Meet Hera, the Queen of the Greek Gods

Meet Hera, the Queen of the Greek Gods Hera (Juno) is the queen of the gods. She is usually plotting either to favor the Greeks over the Trojans, as in Homers Iliad, or against one of the females who has caught the roving eye of her philandering husband, Zeus. At other times, Hera is shown plotting mischief against Heracles. Myths re-told by Thomas Bulfinch about Hera (Juno) include: Monsters Nisus and Scylla - Echo and Narcissus - Clytie - Hero and LeanderJuno and Her RivalsHercules- Hebe and Ganymede Family of Origin The Greek goddess Hera is one of the daughters of Cronus and Rhea. She is the sister and wife of the king of the gods, Zeus. Roman Equivalent The Greek goddess Hera was known as the goddess Juno by the Romans. It is Juno who torments Aeneas on his trip from Troy to Italy to found the Roman race. Of course, this is the same goddess who so vehemently opposed the Trojans in the stories about the Trojan War, so she would try to put obstacles in the path of a Trojan prince who escaped the destruction of her hated city. In Rome, Juno was part of the Capitoline triad, along with her husband and Minerva. As part of the triad, she is Juno Capitolina. The Romans also worshiped a Juno Lucina, Juno Moneta, Juno Sospita, and Juno Caprotina, among other epithets. Attributes of Hera Peacock, cow, crow and pomegranate for fertility. She is described as cow-eyed. Powers of Hera Hera is the queen of the gods and the wife of Zeus. She is the goddess of marriage and is one of the childbirth goddesses. She created the Milky Way when she was lactating. Sources on Hera Ancient sources for Hera include: Apollodorus, Cicero, Euripides, Hesiod, Homer, Hyginus, and Nonnius. Children of Hera Hera was the mother of Hephaestus. Sometimes she is credited with giving birth to him without the input of a male as a response to Zeus giving birth to Athena from his head. Hera was not pleased with the clubfoot of her son. Either she or her husband threw Hephaestus from Olympus. He fell to earth where he was tended by Thetis, the mother of Achilles, for which reason he created Achilles great shield. Hera was also the mother, with Zeus, of Ares and Hebe, the cupbearer of the gods who marries Heracles.

The Vb.Net Sender and e Event Parameters

The Vb.Net Sender and e Event Parameters In VB6, an event subroutine, like Button1_Click, was much less complicated because the system called the subroutine strictly by name. If a Button1_Click event existed, the system called it. Its direct and straightforward. But in VB.NET, there are two major upgrades that make VB.NET SOOPercharged (thats OOP for Object Oriented Programming). The Handles clause controls whether the system calls the subroutine, not the name.The sender and e parameters are passed to the subroutine. Use of Parameters Lets look at a simple example to see the difference that parameters make in VB.NET. Private Sub Button1_Click( ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs ) Handles Button1.Click Your code goes hereEnd Sub Event subroutines always receive a sender object and a system EventArgs parameter e. Because the EventArgs parameter is an object, it supports whatever properties and methods are necessary. For example, the old VB6 MouseMove event subroutine used to receive four parameters: Button As IntegerShift As IntegerX As SingleY As Single When more advanced mice came out with more buttons, VB6 had a real problem supporting them. VB.NET only passes one MouseEventArgs parameter but it supports a lot more properties and methods. And each of them are objects that support even more. For example, the e.Button property contains all these properties: LeftMiddleRightNoneXButton1XButton2 If someone invents a trancendental mouse with a virtual button, VB.NET will only have to update the .NET Framework to support it and no previous code will break as a result. There are a number of .NET technologies that absolutely depend on these parameters. For example, since your PC usually only has a single screen to display graphics, your code has to merge the graphics it creates into the same image used by Windows. For that reason, a single graphics object has to be shared. The major way that your code is able to use that graphics object is to use the e parameter that is passed to the OnPaint event with the PaintEventArgs object. Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint( ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs) Dim g As Graphics e.Graphics Other Examples What else can you do with these parameters? To illustrate, suppose you want to find whether a string, perhaps something you entered into a Textbox, exists in any one of a collection of other Textboxes when you click on one. You could code a few dozen virtually identical subroutines for each Textbox: If TextBox42.Text.IndexOf( SearchString.Text) -1 Then NotFound.Text Not Found But its a lot easier to code just one and let it handle all of them. The sender parameter will reveal which Textbox was clicked. Private Sub FindIt( ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs ) Handles TextBox1.Enter, TextBox2.Enter, . . . and on and on . . . TextBox42.Enter Dim myTextbox As TextBox myTextbox sender Dim IndexChar As Integer myTextbox.Text.IndexOf( SearchString.Text) If IndexChar -1 Then _ NotFound.Text Not Found _ Else _ NotFound.Text Found It! End Sub Recently, a programmer asked me for a better way to delete the line that was clicked in any of six specified lists. He had it working in a couple of dozen lines of code that simply confused me. But using sender, it was really quite simple: Private Sub ListBox_Click( ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs ) Handles ListBox1.Click, ListBox2.Click Dim myListBox As New ListBox myListBox sender myListBox.Items.RemoveAt(myListBox.SelectedIndex)End Sub One more example to nail down the point is a question that was sent in by Pierre in Belgium. Pierre was testing the equality of Button1 and sender using the Is operator for objects: If sender Is Button1 Then ... This is syntactically correct because sender and Button1 are both objects that can be referenced. And since sender really is identical with Button1, why doesnt it work? The answer depends on a keyword that is found a little earlier in the statement. First, lets check the Microsoft documentation for the Is operator. Visual Basic compares two object reference variables with the Is Operator. This operator determines if two reference variables refer to the same object instance. Notice that sender is passed ByVal. That means that a copy of Button1 is passed, not the actual object itself. So when Pierre tests to see if sender and Button1 are the same instance, the result is False. To test whether Button1 or Button2 has been clicked, you have to turn sender into an actual Button object and then test a property of that object. Text is usually used, but you could test a value in Tag or even the Location property. This code works: Dim myButton As ButtonmyButton senderIf myButton.Text Button1 Then

Flipgrid in Turkish Language Classes Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Flipgrid in Turkish Language Classes - Article Example As such, Flipgrid creates a social and interactive learning environment for foreign languages and it allows teachers to assess student performance. Each week involves five hours of instruction. Flipgrid is useful as it involves an interactive environment with question grids to enhance learning (Flipgrid 2014 b). The frequency of questions varies; Weekly questions are asked at the end of each week after 5 hours of weekly Turkish language instruction. End of Unit questions is different from weekly questions as they are more summative in nature (Flipgrid 2014 b). Â  Learners can practice their conversational Turkish skills on Flipgrid through face-to-face videos that strengthen speaking skills. In a class of 10 students of Turkish B1, students were often asked varied questions about their learning experience and were asked together collaborative as couples or in two groups of 5 students each. The interviews conducted on 20th December 2014 contained open and closed-ended questions allowing the students to have liberty in their responses. The responses were subsequently written and analyzed. Â  Flipgrid allows students to share their responses as well thereby creating an interactive collaborative space that encourages learning. As such, it creates a social learning environment and social presence has been shown to improve student performance and learning as well as instructor satisfaction (Swan and Richardson 2003, 68). Â  It is extremely useful for Turkish language learning as it can better train the tongue for pronouncing foreign languages (Waid 2014). This way the teachers are able to achieve their learning objectives. A teacher can hold discussions by providing a prompt grid to which students respond via video. Â  

Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Death Penalty - Research Paper Example Thereby, death penalty ought to remain legal in the United States owing to the deterrence impact it has on the criminals, the justice it extends to the victims of heinous crimes and their families and the way it prevents the hardcore and repeat offenders from committing more crimes. Death penalty is highly useful because it deters the criminals from committing serious and violent crimes (Banner 219). Any thriving and democratic society needs to maintain the rule of law. Peace and the rule of law are necessary to assure the happiness and well being of the common citizens. It is a practical fact that every society does tend to have individuals and groups who happen to have a violent disposition and a criminal bent of mind. Such people are mostly more prone to committing heinous and rare crimes like murder, rape and acts of aggression. If the courts of law extend soft sentences to such criminals, it is possible that they may commit more serious and rare crimes (Banner 219). This is because a soft sentence tends to give an idea to such criminals that they can commit serious crimes like murder and still can get away with it. In the absence of death penalty, there will be practically nothing that will deter or scare these criminals away from committing violent crimes . The logic is that â€Å"by executing convicted murderers we will deter would-be murderers from killing innocent people (Bedau & Cassell 58) Hence, one important function of the law is to extend such penalties that deter the other criminals from engaging in violent crimes. Thereby, if a murderer is given a death sentence, it sends a message to the other criminals in the society that engaging in violent crimes may cost them their life. Hence, death penalty is a legal provision that has a strong deterrence potential. It stands to be the most appropriate warning to the criminal elements in any society. It would not be wrong to assume that many criminals fall short of

Friction, Work, And Kinetic Energy Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Friction, Work, And Kinetic Energy - Lab Report Example Static friction is denoted as Fstatic. An inequality has been modified; Fstatic ≠¤ ms N where i ms is the coefficient of static friction and N is the normal force exerted by a surface on the object. The normal force is defined as the perpendicular component of the force exerted by the surface. In this experiment, the normal force is equal to the weight of the object because it’s on a horizontal surface Exertion of enough force to move the box requires that the same or more force be applied to keep the box moving to the desired direction to prevent loss of equilibrium which will cause it to stop moving. The friction acting on the box while it is moving is called kinetic friction (Hugh and Roger 2008). In order to slide the box with a constant velocity, a force equivalent to the force of kinetic friction must be applied. Static and kinetic friction depends on the surfaces of the box and the floor and on how hard the box and floor is pressed together. Kinetic friction is modeled with Fkinetic =  µk N where  µk is the coefficient of kinetic friction. In general, this coefficient is less than that for static friction. The mass of the container was measured and recorded. Motion detector was connected to the PC with a USB cable. Kinetic friction icon on the desktop was double clicked to open the program for data collection and analysis A plastic ball was placed on the track and the track leveled by adjusting the track’s feet for the ball to stay in rest. The Motion Detector was placed on the track and positioned so that it could detect the motion of the block as it was sliding towards the detector. No, the kinetic friction does not depend on speed. It only depends on the surfaces in contact. From the data collected during the experiment, it is evident that the speed/velocity of the sliding block does not affect the coefficient of the kinetic

Islamic and Conventional Banking: Customer Satisfaction

Islamic and Conventional Banking: Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is a business term which measure that how products and services supplied by a company or business organisation meet or fulfil customer expectations. Customer satisfaction is believed a very important and key performance indicator within a business. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is a key differentiator and has become a very important element of business strategy. Banking is a customer oriented services industry, therefore, the customer is the focus and customer service is the differentiating factors. When the banks are offering almost the similar products and services with some principal differences. It is the customer satisfaction that can influence the performance and determine the competitiveness and success of either an Islamic or Conventional bank. Banks deal with thousands of customers everyday and render different types of services to them. It is a well known reality and fact that no business can exist and grow without customers. And the satisfaction of these customers is as important as the customers itself are important for any business. Satisfied customers are central to optimal performance and financial returns. Better understanding of customers perceptions is important for a Bank to determine the actions required to meet the customers needs. Banks can identify their own strengths and weaknesses, where they stand in comparison to their competitors, chart out path future progress and improvement. Customer satisfaction measurement helps to promote an increased focus on customer outcomes and stimulate improvements in the work practices and processes used within the company. 1.2 Research Objectives The main aim of this study is to:- Review and analyse the literature available on both Islamic and Conventional bank with special reference to Pakistan. Examine and evaluate the performance of the Islamic and conventional banks in Pakistan. Find out the level of Customers knowledge about the products and services provided by their banks. Find out the factors of customers dissatisfaction from the products and services of their bank. Find out the main factors of motivation for a customer to deal with either an Islamic or a conventional bank. Find out that to what extent customers are satisfied with their banks. 1.3 Research Questions The research is target to examine the Islamic and conventional banking in Pakistan in relation to product analysis and customer satisfaction. This research will be helpful to answer the following questions:- Performance of which form of banking is better than the other and why? What are the main differences between the products offered by the Islamic and Conventional banks in Pakistan? What is the customers satisfaction level with both forms of banking? What are the factors of motivation for a customer to deal with a bank? What are the main factors of customers dissatisfaction from a bank? Which form of banking is more rewarding and reliable in Pakistan? What are the suggestions and recommendation to improve the services and operations of both Islamic and Conventional banks? 1.4 Research Rational The Researcher worked in a conventional bank for about 1 year, at the time when there was no Islamic bank in Pakistan. But there seemed to be a demand in the customer for such kind of banks at that time. Researcher is keen to start his career in the banking sector of Pakistan. At the moment there are about 35 banks working in Pakistan out of which 6 of them are registered as Islamic banks, but majority of the Islamic banks started their operations very recently. But if we compare them with conventional banks in Pakistan conventional banks are much older and larger then these Islamic banks. The Researcher is committed to investigate the principal difference between the both conventional and Islamic banks, their products, their reliability and the factors encouraging the customers to invest their money in any of these two forms of banking. The researcher will also analyse the key factors which play their role in either the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the customer of these banks and which form of banking is more successful in relation to customer Satisfaction and why? The researcher will also come out with the suggestions to improve the service of the banks to satisfy their customer. 1.5 Research Context Banks are performing various functions to provide variety of products and services for different sectors of the economy. Pakistan came into being in 1947; the first Pakistani bank started its operations the same year in the month of September. Since that time Pakistani banking sector is experiencing difficulties due to unpractical policies and uncertainty. Private Sector banks strongly dominated during the first almost 20 years but all the banks were nationalized in 1974, which proved disastrous move for the banking sector of Pakistan. Nationalization of private banks badly affected the performance of these banks. So, these banks were privatized again in 1992. Pakistans banking sector consists of Scheduled commercial banks, which include nationalized, foreign and private banks. Pakistans banking sector has been going through a comprehensive but complex and very painful process of restructuring since 1997. It is aimed at making these institutions financially sound and forging their li nks firmly with the real sector for promotion of savings, investment and growth. A complete turnaround in this sector will not be possible and is not expected as well but signs of improvement can be seen. Islamic banking was started in the late 70s in Pakistan, but it was initially introduced in the conventional banks. The first Islamic banking license was issued in 2002 to the Meezan Bank Ltd; this bank started its operations in Pakistan in the year 2003. The Islamic banking has gained momentum worldwide. There are more than 185 Islamic banks and financial institutions operating in the world. The popularity of Islamic banking in not limited to Islamic banks only. A large number of conventional banks in Pakistan and all over the world are showing increasing interest in the Islamic banking system as well. The consequence of this is that Islamic banks operating in Islamic countries are faced with strong competition not only from Islamic banks but also from non-Islamic rivals Habib Bank Ltd Habib Banks Ltd. was the first commercial bank to be established in Pakistan in 1947. Over the years, HBL has grown its branch network and become the largest private sector bank with over 1,450 branches across the country and a customer base exceeding five million relationships. The Government of Pakistan privatized HBL in 2004 through which AKFED acquired 51% of the banks shareholding and management control. HBL is majority owned (51%) by the Aga Khan Fund of Economic Development, 42.5% of the shareholding is retained by the Government of Pakistan (GOP), whilst 7.5% is owned by the general public i.e. over 170,000 shareholders following the public listing that took place in July 2007. Nepal, Nigeria, Kenya and Kyrgyzstan and rep offices in Iran and China, HBL is also the largest domestic multinational. The bank is expanding its presence in principal international markets including the UK, UAE, South and Central Asia, Africa and the Far East. Key areas of operations encompass product offering and services in retail and consumer banking. HBL has the largest corporate Banking portfolio in the country with an active investment banking arm. SME and Agriculture lending programmes and banking services are offered in urban and rural centres. HBL is currently rated AA (Long term) and A-1+ (Short term) and has a balance sheet size over USD 11 billion. It is the first Pakistani bank to raise Tier II Capital from external sources. Meezan Bank Ltd. Meezan Bank Limited, a publicly listed company, was incorporated on January 27, 1997 and started operations as an investment bank in August that year. In January, 2002 in a historic initiative, Meezan Bank was granted the nations first full-fledged commercial banking license as a dedicated Islamic Bank, by the State Bank of Pakistan. Meezan Bank has clearly established itself as the largest Islamic Bank in Pakistan with the largest Islamic Banking branch network in the country. The banking sector is showing a significant paradigm shift away from traditional means of business and is catering to an increasingly astute and demanding financial consumer, who is also becoming keenly aware of Islamic Banking. Meezan Bank bears the critical responsibility of leading the way forward in establishing a stable and dynamic Islamic Banking system replete with dynamic and cutting-edge products and services. During the eight years of its operations as an Islamic commercial bank offering universal banking services to customers, Meezan Bank has been one of the fastest growing banks in the history of Pakistans banking sector. Average growth in deposits has been 55% per annum during this period while the branch network grew from 4 to 201. The Bank has established a strong and credible management team comprised of experienced professionals, that have achieved a strong balance sheet with excellent operating profitability and strong ratios, which places the Bank at the top of the Islamic Banking industry. The Bank has been assigned a long-term entity rating of A+ with a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Stable outlook and a short-term entity rating of A1. The Banks main shareholders are leading financial institutions of the Region namely, Noor Financial Investment Company, Kuwait, a leading investment company based in Kuwait; Pak-Kuwait Investment Company, a AAA rated financial entity in the country and the Islamic Development Bank of Jeddah. The established position, reputation, strength and stability, of these institutions add significant value to the Bank through Board representation and applied synergies. The bank has developed an extraordinary research and development capability by combining investment bankers, commercial bankers, Shariah scholars and legal experts to develop innovative, viable, and competitive value propositions that not only meet the requirements of todays complex financial world, but do so with world-class service excellence which our customers demand, all within the bounds of Shariah. Meezan Bank has a strong technology focus. It has invested heavily in state-of-the-art software applications à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" namely Temenos T-24 and Oracle. It has also recently upgraded its hardware platform and also has a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"hot disaster recovery site in place to cater to any unforeseen eventualities. By implementing robust and aggressive strategic and tactical initiatives on the side of consumer banking, Meezan Bank aims to fulfil its prime target of providing customers accessibility and convenience, within an atmosphere and culture of dedicated service and recognition of their needs. The Bank has a rapidly growing branch network across all major cities nation-wide. Meezan Bank, believe in adding value to its customers lives and businesses through dynamic and competitive products and services that fulfil their needs while conforming completely to the dictates of Shariah. At the same time, they endeavor to deliver competitive risk-adjusted returns to our stakeholders LITERATURE REVIEW Within the last few years, a number of studies have provided the discipline into the Practice of conventional and Islamic banking sector. An insight of related studies is as follows:- Islamic banks are striving to capture the maximum number of customers to compete with conventional banks by providing a large number of products as an alternative for interest based products. In Pakistan, banks are providing a wide range of products and services and facing intensive competition to attract potential customers. Persuraman et al. (1985, 1991b) devised SERVQUAL model and investigated the service quality. They explored ten dimensions of service quality and refined into five dimensions. It was documented that an increase in service quality and professional behaviour resulted a greater customer satisfaction and reduced customer erosion (Leeds, 1992). The relationship between service quality and Customer satisfaction is becoming crucial with the increased level of awareness among bank customers (Sureshchander et al. 2002). The conventional banking theories assume that banks earn profits by purchasing deposits from the depositors at a low interest rate, then reselling those funds to the Borrowers at higher interest rate, based on its competitive advantage at gathering Information and underwriting risk (Santos, 2000). Therefore, conventional banks Make profits from the spread between the interest rate received from borrowers and the interest rate paid to depositors. Islamic banking is considered as a different banking stream as it prohibits interest and replaces with (a) profit share and (b) the profit share depends on the extent of the risk participation of the parties. The absence of pre-determined rewards is based on Quranic commands and as interpreted using Shariah principles (Ariff, 2006). Islamic banks showed remarkable progress. It has captured a reasonable market share with excellent growth rate of 114% per annum. The increasing number and size of Islamic banks is also a positive sign of development and success. There are six full-fledged Islamic banks working in different cities of Pakistan and 13 conventional banks have started partial Islamic banking practices by establishing a large number of branches exclusively engaged in Islamic banking practices (SBP, 2006). The prohibition of interest in Islam caused many writings to come forward with an idea to establish banks that do not work on interest basis. So the basic difference between Islamic banks and conventional banks is that Islamic banks are interest free banks whereas conventional banks are interest based banks. (Kahf 2006) Although interest and profit are very clear concepts but they are misunderstood by many people. Basic difference between interest and profit is that interest is the reward to money and profit is the reward to capital investment. In other words money produces interest and capital investment produces profits. (Toutounchian 2004) Islamic finance has gripped the world with a strong commitment and passion. It has been depicted that interest in this segment has grown rapidly in almost 60 countries, not only in Islamic countries but in the leading global financial centers. Even United Kingdom has adopted an open door policy and provided a level playing field to Islamic finance and now Singapore is following its lead. (Dr.Shamshad 2007) Islamic banking has shown tremendous growth in the past 20 years, with estimated deposits surpassing $80 billion in more than 45 countries. Annual turnover is currently estimated at $70 billion and is projected to pass $100 billion by 2000. (OSullivan 1994, p. 7) For the last 60 years, the mode of banking in Pakistan was totally of interest based but now there is a shift from western banking to Islamic banking in number of banks in Pakistan and also there are some new banks like Meezan bank which is totally based on Islamic banking. In 2007 Meezan Bank creates a significant milestone in the history of Islamic Banking by opening its 100th branch in the city of Karachi. With 100 branches in 31 cities clearly positions the Bank as the leading Islamic Bank in Pakistan. Two new dedicated Islamic Banks start operations in Pakistan, namely Emirates Islamic Bank and Dawood Islamic Bank. (Meezan Bank 2007) Mishkin (2001) reported that banking and financial services are the integral part of services industry and its contribution is increasing with the passage of time. However, expansion of global and integrated banking sector has to face many challenges of legislation, technological and structural changes (Angur et al. 1999). The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction is investigated by a number of researchers across the globe. It is concluded that there is strong association between dimensions of service quality and overall customer satisfaction (Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). It is found that the banking industry has a link between service quality and customer satisfaction (Avkiran, 1994). Islamic banking practices resulted into a notable increase in the supply of loans. It is found that government intervention played an important role to manage funds besides other economic factors in the economy (Makiyan, 2003). Levesque and McDougall (1996) investigated the influence of key determinants of service quality on customer satisfaction in financial institutions. They found a substantial impact of service problems on customer satisfaction and their intensions to switch. It is suggested that service quality is an essential determinant of customer satisfaction (Yavas e t al., 1997). Islamic banks working in different parts of the world assessed their performance in reference to service quality and customers responses. An empirical study was conducted to measure customer awareness and satisfaction by using a sample of 206 respondents towards Islamic banking in Jordan. It is observed that customers have awareness about products of Islamic bank but expressed a sense of dissatisfaction towards some of the services (Naseer, Jamal and Al-Khatib, 1999). Bahia and Nantel (2000) developed an alternative scale for measurement of service quality in retail banking. They developed BSQ and compared with SERVQUAL. They found that BSQ dimensions are more reliable than SERVQUAL dimensions. In another study SERVQUAL is compared with Technical/Functional quality of services in private banks. Results showed that Technical/Functional quality model is better (Lassar et.al, 2000). A survey of 801 customers indicated that customers perception of service quality differs in terms of demographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, education and income) of the respondents (Urban and Pratt, 2000). The working of the customers mind is a mystery which is difficult to solve and understanding the nuances of what customer satisfaction is, a challenging task. This exercise in the context of the banking industry will give us an insight into the parameters of customer satisfaction and their measurement. This vital information will help us to build satisfaction amongst the customers and customer loyalty in the long run which is an integral part of any business. The customers requirements must be translated and quantified into measurable targets. This provides an easy way to monitor improvements, and deciding upon the attributes that need to be concentrated on in order to improve customer satisfaction. We can recognize where we need to make changes to create improvements and determine if these changes, after implemented, have led to increased customer satisfaction. If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it. Lord William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907). Oppewal and Vriens (2000) empirically investigated the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction by using original SERVQUAL instrument with 10 dimensions as devised by Parasuraman et al. (1985). This study gave a direction to relate service quality and customer satisfaction. Service quality gained significance with the passage of time due to increased competition among service firms. It was examined that how customer satisfaction affects the customers behavioral consequences. The study found a strong impact of customer satisfaction on their decision to stay with the existing service provider; and restrain their negative behavioral intentions. (Athanassopoulos, Gounaris and Stathakopoulos, 2001). Kayis, Kim and Shin (2003) conducted a comparative analysis of Australian and Korean banks to find out the quality management practices and its outcomes. They found a meaningful relationship between perceived service quality and customer satisfaction. They suggest that or ganizations should focus on service quality as an input to customer satisfaction for long-term benefits and business success. Now banks have realized the importance of service quality for successful survival in todays global and highly competitive environment (Wang et al. 2003). Jamal (2004) investigated the customer behaviour in retail banking by considering service quality and its outcomes. It was observed that customers have varied experiences of satisfaction and dissatisfaction for utilization of self-service technologies. Financial sector is becoming more conscious about the performance evaluation regarding quality of products/services according to customers expectations. In another study, findings reveal a positive correlation between financial performance and customer service quality scores (Duncan and Elliott, 2004). Curry and Penman (2004) reported that service quality is inevitable for differentiation to compete in the banking sector. They suggested that the right service could retain the customers for long-term benefits. So, Banks should maintain the level of services by proper allocation of resources to meet customer requirements. Findings indicated that financial institutions require reasonable procedures to evaluate the overall satisfaction of their customers. However, understanding of changing needs and expectations of customers is an essential prerequisite for the financial sector (Joseph et al. 2005). Jabnoun and Khalifa (2005) proposed and tested a measure of service quality to compare conventional and Islamic banks in UAE. The study found that four dimensions were significant in case of conventional banks. While only personal skill and values were crucial in determining service quality in Islamic banks. It is found that bank-customer relationship quality is evident between satisfied and dissatisfied customers. Both types of customers have clearly distinctive feelings regarding their service experience (Nelson and Chan, 2005). Al-Hawari and Ward (2006) found that customer satisfaction plays an inter-mediator role in the relationship between service quality and financial performance of the banks. In another study, overall customer satisfaction was investigated in Malaysian banking industry by collecting data from 220 customers of 15 retail banks. It was found that overall customer satisfaction is one of the key determinants of relationship quality (Nelson, 2006). It is suggested that bank should start service quality improvement programs to enhance customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Razak et al., 2007). On the basis of existing literature, this study examines the perception of bank customers regarding se rvice quality and its impact on customer satisfaction in Pakistani banking sector, we test the following hypotheses. H1: There will be positive relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction regarding Islamic banks in Pakistan. H2: There will be positive relationships between service quality and customer satisfaction regarding Conventional banks in Pakistan. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The main purpose of this research is to analyse the level of customer satisfaction about Meezan Bank Ltd and Habib Bank Ltd in Pakistan. Many authors and writers have defined research and research methodology, most of them if not completely contradictory with each other but are substantially different. Websters Collegiate Dictionary (1977) defines research as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Studious inquiry or examination; esp. investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts or practical application of such new or revised theories of lawsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Andrew and Hildebrand (1982, p. 3) define research as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The orderly procedure by which man increases his knowledgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? 3.1 RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY 3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH Research approach means the approach or the methodology that has been adopted to conduct the research. Research approach involves the selection of research questions, the conceptual framework that has to be adopted, the selection of appropriate research method such as primary research, secondary research etc. There are mainly two types of research approach:- Inductive approach Deductive approach Inductive Approach An inductive argument is one in which the premises are supposed to support the conclusion in such a way that if the premises are true, it is improbable that the conclusion would be false. Thus, the conclusion follows probably from the premises and inferences. Here is an example: 1. Socrates was Greek. (Premise) 2. Most Greeks eat fish. (Premise) 3. Socrates ate fish. (Conclusion) It may seem that inductive arguments are weaker than deductive arguments because there must always remain the possibility of their arriving at false conclusions, but that is not entirely true. With deductive arguments, our conclusions are already contained, even if implicitly, in our premises. This means that we dont arrive at new information à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬  at best; we are shown information which was obscured or unrecognized previously. Thus, the sure truth-preserving nature of deductive arguments comes at a cost. Inductive arguments, on the other hand, do provide us with new ideas and thus may expand our knowledge about the world in a way that is impossible for deductive arguments to achieve. Thus, while deductive arguments may be used most often with mathematics, most other fields of research make extensive use of inductive arguments. Deductive Approach Deductive argument is one in which it is impossible for the premises to be true but the conclusion false. Thus, the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises and inferences. In this way, it is supposed to be a definitive proof of the truth of the claim (conclusion). Here is a classic example: 1. All men are mortal. (Premise) 2. Socrates was a man. (Premise) 3. Socrates was mortal. (Conclusion) As you can see, if the premises are true (and they are), then it simply isnt possible for the conclusion to be false. If you have a deductive argument and you accept the truth of the premises, then you must also accept the truth of the conclusion; if you reject it, then you are rejecting logic itself. 3.3 Research Strategy Research Strategy basically refers to the method of data collection for the specified topic. The term Data can be divided into further 2 branches. Primary Data The primary data basically refers to data which is collected by the researcher for the purpose of answering the problem under discussion. Primary data will be collected through Secondary Data The Secondary data is being obtained by the literature study, journals and articles. Secondary data is normally used to understand the problem under discussion and its helps the Researcher to reach its conclusion. The Researcher will use a quantitative approach for this research study, developing and distributing a questionnaire to customers of Islamic and Conventional banks asking them about their experiences and attitudes in relation to their banks. The questionnaire will include three types of questions, 1) closed questions, requiring the respondent to answer yes or no, 2) open questions allowing the respondent to elaborate on their answers and 3) multiple choice questions, asking respondents to rate their responses on a scale. Primary data collection plan: quantitative or qualitative both methods have to be used appropriately in any research paradigm. The researcher will be using a quantitative approach. The survey strategy will be used to collect quantitative data which is associated with deductive approach and philosophically positivist. The Researcher will distribute questionnaires to the customers from both Islamic and Conventional banks, asking them to complete and return them to the Researcher. 3.4 Research Sample In research terms a sample is a group of people, objects, or items that are taken from a larger population for measurement. The sample should be representative of the population to ensure that we can generalise the findings from the research sample to the population as a whole. Probability sampling means a method of sampling that utilizes random selection. In order to have a random selection method, you must set up some process or procedure that assures that the different units in your population have equal probabilities of being chosen. Humans have long practiced various forms of random selection, such as picking a name out of a hat, or choosing the short straw. These days, we tend to use computers as the mechanism for generating random numbers as the basis for random selection. Non probability sampling does not involve random selection but it does not mean that non probability samples arent representative of the population. But it does mean that non probability samples cannot depend upon the rationale of probability theory. At least with a probabilistic sample, we know the odds or probability that we have represented the population well. We are able to estimate confidence intervals for the statistic. With non probability samples, we may or may not represent the population well, and it will often be hard for us to know how well weve done so. In general, researchers prefer probabilistic or random sampling methods over non probabilistic ones, and consider them to be more accurate and rigorous. The Researcher will be using Probability Sampling method for its Primary data collection. 3.5 Research Validity and Reliability The research is designed very carefully in order to maintain the level of validity and reliability. The study which is used is a test and re test approach in order to reduce unfairness and interviewee possible irritation. Both qualitative and quantitative research method are aimed to achieve high level of validity and reliability. Interviews are based on friendly manner to approach people have available time for interviews. Open ended and close ended questions along with some probe were going to be used during in-depth interview. The ethical principle of collecting data is to avoid subjective selectivity in what we record. Researchers needs to maintenance his objectivity by making sure he collects all data and fully (Saunder`s M. et al 2007). 3.6 Research Ethics The ethical principle of collecting data is to avoid subjective selectivity in what we record. Researcher needs to maintenance his objectivity by making sure he collects all data accurately and fully (Saunders, M. et al. 2007). Time Period and task to do March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 Weeks, 17, Prepare dissertation proposal and submission before 29th April 2009. Continue searching the literature review and its submission to supervisor. .. . . Weeks, 18,19 .. Weeks, 20,21 Interviewing with participants, and analysing of data simultaneously, gathered from each participant. Revision of draft and supervisor`s comments. Meeting with supervisor, Initial start

Conflicts in the Opening Act and Resolutions in the End of Harold Brigh

How does Harold Brighouse present the differences and conflicts in the opening act and what resolutions are shown in the end? Hobson’s Choice is a play written by Harold Brighouse based in the Victorian times. This may be a reason why there were so many differences and conflicts presented in the play because it allows you to look at the historical issues and the social issues. The opening act is brimming with differences and conflicts, some obvious and some subtle. The conflicts were based upon people crossing the social boundaries and going against expectations that the Victorians had set upon us. The differences were mainly believing whether those boundaries should be crossed or not. The differences caused the conflicts. The beliefs caused different actions and those actions caused conflict. The play has two main characters, both strong willed father and daughter, Hobson and Maggie. Hobson is a prosperous Salford boot maker but also an ineffectual tyrant and spends most of his time drinking whilst his three daughters run his home and his shop. Maggie is his eldest daughter, who is immensely efficient and a lot more strong minded then her father. These two characters show the most difference between each other and any other conflict caused was mainly because of their differences. Conflict was not just between Maggie and her father but also between other characters too. For example, Willie and Maggie, Jim and Hobson, Ada and Maggie and even Alice and Vickey against Maggie. You can see that these conflicts had either Maggie or Hobson in them, the strongest characters in the play. Alice showed the first sign of conflict in the first page of the play. Alice had problems with her father drinking and returning home late eac... ...ed right at the end and it was a huge leap shown in Willie by Brighouse to show that Hobson really had lost his authority to be disobeyed by his own worker who was lower class and then Willie to be supported by Maggie showed that Hobson had lost all his support. Harold Brighouse created such an atmosphere to show how people were in the Victorian times. He created characters that could represent many types of people at that time. For example, Hobson represented the middle class man, Maggie the strong willed daughter, Mrs Hepsworth the upper class woman, Ada the lower class women, Willie the timid, hard working man and so on. These characters had many differences and attributes which collided with other personalities. This difference between the characters was why the conflicts occurred and Brighouse managed to change some personalities to make some conflicts die.