accepted in the society. Not that this attributes are from the holy book of God but just by man as observed from televisions, magazines and advertisements. In other words, for a woman to be considered perfect, it involves beauty in shape, dependent, caretaker, housewife, respectful, loving and nurturing. This is not true as one cannot possess all these characteristics at ago. Depending on the outcome the society will either reject or hold an individual. On the other hand, a perfect man is considered to be strong, masculine and a provider. According to Vaughan in the book The Last Man (Vaughan 22), he dwells on the positive ideology concerning women where he represents women as being strong physically as opposed to the stereotype of them being weaker sex. This is clearly brought out when Yorick is beaten almost to death by a woman who fights impressively disabling them. In addition, to this we are informed that women show the ability of leading armies and nations. They also demonstrate intelligence in the biological research where they lead from the front. In this case the stereotype of women being cooperative is not true as they turn out to have more convincing power than men hence outdoing them. An example of this from the last man is when Women like Rep Brown and Rose are concerned for the common good (Vaughan 66). Chauvinistic stereotype of men is also demonstrated when Yorick who is a staunch traditionalist believes that there is nothing a woman can do but instead he ends up being held by a supermodel lady with a gun. Instead of fearing for his life he thinks the woman is after raping him as he assumes she is a weaker sex (Vaughan 47). This is not true as the supermodel is not interested sexually but she is after killing him. Another stereotype disapproved in the comic book is the one of women being peace loving and cooperative than men. On contrary Yorick becomes surprised to learn that the militias of republican wives are demanding for their husbands. This just shows that whenever women want something that they believe is rightfully theirs they will push very hard to get it. Despite of several criticisms the book still holds on traditional and artistic norms which reinforce stereotypes concerning gender. The relationship between Yorick and Beth is related to dating norms of medieval operation. Yorick here is portrayed as a knight who has to endure so many things in order to reach his beloved one. This tells us man is meant to be the seeker and provider which is not the case any longer as presently it is either way. Another gender norm that surfaces is feminism. This comes out in this comic book when all the women including Agent 355 having colored lips, which not even a single man in the story dares to have. Literary in the current situations which kind of man will have time for lipsticks; hence signifying this character is meant for women. The comic medium here is based on paint differentiating between men and women. (Vaughan 105). The ideology in the book continues to suppress the gendered norms of tradition. This is because from the book we learn that oppositional ideologies will still be persisting at least in one way or another. Even though there is evolution in the way society perceives gender some norms cannot completely be eliminated. Ironically there is a justification of women being perceived as subjects for sex. When we are told that the truck super model posed with her gaze to right, nipples protruding towards the observers. This simply justifies that it is women who have to attract to their side by showing what they have and not the other way round. Conclusion This being a very intriguing topic needs a sober approach during the discussion depending on one’s experience and information from the available literature.

A Study Of The Indigenous People Of The Masai And Samburu Rite Of Passage And How The National Government Can Play A Role In Preserving The Culture Of The Two Communities

A Study Of The Indigenous People Of The Masai And Samburu Rite Of Passage And How The National Government Can Play A Role In Preserving The Culture Of The Two Communities Traditions practiced by the Indigenous people, like the Samburu and Maasai, can be very questionable to us foreigners. After this week’s readings and videos, I feel that I can relate and understand them more though. What I found most intriguing were the rites of passages between the Samburu and Maasai. Although I cannot emphasize with the men and women of the tribes, I understand their devotion to the community’s traditions and culture. I also want to discuss throughout this essay is national governments involvement in the indigenous culture and community. There are different sides as to whether or not the government should encourage pastoralist to be more sedentary and I hope to come to my own conclusive thoughts by the end of the essay. The rites of passages for boys and girls of both indigenous tribes that we’ve read about are cruel and harmful, but they also come with a much greater reward. Maasai boys who go through circumcisions are taught that it is the only way to become a man and a full member of the indigenous society. Girls are treated much differently in the Maasai culture. Maasai girls think that they have no choice and no power when it comes to their family and tradition. In the circumcise traditions we can blatantly see the gendered divisions. I understand the traditional sense of circumcision for males and females, but I never knew about female circumcision. In America male circumcision is much more common therefore it makes sense why I understand it more. The one aspect I do not agree with in the tradition of circumcision is the pain that both boys and girls have to go through. While the actually process is only a couple of minutes, post procedure seems unbearable and disturbing. I don’t think a tradition should be followed if death is possible, but maybe that is what makes it worth it in the indigenous culture. The indigenous communities hold a lot of spiritual beliefs and follow what we might believe are myths, but does that make it wrong? One big sense I developed this week is how black and white our cultures can be. When one individual does not follow the same path as their community then they are outcast and that seems to be true in the indigenous culture and American culture. Girls who decide against their family and societal traditions are treated unfairly, but boys are treated somewhat differently. Boys who are educated, for example, or gone at school during the rites of passages still have the option to become a man and be accepted in their community. These initiations come with many privileges as well such as marriage. Another gendered difference is the processes for illiterate women. Illiterate women must go through a complete circumcision while educated men can wait. I also noticed the portrayed female stereotype in the indigenous society. Women are seen as sexual objects that must be contained and treated. Circumcision is supposed to heal girls to become mature, clean, and acceptable for marriage. This procedure, for women, is supposed to maintain their sexual appetites and unwanted pregnancies, but why not for the men? Some women would rather go to extremes like unsafe abortions than tell their family and be treated like outcast. In many of the traditional initiations, animals are involved. I have a soft spot for animals and so I understand government influences but it is difficult to ignore the indigenous culture and practices. I think a sedentary lifestyle is much more preferred in our American culture, but we don’t always think about how it will effect their lifestyle and social lives in the indigenous culture. By killing lions, for example, it expresses a boys transition to manhood, but also decides his role in the community. If a boy is unable to kill, hunt, or drink the blood of an animal they are basically worthless to the society. If government were to restrict their practices and traditions they could destroy the indigenous social life. I do not think the government should be able to control a community’s traditions or religious beliefs, but simply advocate. I don’t think we should mandate an entire culture because it does not comply with the majority. Pastoralists of Africa rely heavily on their agriculture for mobility, trades, and mass productivity of their herds as well. Livestock is the main cause for poverty in Africa. For a while, pastoralists were unable to out insurance, but now there is a way for both pastoralist and financial institutions to. The solution can only be passed and initiated through the government though. It should be the government’s duty to provide communal grazing land and water resources. These should be rights to the indigenous people and engrained in the law. I think if the government were to provide these resources then the indigenous communities can pursue a nomadic daily life. As much as I think the government should not be allowed to dictate traditional and religious practices, I also think it might be necessary for a solution. I respect the indigenous traditions because they rely solely on their community and family to reproduce these traditions with intense emotions. Unfortunately these undeveloped countries also need government assistance to pursue and reciprocate their traditions. I think if the indigenous people had the resources and education they would also comprehend the agriculture dilemmas they face and the positive reinforcements that the government can provide.

Design SSRD (single subject research design) in early childhood Essay

Design SSRD (single subject research design) in early childhood - Essay Example The child who participated in this study, Lulu, attends a daycare three days a week from 7am to 5pm. At the time of the study, Lulu was 24 months old. Lulu’s family has a diverse background. Her father is from Middle Eastern descent and speaks Arabic and English. Her mother is from European descent and she speaks Russian and English. In daycare Lulu is only exposed to English and baby sign. Lulu met the criteria for a normal developing child according to the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Lulu’s overall development is age appropriate in motor skills, social-emotional, and self-help. Lulu’s language is age appropriate. Lulu is very sociable and enjoys talking to other children and adults. Lulu knows that when she is around family she can speak either Arabic or Russian. She knows to use English at daycare and with new people that she meets The dependent variable was Lulu’s verbal language. Lulu uses several of Arabic, Russian, and English words. For example she says water in Arabic only (mai) and the ball she always says it in Russian (mathci). She says night night if she is sleepy and wants to go to bed in addition to Baba, Mama, bye, milk and auntie. Lulu uses around 100 single words and she uses two to three word phrases. Also, she uses sounds to point for things that she do not know their names or it is difficult to say such as, oi oi oi if she wants us to open something for her. After the study we would like to see Lulu continue expanding her verbal language The research team will observe Lulu for 30 days. The researcher will count the number of verbal words that she uses and the number of baby sign used. The measurement would be event sampling of parent use of baby sign language. The researchers will use a checklist of parent implementation of baby sign. The baseline would be Lulu’s use of verbal language with people without mom using baby sign. During the B condition (intervention) mom will use baby sign.

Marketing analysis - industries, trends and competition Thesis

Marketing analysis - industries, trends and competition - Thesis Example (Charles, 100) Some of the services offered by contractors are professional services that have been traditionally offered by A/E consultants for a long time. A/E consultants, faced with contractors taking away a large slice of the professional service pie, must defend their market shares, and expand their service base. This expansion will require A/H consultants to add new non-traditional services specifically tailored to the front end and back ends of M. Charles. Congress Approves New Design/Build Law. (Civil Engineering 2006) Pg100. the project cycles. Services in these segments include financing assistance, permitting, regulatory assistance, life cycle cost analysis, operation and maintenance (O&M) and renovation services. Marketing professional and construction services in the new millennium is not a simple task anymore. Architects in the past have relied heavily on their reputation and name recognition to get jobs. Consulting engineers relied on the 80/20 rule (80 percent of bus iness comes from 20 percent of clients), to drum-up business, and general contractors fell back on low bids in competitive bidding. (Friednian, 173) These techniques have worked in the past. However, recent shift in the project delivery system, and advancement in communication technology, necessitate that corporations look closely at their marketing efforts in the 21st Century. As general contractors move into the professional service arena, they seize market shares from A/E consultants. A/E consultants must react in any of the following three ways. They must reinforce existing market niche (services and clients). Develop marketing plans focused on client's retention (holding to market shares). Restructure their organizations to offer flexibility in the people and services (new services). The US construction market is a sizable lucrative market, and presents unique opportunities for foreign firms to set up local subsidiaries to actively pursue work. There Friednian, W. Construction Marketing and Strategic Planning. McGraw-Hill, Inc., NY. 2004, Pg172-173. are indications that foreign firms have successfully penetrated the heavy civil and highways public works markets in California, Massachusetts, and Florida. Forensic Construction Forensic construction involves the utilization of science in making decisions for legal disputes about buildings that have been constructed; chiefly involve the kind and quality of the building material, style and labor job. (Humphreys, 02) The design/build method, at-risk construction management, and the build-operate transfer (BOT) methods, have emerged as innovative alternatives to the competitive bidding method to deliver projects on time and on budget. This has resulted in a major shift in project delivery, challenging the conventional thinking, revolutionizing procurement of projects, and redefining the construction process. Trends for the 21st century are: Paradigm shift in the project delivery system. Refocus on the front end and back ends of project cycle. The construction market is becoming a service marketplace, rather than a commodity marketplace. Emphasis on life cycle costs (LCC), and total costs of a project. K, Humphreys.K. Jelen's Cost and Optimization Engineering, McCraw Hill, Inc., NY. 2008. Pg 1-2. Emphasis on value of

Organizational Behavior Forces Discussion Term Paper

Organizational Behavior Forces Discussion - Term Paper Example Ikon had incurred a loss of $94 million because of restructuring. The resulting effect on the organization was enhancing the communication system that would enable organizational learning and also clarify accountability of results (Abstracts, 2010). Organizational mission- The aim of Great Lakes Landscaping is to provide total satisfaction through its services. The company tries to attain top results from its performance. This mission serves as the driving force behind its organization behavioral activities. This is demonstrated by the company’s focus on the development of a highly trained staff and maximizing the expertise in their respective fields (Great Lakes Landscaping, 2008). Similarly, the mission of capital One Financial Corp is lending the best possible of financial services to its customers. A wide of variety of service has been designed considering this mission. Fiscal Policies- External factors like fiscal policies greatly affect the way companies operate. This is most relevant for companies like Ikon. Fiscal policies would mean injection of money in the economy where individual incomes would also be high. Thus, people would be in a better position to buy luxury items. Thus fiscal policies influence the decision making in organizations. The price strategies are determined by the decision making. ... The rates of interest in the market, the purchasing power of consumers, etc would influence their strategies. During recession, a number of companies were seen to alter their interest rates to lend more support to the consumers. However, during times of prosperity their competitive strategies remain different. Also, during recession, employees are faced with a lot of insecurity and instability. During these times, the management is required to focus on greater security of employees. Employee relations are given greater priority. Economic factors influence the designing of pricing structures of Great Lakes Landscaping in order to remain competitive in the market. The price structure not only determines the competitive position of the company but helps in retaining and maintaining a constant customer base. The company goes out of its way to demonstrate how investments can be minimized and results can be maximized (Great Lakes Landscaping, 2008). Customer demands- Consumer demands would play a major role for a company like Starkey. This is because the product is very demand specific. It is very crucial that the company makes a thorough analysis of the market conditions, like the demand in the market for such products or the population demographics. An ageing population would necessarily mean that there would be a greater demand for hearing aids in the market. It also holds true for a company like Great Lakes Landscape. It would depend on consumer awareness about the society’s environment. Globalization- globalizations and communication has made the availability of foreign product more easily accessible to consumers in different countries. Goods and services can also now be available at cheap prices. The price of a product produced by Ikon would

Measuring Employee Performance - Part II Assignment

Measuring Employee Performance - Part II - Assignment Example anwhile as a public health facility, I opine that some of the goals, particularly on communication could have been made to include the provision of communicative roles to external stakeholders such as customers. As Aguinis (2013) noted, any true performance outcome should have the ability of reflecting the overall organizational culture, which I believe includes customer satisfaction. I like your post for two major reasons. First, you rightly appreciate the need for job description to be made in line with the organization’s overall mission, vision, goals and strategies† (Aguinis, 2013). Then leading up from this, you went ahead to set five metric goals which contain performance outcomes for both internal work output and external wok output. For example internally, you appreciated the need to establish effective HR programs whiles externally, you touched on maintaining good customer service. In my opinion, this approach ensures that the new employee will not only focus on the most immediate performance related attitudes that will be seen at the workplace. Rather, the employee will see a bigger performance responsibility that includes external stakeholders and thus put in more efforts to

Technological Advancements in Urinalysis Research Paper

Technological Advancements in Urinalysis - Research Paper Example However, with time, the analysis of urine became exaggerated, such that it violated the privacy and dignity of the patients, resulting in the advancement where urine testing progressed to the use of urine only, without the presence of the patient like was happening before. In the ancient times, the tests of urine were used as the primary method of determining the state of human health. This has progressively changed with the advancement in medicine, such that currently, the analysis of urine is only used to diagnose certain medical conditions only (Armstrong, 2007). Â  The history of urine analysis indicates that at around 4000 BC, urine was used to test the medical condition that is referred in modern-day urinalysis as diabetes, through putting some urine of different patients on the ants path, such that the ants would be attracted to the sweet urine, which would indicate that the patient was suffering from a certain health anomaly (Diamandopoulos & Actuarius, 2001). Later at around the second century, the testing of urine changed to the practical observation of the patients urine condition at around the fourth century, (460–355 BC) where the urine was observed for bubble components and if the bubbles were found to be present in large numbers, then the patient was declared to be suffering from a kidney disorder (Armstrong, 2007). However, it is not until six centuries later, at around (AD 129–200), when the accuracy of urinalysis was attained, with the first description of urine, not as a residual of body tissues, but as a residu al and filtrate of blood, by Galen, a Roman scientist (Armstrong, 2007). Galen made the testing of urine more specific to certain medical conditions, by observing different anomalies in urine production and then relating quantities of urine produced to different medical conditions.

Organizational Behavior Forces Discussion Term Paper

Organizational Behavior Forces Discussion - Term Paper Example Ikon had incurred a loss of $94 million because of restructuring. The resulting effect on the organization was enhancing the communication system that would enable organizational learning and also clarify accountability of results (Abstracts, 2010). Organizational mission- The aim of Great Lakes Landscaping is to provide total satisfaction through its services. The company tries to attain top results from its performance. This mission serves as the driving force behind its organization behavioral activities. This is demonstrated by the company’s focus on the development of a highly trained staff and maximizing the expertise in their respective fields (Great Lakes Landscaping, 2008). Similarly, the mission of capital One Financial Corp is lending the best possible of financial services to its customers. A wide of variety of service has been designed considering this mission. Fiscal Policies- External factors like fiscal policies greatly affect the way companies operate. This is most relevant for companies like Ikon. Fiscal policies would mean injection of money in the economy where individual incomes would also be high. Thus, people would be in a better position to buy luxury items. Thus fiscal policies influence the decision making in organizations. The price strategies are determined by the decision making. ... The rates of interest in the market, the purchasing power of consumers, etc would influence their strategies. During recession, a number of companies were seen to alter their interest rates to lend more support to the consumers. However, during times of prosperity their competitive strategies remain different. Also, during recession, employees are faced with a lot of insecurity and instability. During these times, the management is required to focus on greater security of employees. Employee relations are given greater priority. Economic factors influence the designing of pricing structures of Great Lakes Landscaping in order to remain competitive in the market. The price structure not only determines the competitive position of the company but helps in retaining and maintaining a constant customer base. The company goes out of its way to demonstrate how investments can be minimized and results can be maximized (Great Lakes Landscaping, 2008). Customer demands- Consumer demands would play a major role for a company like Starkey. This is because the product is very demand specific. It is very crucial that the company makes a thorough analysis of the market conditions, like the demand in the market for such products or the population demographics. An ageing population would necessarily mean that there would be a greater demand for hearing aids in the market. It also holds true for a company like Great Lakes Landscape. It would depend on consumer awareness about the society’s environment. Globalization- globalizations and communication has made the availability of foreign product more easily accessible to consumers in different countries. Goods and services can also now be available at cheap prices. The price of a product produced by Ikon would

Technological Advancements in Urinalysis Research Paper

Technological Advancements in Urinalysis - Research Paper Example However, with time, the analysis of urine became exaggerated, such that it violated the privacy and dignity of the patients, resulting in the advancement where urine testing progressed to the use of urine only, without the presence of the patient like was happening before. In the ancient times, the tests of urine were used as the primary method of determining the state of human health. This has progressively changed with the advancement in medicine, such that currently, the analysis of urine is only used to diagnose certain medical conditions only (Armstrong, 2007). Â  The history of urine analysis indicates that at around 4000 BC, urine was used to test the medical condition that is referred in modern-day urinalysis as diabetes, through putting some urine of different patients on the ants path, such that the ants would be attracted to the sweet urine, which would indicate that the patient was suffering from a certain health anomaly (Diamandopoulos & Actuarius, 2001). Later at around the second century, the testing of urine changed to the practical observation of the patients urine condition at around the fourth century, (460–355 BC) where the urine was observed for bubble components and if the bubbles were found to be present in large numbers, then the patient was declared to be suffering from a kidney disorder (Armstrong, 2007). However, it is not until six centuries later, at around (AD 129–200), when the accuracy of urinalysis was attained, with the first description of urine, not as a residual of body tissues, but as a residu al and filtrate of blood, by Galen, a Roman scientist (Armstrong, 2007). Galen made the testing of urine more specific to certain medical conditions, by observing different anomalies in urine production and then relating quantities of urine produced to different medical conditions.

Banquos Murder Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Banquos Murder Macbeth Essay This morning, our beloved Banquo, friend of the king, was found dead. His body, bearing a slit throat and twenty deep lacerations to the face, was discovered by a farmer from the area. The farmer discovered the body outside of his Salmon farm roughly a mile from castle Dunsinane. The motive for this horrific act is still questionable. Upon questioning the farmer police were unable to discover any leads. Although the farmer produced no useful information the crime scene yielded a possible location for authorities to begin the search. When officials investigated the ditch were Banquo was found they observed footprints and drags marks that led to the road outside Castle Dunsinane, there was also another set of footprints that led straight to the castle to suggest a possible connection between the castle and the murderers. When the authorities found the scene where Banquo was expected to be murdered, a total of five sets of footprints were found at the crime scene along with blood and two sets of horse’s hoofs. The police were able to eliminate two sets of footprints as Banquo’s and another as his son Fleance’s, based on the size. What still concerns authorities is the disappearance of the young Fleance. The boy was thought to be with Banquo at the time of the murder. Police are searching for the boy diligently. The face of the murdered Banquo after his body was found a mile from Castle Dunsinane. The face of the murdered Banquo after his body was found a mile from Castle Dunsinane. From the crime scene the police have concluded that they are looking for three possible murders. With the fifth set of footprints leading away from the scene, police began their search at the castle. The authorities talked with King Macbeth, who was reported to have been acting strangely at the court gathering the previous night. The king said, â€Å"I drink to†¦our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss. † The king continued on to say that he will miss his good friend and also hopes that Banquo finds heaven. Lady Macbeth was also asked for a statement and she refused, saying only she was too weak with sadness to speak of the event. In conclusion, authorities have no credible leads or motives for this terrible crime at this time. Police ask that anyone with any information regarding the murderers contact them at their field office. Their office is in Castle Dunsinane on the second floor, they ask that people with information please contact them as soon as possible.

Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GCDPP)

Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GCDPP) 1.0 Introduction The construction industry is a large and complex industry comprising many types and sizes of organizations and a diverse range of professionals and other representative bodies. Consequently, the biggest problem is conflicts in the industry between both clients and contractors and the contractors and their sub contractors (Cooke and Williams, 2009). This most often is as a result of non-clarification of roles or breach of the contract procedures by one of the parties because of lack of communication and co-ordination. Poor productivity and quality within the industry have also been attributed to lack of advance management of the processes by both Latham (1994) and Egan (1998). Professional bodies have therefore introduced various plans of work as attempts to facilitates processes within the industry. In this report, the updated RIBA plan of work which was designed by British architects was employed to plan the execution of a project (CTG) from appraisal to completion. Alternative maps for the same project were produced using the Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GCDPP) which was developed in 1995 in other to identify the potential benefits and problems that might be encountered in the use of the process protocol. 2.0 Current plan of work 2.1 Context The Department of Business Innovation and Skills (DBIS) intends to construct a new project, Centre for Technology in Government (CTG), which is a 250,000 square feet facility built to house world class super computers and nuclear weapons design staff. The building site is located in Liverpool, UK and the allowed budget for the project is ÂÂ £50,000,000. The client had explicit goals and therefore appointed a cross-functional team from the start to translate the needs into a design brief. The cross-functional team, after the conceptual design stage, identified various functional and operational requirements (FORs) which were grouped by room type. These FORs became the basis for requests of proposals that resulted in design and build contract 2.2 Procurement method It is important to briefly explain the procurement method used to execute the CTG project because the procurement method and type of contract employed will have implications on the plan of work (Clamp et al, 2007 p 32). Single stage tender (assumption) design and build contract was used; the client, DBIS selected CTG to execute the project because of the business relationship they shared as well as the fact that, the constructor was needed at the design stage to give advice on the constructional method and buildability of the concepts. The client-led design ended at the conceptual stage (RIBA stage C) and the contractor was therefore provided with conceptual designs. 2.3 RIBA Plan of Work The Plan of Work (RIBA, 1997) was originally published in 1963 as a standard method of operation for the construction of buildings, and it has become widely accepted as the operational model throughout the building industry (Kagioglou et al, 1998). It was developed from the view point of the architect to provide a frame work for a standardised method of operation for the design, construction and management of buildings (Poon et al, 2003). This plan of work was developed to meet the needs of the traditional forms of contract and breaks down the entire construction into 5 key stages. There key stages are further broken down into 11 sub-processes as shown below 2.4 RIBA plan of work in GC Ltd There is, however, a slight variation to the work stages primarily because of the procurement method (Design and Build) used. This is because the cross functional team assembled by the client produces conceptual designs that were grouped into FORs which formed the basis of the request for proposals. Detailed designs (RIBA stage D) and technical designs stage (RIBA stage E) were produced by the contractor before tender action while production information stage (RIBA stage F) proceeded after mobilisation stage (RIBA stage J). Figure 2.1 shows the plan of work used in executing the project from the perspective of the constructors which is seen to differ slightly from the plan of work in appendix 1 Figure 2.1 Adoption of RIBA plan of work for Contractor Appendix 2 shows the detailed mapping of each of the above sub processes. 2.4.1 Preparation As a constructor, the first stage of involvement was to review the employers (Department for business innovation and skills) conceptual requirement that has already been identified with the cross-functional team. The constructor (GG ltd) receives the conceptual brief containing the FORs by room type and also confirming key requirements and constraints as well as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations. The in-house quality management procedures that will be applied on the project is determined. These culminate into the contractors brief. Since GC ltd already has an in- house design team, they assist in the preparation of the contractors brief. The construction company at this stage appoints one of its in-house staff to act as the CDM co-ordinator. During the review, some questions may arise, especially concerning site conditions and operational hazards. It is the responsibility of the contractor to provide all such information to the design team and the CDM co-ordinator. The design team advises on the need for additional consultants for the project. Documents that will accompany the tender submission are identified and the pre-tender programme drawn up. This process in mapped out in detail in appendix 2. 2.4.2 Design development Once the conceptual designs are fully reviewed and understood by the contractor and his team, he authorizes the final layouts. The design team then develops the project brief into developed designs including, the structural elements, the services systems and the general architectural layout. The initial cost plan is updated and the CDM co-ordinator ensures that all health and safety regulation have been considered at this stage. 2.4.3 Technical design This is the last stage of design development before production information is prepared. The detailed designs are produced and all approvals obtained including that of building regulations. The health and safety file is updated by the CDM co-ordinator and the cost plans and cash flows also updated by the quantity surveyor. The stage D report will form the basis of the tender documents. This process in mapped out in detail in appendix 2. 2.4.5 Tender action Once the detailed developments are obtained, the contractor with the CDM co-ordinator prepares the draft initial construction phase plan. The quantity surveyor advises on the preliminaries, the contingencies and the work sequences and proceeds to prepare the contract sum analysis. The CDM co-ordinator, the quantity surveyor and the other design team members contribute to the stage report prepared by the lead consultant. The report includes all the documents intended to be used for tendering. The contractor checks the report to ensure compliance and the tender documents are submitted. The submitted tender documents are evaluated by the employers agent and any queries responded to by the contractor and his team. Once the contract is awarded to the winning firm (GC Ltd), there is negotiation between the employers agent and the contractor before final adjustments are agreed. 2.4.6 Mobilization The employers agent confirms to the client that the contractor (GC ltd) has been duly selected. The contractor is then appointed and the tender documents become the contract documents with certified copies sent to the contractor. His insurances for the project are checked by the employers agent. The site is handed over the contractor and he proceeds to develop his initial construction phase plan with his team and the CDM co-ordinator. Statutory approvals and other detailed planning permission are also obtained. 2.4.7 Production Information The final proposals are translated into precise technical instruction for pricing and construction purposes, which is the preparation of detailed drawings, schedules and specifications. The health and safety file is finally updated by the CDM co-ordinator. The contractor, the design team the quantity surveyor and the CDM co-ordinator reviews all process to ensure compliance with brief and procedures. 2.4.8 Construction This is where actual construction of the CTG building takes place in accordance with contract agreements. Further information is supplied to the contractor as and when deemed necessary. At this stage the contractor, his team and sub contractors are typically involved. 2.4.9 Rectification period After construction to practical completion, final inspections are done and the project is handed over. The contract document allows the contractor to be paid half the amount in the final certificate with the other half released after a predetermined period (6 months), defects liability period. Within which all faults and problems are corrected by the contractor. 2.5 Appraisal of RIBA in CTG project The RIBA plan of work was one of the first expressions of building process by members of the building team (Poon et al, 2003) and has been tried, tested and accepted. It has been widely adopted as the basis of calculating consultants fees as well as gives a vivid description of work stages (Clamp et al, 2007). Adopting design and build as procurement route while employing the RIBA plan of work in the CTG project resulted in hybrid process which improves the plan of work especially in the area of flexibility and eliminates sequential flows which, Sheath et al (1996) argues that, have caused problems of fragmentation and poor co-ordination between project team members. CTG, as a project that will house the designing and testing of nuclear weapons, it requires the involvement of all major stakeholders, as such the client, DBIS assembled a cross-functional team including the contractor, in order to better identify his needs and requirements and identify any possible constraints on development and eventually produce a holistic brief. The adoption of the cross-functional team approach had the advantage of improving co-ordination and communication from the design stage throughout to the project (Kagioglou et al, 1998). It was also necessary to involve the constructors early in the design phase in order to eliminate any claims and counter claims for costs, quality and time between the various parties of the contract (Gunaskaran and Love, 1998). This will ensure buildability and reduce the incident of rework and waste in the design process and construction process. Having established the cross-functional team, weekly meetings were held to review all aspec ts of the design. Since it is a single stage tender, it became the responsibility of the contractor to produce the developed designs and technical designs prior to tender action. In order to facilitate the continuous review of the design by the cross-functional team, the contractor broke the technical design into mini phases as follows; all layouts and setting outs, pile caps and ground beams, structural steel work, substructure, super structure, detailed security services and services systems. There were series of reviews and the final review was during the tender action. Once the contract was signed and mobilisation got underway, the production information was produced concurrently. Construction commenced immediately mobilisation is complete. Daily visits by the cross functional team ensured co-ordination and team work all through the construction. RIBA plan of work guarantees flexibility in the basic outline, in that it can be modified to suit any form of procurement used by simply re-arranging the sub processes (Clamp et al, 2007). The RIBA plan of work, 2007 appears to be very elaborate an simple to understand and use because it maps out the main process at the higher level indicating the sub processes and the outputs at each stage. The details of the sub processes can also be mapped out indicating the activities involved and the parties responsible for those activities. Finally the adoption of the design and build and employing a cross-functional team ensures better understanding of requirements, better translation to drawings, more effective and efficient construction process devoid of any conflicts and unnecessary variations eventually leading to a satisfied client and a satisfied contractor. In every building contract there is some degree of risk (Clamp et al, 2007). Balance of speculative risk will lie almost wholly with the CTG contractor in this project with the client bearing the conceptual risk which involves matters that are key to operational efficiency such as scheme. All the major disadvantages that have been associated with RIBA; linear fashion (Jamieson, 1997; Cooper et al, 2004), lack co-ordination and communication (Sheath at al 1996, Kagioglou et al, 1998), buildability issues and biasness towards the architect (Poon et al, 2003) have been catered for by the adoption of the design and build procurement system as well as the introduction of the cross functional team (including the contractor) at the very beginning of the CTG project. However there are still a number of issues that remains unresolved and primary among them is the absence of a mechanism to transfer all the knowledge that will be shared by the entire CTG project team to similar projects in the future because both success and failure can offer important lessons for the future (Kagioglou et al, 2000). Finally, throughout the entire project, subcontractor and suppliers are only involved from the mobilisation stage (RIBA J) 3.0 The Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol 3.1 Background The Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol (GDCPP) was funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) under the Innovative Manufacturing Initiate (IMI) and undertook by the University of Salford with a leading number of industrial partners, including clients, architects, contractors, subcontractors, consultants, suppliers and IT specialists during 1995-98 (Lee et al, 2000). The main aim of this project was to develop a Generic Design and Construction Process Protocol for the construction industry by considering the lessons learnt through a number of decades in manufacturing New Product Development (NPD). This was achieved by comprehensive reviews of the construction and manufacturing industries, interactive workshops with the project industrial partners, case studies in the manufacturing and construction industry and other research and data collection tools and techniques (Aouad et al, 1999). There are eight key principles involved in process protocol for process as follows which are originated from manufacturing process. Whole Project view, a consistent Process, Progressive Design Fixity, Co ordination, Stakeholder Involvement team work, Feedback, Process Flexibility, Customisable Process. (www.processprotocol.com). The model identifies the various activities involved in the complete execution of the project as well as the responsible parties produced on a horizontal- X and vertical Y axis respectively resulting in a form of a responsibility matrix. The parties responsible for activity within each phase can be a single person, a firm or a complex network of people (depending on the size of the project) who have been grouped in to activity zones. Consequently, eight (8) activity zones have been identified by the model and are listed below Development Management Project Management Resource Management Design Management Production Management Facilities Management Health Safety, Statutory legal Management Process Management Change Management The design and construction process (X- axis) have been broken down into 10 distinct phases. These 10 phases are grouped into 4 broad stages: Pre-Project, Pre-Construction, Construction and Post-Construction. (www.processprotocol.com). These 4 stages are briefly explained below 3.2 Pre-Project Stage The Pre-Project Phases (0-3) relate to the strategic business considerations of any potential project which aims to address a clients need. Throughout the Pre-Project Phases the clients need is progressively defined and assessed with the aim of: Determining the need for a construction project solution, and Securing outline financial authority to proceed to the Pre-Construction Phases (Cooper et al, 2005 p 76) These phases have been mapped out in detail in appendix 4 Phase zero: Demonstrating the Need Phase one: Conception of Need Phase two: Outline Feasibility Phase three: Substantive Feasibility Study Outline Financial Authority 3.3 Pre-Construction Stage At this stage (4-6), the defined clients need is developed into an appropriate design solution through a logical sequence, with the aim of delivering approved production information (Cooper et al, 2005 p78) These phases are listed below have been mapped out in detail in appendix 4 Phase four: Outline Conceptual Design Phase five: Full Conceptual Design Phase six: Coordinated design, Procurement Full Financial Authority 3.4 Construction Stage The Construction Phases (7-8) is solely concerned with the production of the project solution. It is here that the full benefits of the co-ordination and communication earlier in the Process may be fully realised. Potentially, any changes in the clients requirements will be minimal, as the increased cost of change as the design progresses should be fully understood by the time on-site construction work begins (Cooper et al, 2005 p78). The phases involved are listed below. Refer to appendix 4 for detailed maps Phase seven: Production Information Phase eight: Construction 3.5 Post-Construction Stage Upon completion of the Construction Phase, the Process Protocol continues into the Post-Construction phases which aim to continually monitor and manage the maintenance needs of the constructed facility (Cooper et al, 2005 p 80). This is the last phase of the model Phase 9: Operation Maintenance 3.6 Gates There are gates (soft and hard) in between the phases mentioned above. Soft gates are review points during the process which require a decision to be made, but does not require the temporary overhaul of the whole project until a decision to proceed is made. They enable concurrency while hard gates are review points during the process which may require the temporary overhaul of the project until a decision to proceed is made. (www.processprotocol.com). 3.7 Applying the GDCPP to the CTG project The backgrounds of the construction parties are very variant and they therefore have varying skills, it is therefore critical that parties understand and appreciate the interdependence and responsibilities of one another (Poon et al, 2003). However contract-led restrictions of previous models have prevented the involvement of the various parties in the early stages of the project life (Cooper et al, 2005). The GDCPP aims to improve co-ordination of the entire design and construction process (Lee et al, 2000) and try to address the key areas of the process that have been identified for improvement. The first benefit of adopting the GDCPP in the CTG project in that, it extends the recognized construction industrys involvement beyond completion (cooper et al, 2005) and therefore covers the entire lifespan of the project as can be seen in appendices 3 and 4. This will increase the commitments of all parties to the contract especially the contactor and the sub contractors as they continue to bear some contractual risks within the project even after practical completion. Moreover, risk and value management starts right at the beginning of the project and runs through all the phases as can be seen in appendix 3 and in more detail in appendix 4. This has been absent from the RIBA plan of work. Since the client, the cross-functional team, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers are involved at an early stage, there will therefore be a complete identification of all possible risks and hence an early adoption of strategies to mitigate them. With a project of CTGs nature, variation of requirements at any stage will have serious cost implications on the project, as such the introduction of phase reviews (as can be seen on appendix 3) which aim at reviewing work in each phase and approving progress to the next stage while employing the hard or soft gates is an added advantage. This will assure high quality of work performance (Kagioglou et al, 1998). The backbone of the successful execution of the CTG project will be a good relationship between parties (Jamieson, 1997; Cooper et al, 2005). More often than not, problems have ranged from litigation, lack of trust, lack of communication and lack of knowledge sharing between parties as they have perhaps never worked together probably will never do again (Lee et al, 2000). Therefore the involvement of all stakeholders and using strategic partnering arrangements will allow involvement of all parties from the requirements capture phase as shown on appendix 3 and this fosters a te am environment and encourages appropriate and timely communication and decision making (Lee et al 2000) and because stakeholders are identified, their responsibilities will be explicitly identified. Feedback is an important concept which aims to regulate and improve performance (Poon et al, 2003). The inclusion of the legacy archive with the process protocol is an added advantage. It gives the players within the industry an opportunity to draw from the success or failures of past projects upon which the current or future projects. Furthermore, the adoption of standardised deliverables assist in smooth project delivery as every team knows what is to be produced and at what stage. This is the only way continuous improvement can be sustained. However, the first problem that will come to the mind of members of the construction industry is the extent of involvement of IT in the process. Poon et al (2003) argue that, apart from describing the activities in the map, it is also necessary to use multiple computing skills, which include electronic data interchange, artificial intelligence, integrated databases, inter/intranet application and document management systems in order to analyse activities. The whole set of activities might seem cumbersome and too complicated for non-computer literate users. The roles of the process management and change management activity zones seem to lean much toward the activities and roles of the project manager within the context of construction. Therefore, there could be conflict of responsibilities within these activity zones as they operate within the project. This is the case because of the fundamental difference between construction and manufacturing in relation to the product, the processes and the tracking of changes that occur. Though the process protocol is generic and has the advantage of flexibility, it is quite difficult to fit the protocol into an ongoing project because it has its own definitions and terminologies which could possibly result in confusion if blended with the terminology of the one going project. 4. 0 Production activities An activity is a well defined task in a project which usually requires a certain amount of time to complete and absorbs a portion of the projects financial budget (Waller, 2002). In the CTG project, there are many production activities, however, casting the foundation have been chosen for appraisal 4.1 Casting the foundation A cross functional process map shown in appendix 5 is used to depict how a typical foundation slab within the CTG project is cast indicating the processes cutting across several functions. According to the transformation theory, the emphasis is on the translation of the concrete into the foundation and slab (Koskela, 2000). However, in order to ensure the foundation is cast according to the drawings, checking/inspection is done intermittently as can be seen on the map, this brings us to the flow model: there are waiting, inspection and moving together with the transformations (Koskela, 2000). This is so because, once the formwork in place and the foundation is cast, it has to be inspected. As depicted on the map there are such inspections which involve, waiting and moving as the entire foundation is cast. The effect of these is the eventual extension to the time required to execute the particular operation. There are some non value-adding activities that are important, an example being the time allowed for the concrete to harden before the forms are struck and preparation of the excavated surfaces after excavation. There are other non-value adding activities that need to eliminate an example being the time spent in undertaking all these inspections. In order to improve the efficiency of this process, focus should be on the elimination to the non-value adding processes. 5.0 Conclusion The RIBA plan of work still has its advantage of simplicity and adaptability to various procurement methods. However the GDCPP proves to be more holistic in its approach towards customer satisfaction. The GDCPP is easily adopted in the CTG project primarily because of the size and complexity of the project. The cost that may be incurred through implementation of the protocol will be offset in the communication, co-ordination and team work which will eventually be created. This may however not be the case in relatively smaller projects. The introduction and sustenance of the protocol will fail due to poor process change within companies and will even fail more should managements try to adopt shortcuts by expecting individual workers to execute new working practices without training. Effective implementation and adoption of the protocol requires continuous training and education. This training needs to start from management level down to the last worker.