Globale warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Globale warming - Essay Example One of the reasons for this is due to research conducted on global warming, where there are studies indicative of increasing temperatures all around the globe and there is a potential for the failure of temperature regulation around the globe. This is to imply that there is a high possibility, according to some weather scientists, that the mechanism that ensures the weather and climate remains stable within the atmosphere is likely to fail, in which case the temperatures will fall to a scenario of the legendary ice age (Carter 2008, p.182). This accounts for the larger percentage of the reason why there are varying opinions pertaining to global warming, whereas there are others such as research that looks into the erratic patterns of the weather and the climate following the large impact of global warming across the globe. This is to an extent that it is difficult to provide detailed information on how much change has occurred and even future trends of the world based on climate chan ge studies, where the effects of different causative agents of global warming are evaluated and their amount of damage assessed to ensure that the latest data is acquired and utilized adequately. With this in mind, there are also sceptical scientists that only focus on single aspects of global warming thus with every new research or study on the weather, there is a new opinion based on hypothetical situations. This will be discussed later when looking at the future of the world from the perspective of global warning. Problem To understand the concept of global warming and even the theory of global warming, there is a need to look at the evidence presented by different researches as to how global warming works and affects the world. With this in mind, scientists have discovered that humans are the greatest cause of global warming, where they do not cause it by their state of being but through their activities, both economic and social. As a result, the temperatures of the earth have increased over the past 250 years at a steady pace, but this is not to mean that there are no other factors causing this. First looking at this reveals that burning fossil fuels for energy and heat is part of what causes global warming by releasing carbon dioxide which traps a layer of warm air (Jacobson 2004, p.2910). Findings that brought this to light states that a combination of human activities and natural causes has resulted in the rapid in surface temperature rise (Zuo et al 2012, p.3432). However, there are also other findings that refute and support this at the same time in that there are natural occurrences and human activities that have significantly contributed to the cooling of the earth meaning that a form of balance to the global temperature belt is returning including chloral-flouro-carbons. These include eruptions of mountains as seen in the 1991 case of Mt. Pinatubo, which lowered global temperatures for a number of years (Soden et al, 2002). On a similar note rese arch has also found that global warming is not necessarily a bad thing based on studies and evidence presented by various scientists. As such, there have been findings that since 1860 to date, there has been roughly an increase in global

Budgeting, Costing and Casemix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Budgeting, Costing and Casemix - Essay Example as the NPV is less than zero so it is not advisable for the university to invest in this project. Had the NPV been greater than zero it would make sense to invest in this venture. Question Five Part (a) The state of revenues and expenses for the hospital are as shown in the table below: Revenues Direct Indirect 16 5.5 1.5 5 3.3 3.8 6 2.8 1.6 - - 4.4 - - 2.55 27 11.6 13.85 Projected Profit 1.55 Note: All values in millions of dollars. Therefore the hospital’s projected profit for the 2010 fiscal year is $1.55 million. Part (b) The allocation of indirect costs to the patient services departments are indicated in the table below along with the agreed cost drivers. Indirect Cost Cost Driver Cost (Millions of Dollars) Financial Services Patient Revenue 1.5 Maintenance Space Utilisation 3.8 Housekeeping Labour Hours 1.6 Administration Salary Dollars 4.4 Personnel Salary Dollars 2.55 The breakup of the indirect costs to each department is described below. Accounting Salaries: divided equally amongst all three departments, therefore cost to each department is 0.5 million dollars. Maintenance: divided amongst all three departments based on space utilisation (covered area), cost to each department is indicated in the table below: Department Space Utilisation (square meters) Percentage of Total Space Cost (millions of dollars) Routine Care 199,800 66 2.525 Laboratory 39,600 13 0.50 Radiology 61,200 20 0.774 Housekeeping: divided amongst all three departments based on labour hours utilised, cost to each department is indicated in the table below: Department Labour Hours Percentage of Total Cost (millions of dollars) Routine Care 76000 84% 1.34 Laboratory 6000 7% 0.105 Radiology 9000 10% 0.158 Administration: divided amongst all three departments based on salary dollars utilised, cost to each department is indicated in the table below: Salary Dollars Percentage of Total Cost (millions of dollars) Routine Care 5,709,000 56% 2.47 Laboratory 2,035,000 20% 0.879 Radiolog y 2,439,000 24% 1.05 Personnel: divided amongst all three departments based on salary dollars utilised, cost to each department is indicated in the table below: Salary Dollars Percentage of Total Cost (millions of dollars) Routine Care 5,709,000 56% 1.40 Laboratory 2,035,000 20% 0.50 Radiology 2,439,000 24% 0.60 Part (c) The allocation method utilised is well reasoned and makes a lot of sense on paper and on ground. The accounting salaries would in principle get divided amongst all three departments equally. The maintenance costs would get divided amongst all three departments based on the floor space allocated in principle. However it must be taken in mind that the routine care department would have little equipment that would require large maintenance costs but the laboratory and the radiology department would furnish such equipment e.g. centrifuges, x-ray machines and the like. Therefore using total space occupied alone would not really reflect the state of maintenance expenses a lone because routine care would always assume more space while laboratory and radiology would use

The Weak Animal Rights Position

The Weak Animal Rights Position Mary Anne Warren proposes an animal rights argument known as the weak animal rights position. First, I will be describing Warrens description of the positions and the arguments in support of it. Next, I will propose the objection to Warrens position that using sentience as the distinguishing characteristic promotes detrimental environmental policy. Then, I will argue that sentient animals act as an umbrella species that protect the environment. Finally, I will describe why my objection to Warrens argument is the stronger argument. In this paper, I will argue that Warrens weak animal rights position is incorrect and that bad environmental policy can result from her argument. In the paper Difficulties with the Strong Animal Rights Position, Mary Anne Warren argues for an animal rights position called the weak animal rights position. This animal rights position states that all sentient animals have rights; however, the rights of those nonhuman animals are not as strong as those of humans. First, I will describe what Warren means by sentient. Sentient animals means all animals who are capable of have experiences, including experiences of pleasure or satisfaction and pain, suffering, or frustration (Warren, p. 164). This can be simplified to all animals that feel pain. Warrens animal rights position includes a wide range of animals. The position also gives people a method to deal with differences between nonhuman animals rights strength. For example, should mice be given the same rights as an elephant? The weak animal rights position says that the rights of animals from different species can have levels of strength. To justify this claim Warren states that t he strength of animals right is based off of the animals mental sophistication. The more mentally sophisticated an animal is the greater their ability to suffer is, thus the stronger its rights are. It would still be wrong to kill mice without a justifiable reason, but it would not be a wrong as killing an elephant without a justifiable reason (Warren, p166). I will now explain what Warren means by nonhuman animal rights not being a strong as human rights. The weak animal rights position says that the rights given to sentient nonhuman animals can be violated at times when it would not be acceptable to violate human rights. Warren argues that the morally relevant feature that separates humans from nonhuman is that humans are capable of listening to reason. Through reasoned arguments humans chose between actions (Warren, p. 169). Therefore, the rights of animals can be overridden in situations where human rights could not be. The example that is used by Warren is killing rodent to protect our food or to prevent the spread of disease. If humans were spreading disease or stealing from our food supply society would not find it morally acceptable to kill the humans like they would with mice. The weak animal rights position says that killing the mice, in the most humane way possible, is a morally acceptable action if they are causing harm to hum ans (Warren, p. 167). Another example used by Warren is culling deer in over populated areas where there are no longer natural predators due to human interference. Through Warrens animal rights position it is morally acceptable to kill individuals in a way that causes the least amount of suffering if the environment needs protecting so that the animals can live a natural lives. With Warrens example reintroduction of natural predators is necessary, but hunting can be substituted in the beginning to decrease the population size. The weak animal rights position says that we have an obligation not only to the animals lives, but also to protect the environment so that the animals can live a natural life. Therefore, if predators are a natural part of an animals life, the individual rights of that animal can be overridden and predation can be reintroduced in areas where it has been removed from (Warren, p. 168). These strategies would not be acceptable with humans, but because nonhuman animals cannot reason, the ir rights can be overridden in each situation. My objection to Warrants argument is that by only give rights to sentient animals it does not produce good environmental policies. My objection to Warrens argument is that only including sentient animals, as having rights, does not guarantee good environmental policies. I argue that by only finding it morally wrong to harm animals that feel pain other important organism such as plants are downgraded and dismissed. By only giving rights to sentient animals a wide range of animals are left without rights. Imagine that there is an ecosystem where there are only non-sentient organisms like spiders, plants, and microorganisms. According to the weak animal rights position it would morally acceptable to build a hospital here that would completely abolish the entire ecosystem. There are no sentient animals in the ecosystem, so there would not be any suffering. However, eliminating an entire ecosystem is not a good environmental policy. Other organisms that do not feel pain according to Warrens view of sentient do not need to be taken into account. Non-sentient animals or organism still can have important value to the wo rld as a whole. The weak animal rights position does not guarantee good environmental policy. Another example would be if there was some toxin in an environment that only affected non-sentient organisms and animals but caused sentient animals in the area to stop reproducing. The sentient animals do not suffer because of the toxin but the species will eventually go extinct from not reproducing (Katie McShane, 11-15-10). The weak animal rights position does not find this morally unacceptable. Because the sentient animals are not suffering from the toxin their rights are not being violated. However, this is a terrible environmental policy. In my objection to Warrens argument I argue that the weak animal rights position does not guarantee good environment policy. However, by giving sentient animals rights and thus protection they are an umbrella species and the entire ecosystem is protected. The degradation of an ecosystem that contains sentient animals affects the lives, health, pleasure, and pain. If the effects are negative to sentient animals then it is likely that whatever the cause of the environmental degradation would be ratified. For example, if sentient animals will suffer greatly because of a building be built then it would not be morally justifiable to eliminate or degrade an entire ecosystem. The sentient animals act as a protector of the environment in which they are located. The likeliness that there is an environment that does not have sentient animals is unlikely, so ecosystems would be protected because of the sentient animals involved. The conclusion drawn from this paper is that Warrens argument is that using sentient as a distinguishing characteristic to determine what animals have rights creates bad environmental policy. Ecosystems should have value even if they do not include sentient animals as defined by Warren. Ecosystems as a whole should not be discarded. Although there are very few ecosystems that do not include sentient animals, a situation could arise where sentient animals rights are not a factor in an environmental situation. By only allowing sentient animals to have rights ecosystems can be harmed when sentient animals are not involved. As seen with the examples in my objection, entire ecosystems could be destroyed and it would be morally acceptable. Non-sentient organism can have value even though they do not feel pain. Animal rights arguments should not yield poor environmental policies. Animals and ecosystems need to be supported through animal rights, which are not accomplished by Warrens weak an imal rights position. Warren argues for an animal rights position that only sentient animals have rights and that nonhuman animal rights are not as strong a human rights. My objection to Warrens argument shows that only including sentient animals as having rights results in bad environmental policy. My reply to my objection claimed that sentient animals act an umbrella species that protects the environment. The strongest argument was found in my objection. Warrens sentient characteristic does not guarantee good environmental policy decisions.

Maxwells Demon - Not a Perpetual Motion Machine :: Physics Essays

Maxwell's Demon - Not a Perpetual Motion Machine Entropy is not a difficult concept to just take at face value, but it is a difficult topic to gain a good understanding of. To do this some background must be given such as the first and second law of thermodynamics. The second law of thermodynamics states that any event that occurs spontaneously must result in an increase in the randomness of lhe syslem. This means that as an ice cube melts the water molecules that it is composed of will progress toward a less ordered arrangement. The leaves that fall from the trees do nol arrange themselves in a pile on the ground because the second law of thermodynamics is against it. Entropy is a concept that most high school chemistry and physics students enjoy learning about because the now have an excuse for having a messy room, they are fighting nature. For a better understanding of the theory of entropy it helps to understand the first law of thermodynamics, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it may only change forms. In other words the energy of the universe is constant. For the universe (the ultimate system) to give up energy to increase ordered is not a likely event. Therefore ,for a system, a persons room for example, to become more ordered, energy must be put into the system, cleaning the room. Everything in the universe is governed by entropy through the Gibbs free energy equation which states; the heat content of the system, minus the temperature of the system times the entropy, or randomness will dictate whether the event will be spontaneous. Entropy is actually centered around the probability of an event occurring. The greater the statistical probability of a particular event occurring, the greater the entropy. A good example of this is an experiment with a new deck of playing cards. When the cards are first unwr apped they are arranged in numerical order and according to suit, if the cards are thrown into the air and allowed to fall to the floor. When they are swept up and restacked, we will almost certainly find that the cards have become disordered. We would expect this disordering to occur because there are millions of ways for the cards to become disordered and only one way for them to come together again in their original sequence. Another result of the second law of thermodynamics is that spontaneous changes are always accompanied by a dispersal of energy into a more disordered form.

Captain America as a Rhetorical Superhero Essay

Half of the person we become is an impression of the ones we admire. Growing up in the United States every child has someone they look up to. This most likely is an individual that represents success and the values we are taught to respect. Superheroes have always served as something good in our lives because they make us want to help the world and feel like we can do anything. Superheroes represent qualities that we should all attempt to embody. What Captain America truly represents can be interpreted in many ways, but there are messages being conveyed. The authors of â€Å"Captain America: The First Avengers† use rhetoric to express the social ideology that being a hero is not exactly how strong you are, but what values and morals you live your life by. Captain America was created through a technological experiment on the capabilities of the human body. Dr. Erskine developed a serum that improves everything in the human body to help the Allied forces against the Nazis. He was looking for the perfect candidate to create the flawless warrior; a man that exhibited opportune physical qualities, mental aspects and personality traits. They chose Steve Rodgers, the complete opposite of a physical specimen, but the optimum mental applicant. He was courageous, honorable, kind, compassionate and a patriot. He was only a man trying to fight for his country in its time of need. These were the main traits Erskine was looking for. The serum would take care of everything physical, but would only improve upon his personality traits. Any of the recruits could have been chosen and became superhuman but they were not the best fit. While the serum does make anyone have super human abilities, it also amplifies every trait of a person even the negatives. This was the result for the first trial on Johann whose greed aggression and selfishness were amplified. Dr. Erskine explains it well in the movie: The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength. And knows compassion. He is saying that a powerful man that becomes more powerful would be dangerous in this situation. Steve was given the treatment and because of whom he was became the superhero Captain America and not another villain. Captain America can be seen as one of the most American super heroes there is. A weak man, looking completely emaciated, becomes the perfect image of a man. He grows in stature, size, and strength. He becomes the ideal heterosexual superhero. Steve comes from nothing, a small guy from Brooklyn, and becomes perfection. He gains superhuman power, speed and abilities, but still represents the honorable morals we are supposed to embody as a country. This is why he was chosen, and this is also why he is so powerful. Steve represents the handsome, courageous, powerful and self-sacrificing American hero that many grew up admiring. It can be argued that Captain America represents the American mindset that values, morals, courage, perseverance and intelligence are more valuable than pure strength. I believe this is the imbedded goal of the film. The writer does well to illustrate this message. Along with other recent superhero action movies the objective is to entertain an audience, and obviously to profit. The film could be improved in a few ways but is definitely pretty entertaining. Inlaid with these purposes a message from the writers to the viewers can be seen. The creators try to encourage the viewer to look past the physical driven society that we live in, and embrace our personal strengths. That becoming a hero is not exclusively based on strength and physicality, but our personality, intelligence, morals and values. For part of this central idea to be conveyed emotion is used. The writer’s use of pathos goes a long way to contribute to the central idea. For this to be successful, Steve had to be belittled and then empathized by the audience before he could become great. The author does well to show him as courageous, but helpless. In the opening scene he defends the honor of the armed forces in the movie theater. This gets him into a fight and a beating from a much larger man. He does not back down from the man but is overcome until his friend jumps in. Right after this Steve is shown in his scrawny form trying to enlist where the folder displays how many flaws he has. In boot camp he is again shown as subpar in stature and strength. It enables the viewers to relate to feeling insignificant and unworthy, or just ordinary. Once he is broken down it gives the chance for him to overcome everything. This aspect encourages the spectators that anyone can become a hero. Pathos is used to elaborate on the values that Captain America represents. He represents courage and sacrifice in the scene where he dives on top of the dead grenade to save the squad and also when he haphazardly invades to rescue the POW. The best example of this is the last scene of the movie where Steve flies the plane into the ice in order to save the city. He wanted more than anything to continue his relationship with Peggy but gives that up for a better chance at saving everyone. Everyone can relate to him when they say goodbye over the radio. This makes the viewers relate to him and feel like they could be in the same position. All of this emotional appeal also serves another purpose. It points to the fact the Steve is still human after the experiment. The creator made sure to maintain this human connection to compassion. His love affair with Peggy helps establish this throughout the movie. He never loses touch with his crush and his feeling of responsibility towards the rescue of his best friend is an example of this. The human aspect keeps the audience relating to Captain America so they feel they might be able to become a superhero based on their mental strengths. The writer maintains this human connection so the viewer does not feel alienated from the social ideology. The cast of Captain America contributes to the credibility of the movie. With stars such as Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson the film is viewed with more legitimacy. Another specific instance where ethos is used is the implication of Stark Industries from the Iron Man series. Tony Stark’s father is brought in to play a small role. This can be seen as reaffirming the social issue at hand. By presenting another â€Å"superhero†, (or reference to that of) that used his intelligence to develop superpowers rather than natural born strength, it supports this idea. Alluding to all the Marvel movies establishes more standing, which is a trend in many of these movies. The writer’s use of logos helps create a more believable atmosphere for this normally unbelievable story. The story is set in World War II Nazi Germany. The viewer can find this recognizable and become more wrapped up in the story. They know the situation in Europe and begin to connect the dots. Anyone that knows a little about World War II can connect the fact that Hitler was probably the biggest supporter of technological advances during the war. All of the outlandish properties of the movie become a little more reasonable when related to Hitler in this time period. The logos help establish a familiar setting making the story subliminally more believable thus making the social message more believable. Like most superheroes Captain America is the epitome of the heterosexual stereotype after the experiment. The chamber opens to show his now chiseled body all oiled up. He resembles a competition bodybuilder on stage covered in Vaseline to show even more muscle tone. While the central idea behind the movie was how physical strength is not as important, the producers still portray him as a sexual figure. He stands for America’s hegemonic muscularity. Then generally women become attracted to him and most men want to be him. Captain America is full of symbols that contribute to what he represents in this movie. The fact that his uniform is red, white, and blue makes him represent the good of the country. Steve embodies all the attributes that are seen as favorable among our society as he represents the country. The shield may be seen as different things, but I feel as if it represents Steve’s courage for one, and also his â€Å"average joe† appeal. A normal soldier might be able to have some of the same success equipped with and assault rifle and every resource made available by the army but Captain America doesn’t need that. All he needs is himself, a pistol and a shield. Captain America serves as a message to people that anyone can be a hero and that the physical aspect is not as important as values and personality traits. Superhero stories operate to empower and encourage the readers to better themselves and to do the best with what they are given. Rhetoric in this instance is used to convey these important messages. Superheroes act as a great role model and example for us all.

Chinese fiction Essay

â€Å"No Longer Human† is a Japanese novel written by Osamu Dazai. It is considered as Dazai’s masterpiece and categorized as the second-best selling novel in Japan, whereas â€Å"To Live† was written by Yu Hua is a Chinese fiction. â€Å"No Longer Human† is describe as a labor of fiction, the novel is recited in the first person and have several elements which laid down an autobiographical source, such as suicide, a recurring theme in the author’s life whereas, the story of â€Å"To Live† started some time in the 1940s. The main character of this sotry is Xu Fugui who is a local rich man’s son and habitual gambler, who lose his family property to the tricky Longer, driving his father to his grave in the process. His attitude also causes his long-suffering wife Jiazhen to leave him with their daughter, Fengxia and their unborn son, Youqing, the same thing with Oba Yozo in â€Å"No Longer Human†. The novel â€Å"No Longer Human† covers the portrayal of the life of Oba Yozo, who is a trouble soul not capable of revealing his true self to others and who is instead forced to uphold an impression of worthless jocularity. This story tells the emotional and interesting story of a young man who is caught between the disintegration of the traditions of a northern Japanese aristocratic family and the impact of Western ideas. The novel is made up of three chapters which narrate the life of Oba Yozo from early childhood to late adolescence. In the first chapter of the novel, it deals on how the overcome by an extreme feeling of alienation and finding it nearly impossible to socialize with those who besiege him, Oba Yozo can but resort to buffoonery in order to ascertain an interpersonal relationships and fit into place in a vain effort to disregard the furious sexual abuse he was subjected to by a couple of servants during his childhood. In the second chapter, Oba Yozo becomes more and more troubled over the potential penetrability of his cheerful impression, which, together with the pressures of academic life, leads him into a violent cycle of drinking, smoking and harlotry, ending in a one-night stand with a married woman with whom he planned to commit double suicide. Though he survived, the woman passed away, leaving him with nothing but an unbearable feeling of guilt. In the this chapter, several years later, Oba Yozo is dropped out from High School and commits into a relationship with a destructive woman, who immediately betrays him with another man. Oba Yozo is once again driven to the edge of committing suicide, but was not able to do so because he becomes an alcoholic and a morphine addict. The story comes to a close with Oba Yozo’s confinement in a mental institution where he finally assumes he is no longer human, neither happy nor unhappy, but merely a man of excesses. The story of â€Å"To Live† is somewhat similar to the novel â€Å"No Longer Human† in a sense that both the main characters of the novels were engaged into alcoholism, drug addiction and losss of their families. However, in the novel of â€Å"No Longer Human† the main character’s story ended upon his confinement in a mental insitution, while in the story of â€Å"To Live† the main character after he loses his entire family fortune, eventually reunites with his wife and children, but is forced to start a shadow puppet troupe with partner Chunsheng to support his family. The story of â€Å"To Live† during the Chinese Civil War is in full swing, and both Fugui and Chunsheng are forcibly enlisted into the Kuomintang forces during a performance. After a heavy battle, Fugui and Chunsheng are captured by the communist side, where they quickly become entertainers for the troops. Eventually Fugui is able to return home, and once there, finds out that Fengxia has become mute due to a fever. The story of â€Å"To Live† gives emphasis to the peak of the Great Leap Forward. During this period the local town chief enlists Fugui and Jiazhen to donate all scrap iron in their possession to the national drive to produce steel and make weaponry for liberating Taiwan. As an entertainer, Fugui performs for the entire town, which has been devoted entirely over to producing steel. They enter this work with great passion, and the movie devotes some time to portraying the family’s unity and happiness. For example, the young boy Youqing defends his sisters from bullies picking on her for her muteness. Aside from the Great Leap Forward period, the novel also give attention to the period of Cultural Revolution. The village chief advises Fugui’s family to burn their shadow puppet drama props, which have been deemed as counter-revolutionary as they are traditional cultural elements. Also, Fugui’s daughter is now grown up. Her family arranges for her to meet Wan Erxi, who is a local leader of the Red Guards, a worker with a salary, and also a kind-hearted and caring man, but lame in one leg. They fall in love and marry. During Fengxia’s childbirth, her parents and husband accompany her to the county hospital, where they find out that nurses are in charge as all doctors have been sent to do hard labor for being â€Å"reactionary academic authorities†. The nurses assure the family that they have nothing to fear, but the family is skeptical, and manages to retrieve a doctor from confinement to oversee the birth, under the pretext of making the doctor â€Å"see his revolutionary mistakes†. As the doctor has not eaten for several days, the family purchases for him seven steamed buns. However, the young woman begins to hemorrhage, and the nurses panic, admitting that they are only students and do not know what to do. The frantic family and nurses seek the advice of the doctor, but it is found out that he has overeaten and is semiconscious. The family is helpless, and Jiazhen can only hold the hand of her daughter as she slowly dies. The story ends several years later, with the family now consisting of Fugui, Jiazhen, their son-in-law Erxi, and grandson Mantou. The family visits the graves of Youqing and Fengxia, where Jiazhen, as per tradition, leaves dumplings for her son. Erxi buys for his son a box full of young chicks, which they decide to keep in the puppet drama prop chest, now empty of its contents. â€Å"To Live† such is not the same as â€Å"No Longer Human† because as you can see the character of the novel â€Å"No Longer Human† is more on of being useless to the family and to the society because Oba Yozo just ended up in confinement because his woman had another man. Another distinction between the two stories was that the character of â€Å"To Live† realized and did something good for himself and for his family, whereas in the novel â€Å"No Longer Human† the main character shows no changes in his life. â€Å"No Longer Human† on the other hand is basically autobiographical, founded on events from Dazai’s own life. He was a literary rock star, but a deeply unhappy guy, attempting suicide several times before finally succeeding. There is in fact a monument at the spot where he killed himself that is, along with his mistress. The book is uncommon from what we think of as autobiography, in that the reason for writing is not so much to tell a story – there is no real employment, beginning, middle, and end in the traditional sense, but rather, the text is a sort of rambling exploration of the self. There is no forced form, instead, an effort to create a straightforward relation between author and reader, to explain a precise point of view. The book itself is very fascinating. It makes the reader want to learn Japanese, for beginners, because no matter how talented the translator, there is no getting throughout the fact that the grammatical structure of Japanese is completely different from that of English in that it is completely possible, and even ordinary, to compose a sentence in Japanese with no subject. Clearly, the entire book is written in this form, which would be particularly appropriate to the work itself. The book is the related story of a very unhappy guy who is essentially chronicling his downward spiral. Nevertheless it is hard to say if it is really a downward spiral, that is, though he does identify a moment at which he came to an end to be human, it is not totally clear that he was ever really human, through his own definition, to begin with. One question is what it means, in his eyes, to be human. . Oba Yozo’s character is raging against rationality, and the way, in which it dehumanizes people, so in a sense, though he calls himself a mouse, etc, he could be seen as claiming that he is really the only human. Dazai’s character, Oba Yozo in the novel, sees himself as inhuman, primarily, it seems, because he lacks certain fundamental human character. He maintains for instance, that he has in no way felt starving. On the other hand, there is also a certain issue of domination at play like; he is not capable to say no to anyone, to refuse permission for anything. In this sense, one could say that he is entirely determined by the outside world. Notwithstanding the fact that he has an inner life, he maintains it hidden from the outside world. As a matter of fact, his behavior is entirely, he claims, an act, he â€Å"plays the clown† for the pleasure of others, declining to let his own emotions reveal. The main characters of the novel have a clear similarity to notes from deeply unhappy men who are convinced of their own uniqueness, but there are definitely differences the way they choses to end up their stories. References: Dazai, Osamu. No Longer Human. New York: New Directions, 1973. Yu Hua. To Live: A Novel. (1993). Trans. Michael Berry. New York: Anchor-Random House, 2003.

Question Outlines Essay Example

Question Outlines Essay Example Question Outlines Essay Question Outlines Essay Analyze the extent to which the Articles of Confederation were effective in solving the problems that confronted the new nation. Introduction: In America, between the years of 1777 and 1789, the Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution for the United States. This new document was the first attempt at a centralized national government, effective in solving few problems that arose in America. The articles successfully put an end to the Revolutionary War in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. Two separate land ordinances were passed to settle the dispute over western lands under this indenture. Most importantly, it served as a superb example of what to change when drafting the U. S. Constitution. Therefore, the Articles of Confederation were effective in less than many ways. Topic Sentence 1: The Revolutionary war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783 under the Articles of Confederation. * Tired of being under Britain’s control, America rebelled against England and the Revolutionary war started. * The Treaty of Paris in 1783 officially ended the war with Britain allowing America to focus on the development of the country. Topic Sentence 2: Another issue solved while under the rule of the Articles consisted of the government establishing rules for northern land of America. * To prevent land ownership confusion, the land northwest of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, commonly known as the Old Northwest, was divided into equal sections of land and sold to the public to pay for national debt. * This system of managing land was called the Land Ordinance of 1785. * The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was made to further govern the Old Northwestern land. When a territory inhabited 60,000 people, the piece of land would be considered a state and no longer be own by the government. Topic Sentence 3: With the Articles Of Confederation solving few problems in America, the Constitutional Convention was organized to modify the Articles. * The members of the Constitutional Convention were authorized to only revise and edit the Articles of Confederation, but held secret meetings to completely rew rite a new constitution. * This new document gave the central government more needed power and addressed many of the issues the Articles did not. Conclusion: Although the Articles of Confederation only solved few issues in early America, the ones it did were necessary to the growth of the country. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 was the ending of the Revolutionary war. The Land Ordinance of 785, dealt with the dispute over the Old Northwestern land. The expansion and organization of the north was due to the Northwestern Ordinance of 1787. Lastly, the Articles of Confederation served as a stencil for the U. S. Constitution and as a starter for the strong centralized government we have today. McKenzie Sevier 11/16 Essay Outline #2 To what extent was the United States Constitution a radical departure from the Articles of Confederation? Introduction: After realizing the lack of power the Articles of Confederation had towards shaping a strong central government, the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was held to construct an all new organization for the U. S. government. That same year, the United States Constitution was ratified providing a better national government. The Articles of Confederation served as an important step in laying the foundation for the U. S. Constitution. Unlike the Articles, the Constitution better defined the relationship between the federal government and the states. The development of three branched of government were created to eliminate the chance of one branch gaining too much power. Thus, the strength and success of the national government under the U. S. Constitution, compared to the Articles of Confederation, was an extreme improvement for America. Topic Sentence 1: Under the Articles of Confederation, the relationship between state and government ruling was vague. The Confederation Congress had the power to make laws but uselessly could not enforce them. * The Articles stated that America could not conduct any form of foreign policy causing the military to be weak and ineffective. Topic Sentence 2: The U. S. Constitution was ratified in 1787 after the Articles of Confederation failed at forming a strong national government. * At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 the states’ representatives were t o review and revise the Articles. * The representatives arranged secret meetings to rewrite a whole new constitution, for fixing the old one seemed useless. This constitution was presented to the Congress of Confederation and after getting approval; the needed nine out of thirteen states ratified the U. S. Constitution. Topic Sentence 3: A structured from of government was created under the Constitution to better the development of America. * The Constitution consists of a preamble, seven original articles, twenty-seven amendments and a paragraph to certify its acceptance by the Constitutional Convention. * The seven original articles call for a three-branch government, the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive, creating a system of checks and balances to ensure the power is equally distributed. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights and were ratified simultaneously in 1791. Knowing change is bound to happen, the authors included in the articles state that new amendments could be added. Conclusion: Since the Articles of Confederation provided a weak government, the constitution was written drastically helping America’s government. The U. S. Constitution, compared to the Articles of Confederation, is a powerful, necessary guide for the development of America. The deviation fro m the Articles to the Constitution proved a drastic change in America’s national government. McKenzie Sevier 11/16 Essay Outline #3 To what extent did the American Revolution fundamentally change American society? In your answer, be sure to address the political, social, and economic effects of the Revolution in the period from 1775 to 1800. Introduction: In 1775 a war between Britain and America broke loose after the overbearing British soldiers overstayed their welcome in America. A troop of British soldiers collided with a troop of American soldiers in Concord, Massachusetts causing a conflict that soon grew out of control. The shot heard around the world† was the beginning of the American Revolution. This war caused many changes amongst American society including the freedom of America, the people believing in the equality of all, and the respect for one’s hard work. Thus, the American Revolution made an effect on society in the political, social, and economic aspects of life. Topic Sentence 1: The freedom of America was the beginning of a democratic nation starting with the Declaration of Independence. * This letter of complaints to England broke the ties between America and England. America began a representative government to better involve the people with the decisions of the new nation. * Topic Sentence 2: The social change of America was mainly present in the attitudes of common people. * The belief of the equality for all overcame American’s beliefs about the way life should be. Topic Sentence 3: Before the American Revolution, one’s hard work was not appreciated and basically didn’t matter. After the American Revolution, the appreciation of hard work was respected and looked highly upon. Conclusion: The notably drastic changes after the American Revolution influenced a free more independent life. With the Declaration of Independence, the change of attitudes, and the appreciation of hard work, America was constantly improving. Therefore, the political, social and economic effects of the American Revolution were drastically better than before the idea of independence was common. McKenzie Sevier 11/16 Essay Outline #4 Historians have traditionally labeled the period after the War of 1812 the â€Å"Era of Good Feelings. † Evaluate the accuracy of this label, considering the emergence of nationalism and sectionalism. Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1815-1823 to construct your answer. Introduction: The time period after the War of 1812, traditionally labeled the â€Å"Era of Good Feelings†, was ironically not a time of complete positivity. The idea of nationalism of America kept hope alive for independence while sectionalism kept the north and south on conflicting terms. Thus, the â€Å"Era of Good Feelings† was not completely good. Topic Sentence 1: Nationalism in America was considered when America broke all ties with Britain. * America was not under the rule of another country and longer * American’s began to have a sense of independence and were able to grow as a nation rather than a part of another nation. Topic Sentence 2: Sectionalism arose when the North and South began to disagree over the idea of slaves. * There was fear of the North’s population growing out of control. * The Missouri Crisis settled the dispute calling for Mississippi to remain a slave state in return for Maine to become a state. Conclusion: The â€Å"Era of Good Feelings† was in all not great. The idea of Nationalism kept a positive note on America where as sectionalism was a national dispute keeping the North and South in conflict with each other. Therefore, the time period after the War of 1812 was not an â€Å"Era of Good Feelings. †

Not Only in French

The Restrictive Only / Not Only in French There are two common French equivalents for the restrictive only in English: seulement and ne... que. These two terms mean essentially the same thing, but seulement is an adverb of quantity while ne... que is a negative adverb, so theyre used a bit differently Seulement: Only The simplest way to say only in French is with the adverb seulement, which can qualify a noun, verb, or clause.Jai seulement un livre.I have only one book. Il voit seulement les films à ©trangers.He only sees foreign movies. Note how the placement of seulement can change the meaning: Jai lu seulement deux pages pour te faire plaisir.I read only two pages to please you. (You didnt want  me to read more.) Jai lu deux pages seulement pour te faire plaisir.I read two pages only to please you. (I didnt feel like reading, but I did it for you.) Il veut seulement travailler la banque.He only wants to work at the bank. (He doesnt want to invest there). Il veut travailler seulement la banque.He wants to work only at the bank. (He doesnt want to work at the store). Ne... Que: Only in the Negative An equally common but slightly more complicated way to say only is with ne... que, which is used similarly to other negative adverbs: ne goes in front of the verb and que  usually follows it.Je nai quun livre.I have only one book.Il ne voit que les films à ©trangers.He sees only foreign movies.As with seulement, you can change the meaning by placing que directly in front of the word you want to qualify.Je nai lu que deux pages pour te faire plaisir.I read only two pages to please you.Je nai lu deux pages que pour te faire plaisir.I read two pages only to please you.Il ne veut que travailler la banque.He only wants to work at the bank.Il ne veut travailler qu la banque.He wants to work only at the bank.Note that indefinite and partitive articles do not change to de after ne... que, the way they do after other negative adverbs:Je nai quun livre.I have only one book.Il ne veut que des idà ©es.He only wants ideas, Hes just looking for some ideas. Negation: Not Only To say not only, you can negate ne... que into ne... pas que, which can stand alone or be followed by additional information: Je nai pas que 3 livres (jai 2 stylos aussi).I dont have only 3 books (I have 2 pens too)Il ny a pas que le travail (il faut vivre aussi).Work isnt all there is; Theres more [to life] than just work.Il nà ©tait pas quen retard....He wasnt just late (theres more to it than that). Seulement​ Seulement has two negatives. The first one, ne... pas seulement is pretty much interchangeable with ne... pas que.Je nai pas seulement 3 livres...I dont have only 3 books ...Il ny a pas seulement le travail....Work isnt all there is...Il nà ©tait pas seulement en retard....He wasnt just late... Non-Seulement The other negative,  non seulement, cannot be used in a stand-alone clause; it must be balanced with something like aussi, mais encore, etc.Il y a non seulement le travail  ; il faut vivre aussi.Work isnt all there is; you have to live too. Non seulement jai 3 livres, mais aussi 2 stylos.I dont have only 3 books, I have 2 pens too.Non seulement il à ©tait en retard, mais encore il à ©tait ivre.He was not only late, but drunk (too). Not only was he late, he was (also) drunk.

Arbitrator can determine the proper law

Arbitrator can determine the proper law Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work produced by our Law Essay Writing Service . You can view samples of our professional work here . Arbitrator can determine the proper law The significance of the international arbitration is that one of the foreign legal system and a foreign country is involved, thus they have the ease to affect the deal with the procedural rules and the legal issues of the dispute, it also has a bearing on the cost, the obtaining of the evidence and enforcing an award in a country which may be different from that of the dispute.   [ 1 ]   The question that needs to be in mind while resolving a dispute is that what will be the principles for establishing, which applicable laws will be applied to the arbitration.   [ 2 ]    S (46) (3) of the Arbitration Act 1996   [ 3 ]   , â€Å"is concerned with the situation in which there is no express choice of law, and here the arbitrators are empowered to determine the conflict of laws rules which should apply, and then to apply those conflict of laws rules to decide which law should apply to the contract.†Ã‚   [ 4 ]   The question t hat arises is that the choice suggested by the arbitrator of the applicable rules is that correct and secondly is its application a correct. It is however stated that if the arbitrator has to decide under the English court jurisdiction then the English law would be applicable under the Rome Convention 1980   [ 5 ]   and is therefore stated that if it is not decided with certainty then the that law is decided to which the contract is most closely connected to.   [ 6 ]    In an submission to an agreement it is important to choose the relevant laws that will be applicable in an agreement because if they are expressly stated then in that way they are substantive issues to the disputes and its always better to draft them in a submission agreement, but if the express and the implied choice of law is not made by the parties then in that case the choice of law is determined by the law of seat of the arbitration and the contract as a whole as well.   [ 7 ]    The Seat of arbitrat ion is described in the S (3) of the Arbitration Act 1996   [ 8 ]   which describe that it is essential to have seat for arbitration which defines the geographical location of the arbitration as well as the procedural law, the seat may be different as well e.g. The LCIA ( London Court Of International Arbitration Rules).   [ 9 ]    A number of cases in different jurisdiction which has taken the law appropriate to govern the arbitration agreement. The case of C V D   [ 10 ]   this case emphasis on the even though, in the contract it was stated that, the contract is to be governed by the New York law, the Court of Appeal decided that English law will apply, because it was expressly stated by the parties that any in case of any dispute the issue will be finally resolved in London under the Arbitration Act 1996. To support the judgment the English court gave a list of cases to support the idea, where it was stated that the case will be decided according to the English law wh ere it was made specific that Arbitration Act 1996, other cases such as, Xl insurance Ltd v Owens corning   [ 11 ]   and Noble assurance company and shell petroleum inc v Gerling Konzern general Insurance Company Uk branch   [ 12 ]   . In the case of Black Clawson   [ 13 ]   it was stated that it would be a rare case in which the law of arbitration would not be a seat of arbitration.

Unit 8 social problems Duscussion Research Paper

Unit 8 social problems Duscussion - Research Paper Example he lower socio-economic classes are more likely to get affected by depression and anxiety ultimately leading into higher chances of heart diseases (Tuckett, 20003). However, many human service providers can help such people by setting up psychological counseling forum at their workplaces on monthly basis. This can also be an open service for all the citizens of America especially people who are working on a lower pay scale (Henslin, 2011). Also education can play a very vital role in minimizing heart attacks. It is possible if families can share healthy lifestyle and keeping a check on checking cholesterol levels. Internet has provided a great deal of help to the families where the members are provided with significant information regarding relationship of heart diseases and its causes. This will allow the families to co-ordinate and follow a healthy lifestyle. This will also allow them to learn the ways in which they can make their environment less stressful and free from anxiety (Smyth,

African Americans and the Executive Power Coursework

African Americans and the Executive Power - Coursework Example However, three times in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, presidents made executive orders which helped overturn the accepted institution of racism against black Americans. This paper will look at Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Executive Order 8802 of 1941, and Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9981 of 1946, to show that these three situations were ones in which the executive power was used to create the less racist society of modern America. In 1863, the United States was in a horrific racial situation: it was the year of the New York Draft Riots, in which countless black people were murdered and lynched on the streets of the city; on a larger scale, the country was torn in a civil war over the fate of black slaves. It was into this context that President Lincoln introduced the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, an executive order which was more symbolic than effective: the Proclamation stated that slaves in the Confederate Sta tes of America were to be set free, an area over which Lincoln had no practical power at the time. Furthermore, it specifically did not suggest emancipation in the northern states which, ironically, were fighting in order to obtain the freedom of black slaves. Lincoln's aim was to starve the southern forces of free labor by popularizing this message to encourage black slaves to escape and be granted their freedom in the north – it was a purely tactical maneuver, and really not much more than a stepping stone on the way to true abolition, which was achieved with the Thirteenth Amendment at the end of 1865. Sadly, it was not until this point that the fifty thousand or so remaining slaves in the northern states were emancipated. Nonetheless, the Emancipation Proclamation remains an important milestone for black civil rights, and one of the few which was granted exclusively by the President through an executive order. In fact, the three Executive Orders discussed in this paper we re not really as powerful as they are often thought of – they were merely baby steps along a path to increased civil liberties and diminished discrimination.

News Paper article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

News Paper - Article Example l honors and awards this year which include: Honor Student, Outstanding Student Council Service, National Junior Honor Society, Million Word Reader for the 2008-2009 School Year, an excellent overall result on her 2009 CRCT test and now, the recipient of the Stephen Foundation Essay Contest. Alicia Hampton is the daughter of Kevin T. and Sonya Hampton and her proud grandparents are Arnett and Mary Ann Williams of Whigham Georgia. Alicia is also an outstanding student, attending Whigham Elementary School and maintaining her name on the Honor Roll List. She has been an outstanding student and has now contributed to her awards with the 2009 Stephen Foundation Essay Contest. The Foundation is proud of the accomplishments of these two outstanding students and applaud their efforts for researching their work well and for closely following the instructions for the essay. The two students will not only be honored with the award, but will each receive a mini-laptop, a $500 check, and a backpack full of school supplies that will last throughout the

Lean Manufacturing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Lean Manufacturing - Essay Example A number of companies around the world use this technique. The main purpose for implementing this technique is to bring efficiency in the production process. This technique is often called as the production process of the twenty-first century. Today, almost every size of business makes use of lean manufacturing because of the fact that many large size businesses have achieved success by integrating this technique. In addition to this, many large sized organizations hire lean manufacturing experts in their organizations. Many companies begin the process of lean manufacturing through value stream analysis. It is an analysis in which each step involved in the production process is closely monitored and examined. After that, an analysis is made about the value of each step. Value stream analysis helps the companies in identifying those steps which needs improvement or which has no worth in the production process (Feld, pg 55). According to lean manufacturing, seven different types of wastes results in the inefficient production. These types of wastes include over-production, waiting, over-processing, inventory, defects, transportation, and moving. Among these, over-production, transportation, and inventory are related to the scarcity in the flow of material. All of these types of wastes are a source of increasing cost without creating any value for the final consumer. Some companies start their lean manufacturing process with the facility analysis in which determines opportunity areas in different sections such as service, production, shipping, sales, production, administration, engineering, quality, and maintenance. Besides this, there is sometimes a need of Six Sigma tools in the lean manufacturing process. In order to gain efficiency, lean team should be trained properly so that they can develop an understanding about when to use the lean tools and when to implement improvement (Davis, pg 23-44). It is essential that companies follow the road map

Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Disease - Essay Example The primary meaning is that these are representative of continually surfacing contagions reacting to speedy changes in the association between host and the pathogens. Current literature has identified that there are almost 1, 400 species of human pathogens. Almost 60 percent of these pathogens are zoonotic. This implies that almost 60 percent of the pathogens are infections that are transmitted between humans and vertebrates. In reference to Woolhouse et al (2012), emerging and re-emerging pathogens are most probable to be zoonotic. Viruses form a majority of this group. In addition, viruses with RNA sequences constitutes a third of all emerging and re-emerging contagions. Emergent pathogens are characteristically those with a wide host variety ranging across numerous mammalian animals. In the contemporary world, in spite of the exceptional progresses towards development of steps to counter the development of the infectious illnesses, the increased global mutuality, increased world t ravel and climate change have contributed deposits of complication to controlling and containing these contagious diseases that not only have an impact on an individual’s health but also a nation’s economy. ... Remarkably, most of the illnesses originate from animals such as rodents and bats, as shown by the presence of Nipah virus encephalitis, lassa fever and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (Howard & Fletcher, 2012). Current interest in emerging contagions has centered on three primary fields. First, it has centered on how the interaction of the environment, human societal pressures and climate can cause unanticipated outbursts of emergent illnesses. Second, it has centered on the apprehension on how viruses can be transmitted from a reservoir to a host, and thirdly on recognizing the elements of the illness process that present opportunities for treatment and prevention. Drivers of Emerging Viral Diseases in Humans i. Animals that act as reservoirs of Human diseases Many emerging illnesses arise when transferable agents in animals are passed to people. The advent of agriculture 10, 000 years ago was one of the primary factors that contributed to the rise of majority of the infections in th e present world. Agricultural activities drove people near wild animals and livestock. Notably, people put establishments in these regions (Lashley $ Durham, 2007). This offered a fertile ground for the transmission of infections from the animals to humans. Among the mammalian species, members that make up Muridae family have been the natural hosts of Hantaviruses and arenaviruses. The mamals reproduce faster and increase the population’s exposure and risk to the pathogens. Additionally, domestic livestock have also contributed to the spread and emergence of virus infections. For instance, pigs have been associated with numerous outbursts of emerging infections. A total number of 265 cases of viral infections

Financial Management in Nonprofit Organizations Assignment

Financial Management in Nonprofit Organizations - Assignment Example Solid financial management obligates the organization to take part in long-term strategic planning as well as short-term operations planning and should become part of the organizations continuous process of planning. A solid financial management is important in assisting organizations to ensure they use their resources in an effective and efficient manner in order to achieve and fulfill the commitments that have been identified by the stakeholders. It also assists the organization to have more accountability to its donor, as well as well as other stakeholders, which will increase the respect and confidence of the agencies that fund it, its partners along with its beneficiaries. Lastly, it can assist the organization to gain a competitive advantage in regards to increasingly scarce resources, which will be important when preparing for long-term financial sustainability. Financial management is seen as an important path that should be taken by all organizations in their pursuit for success. The aim of this paper is to provide an insightful account of applying financial management approaches to non-profit organizations while comparing with for-profit firms regardless of the fact that the strategic management approaches for both organizations are the same. Nonetheless, a non-profit firm typically functions in a monopolistic setting that provides commodities with low measurability while being reliant on external financial sources. The non-profit industry is experiencing growth and this creates a need to appreciate its efficiency with governance being vital to the stakeholders, donors and tax authorities among others. A non-profit firm is an organization that is exempted from taxes that is created with the main aim of providing services to the public without making profits. In order to be classified as a non-profit firm, an organization

Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Disease - Essay Example The primary meaning is that these are representative of continually surfacing contagions reacting to speedy changes in the association between host and the pathogens. Current literature has identified that there are almost 1, 400 species of human pathogens. Almost 60 percent of these pathogens are zoonotic. This implies that almost 60 percent of the pathogens are infections that are transmitted between humans and vertebrates. In reference to Woolhouse et al (2012), emerging and re-emerging pathogens are most probable to be zoonotic. Viruses form a majority of this group. In addition, viruses with RNA sequences constitutes a third of all emerging and re-emerging contagions. Emergent pathogens are characteristically those with a wide host variety ranging across numerous mammalian animals. In the contemporary world, in spite of the exceptional progresses towards development of steps to counter the development of the infectious illnesses, the increased global mutuality, increased world t ravel and climate change have contributed deposits of complication to controlling and containing these contagious diseases that not only have an impact on an individual’s health but also a nation’s economy. ... Remarkably, most of the illnesses originate from animals such as rodents and bats, as shown by the presence of Nipah virus encephalitis, lassa fever and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (Howard & Fletcher, 2012). Current interest in emerging contagions has centered on three primary fields. First, it has centered on how the interaction of the environment, human societal pressures and climate can cause unanticipated outbursts of emergent illnesses. Second, it has centered on the apprehension on how viruses can be transmitted from a reservoir to a host, and thirdly on recognizing the elements of the illness process that present opportunities for treatment and prevention. Drivers of Emerging Viral Diseases in Humans i. Animals that act as reservoirs of Human diseases Many emerging illnesses arise when transferable agents in animals are passed to people. The advent of agriculture 10, 000 years ago was one of the primary factors that contributed to the rise of majority of the infections in th e present world. Agricultural activities drove people near wild animals and livestock. Notably, people put establishments in these regions (Lashley $ Durham, 2007). This offered a fertile ground for the transmission of infections from the animals to humans. Among the mammalian species, members that make up Muridae family have been the natural hosts of Hantaviruses and arenaviruses. The mamals reproduce faster and increase the population’s exposure and risk to the pathogens. Additionally, domestic livestock have also contributed to the spread and emergence of virus infections. For instance, pigs have been associated with numerous outbursts of emerging infections. A total number of 265 cases of viral infections

Analysing adverts concerning teenagers Essay Example for Free

Analysing adverts concerning teenagers Essay Regimentally they are set out. Their objective is to lure unsuspecting teenagers into their false world of glitter and glam. You cant step into a newsagent without being boldly glared at by bright, eye-catching headlines I caught my boyfriend wearing my bra! My best mate snogged my Dad and Sister was shot on my doorstep and grinned at by smiling, laughing, almost emaciated, glamorous models, all adorning the cover of a teenage magazine. Bliss, J-17, Sugar and more, priced roughly two pounds, setting up icons of the famous, and dealing out hard criticism of everything un-cool. Teenagers are shown as shallow, one advert listed lip gloss as one of the six most needed things in life, alongside being a girl, slutty, Snog him, then dump him, and obsessed with their images, Look cool, whenever. Teenagers are seen as the main consumers, in an industry worth seventy million pounds, so the magazines try to entice readers to become regular subscribers. Celebrities and models give off an inaccessible image of self-assuredness, beauty and having perfect lives, unfairly giving the average reader an unobtainable icon to aim to make themselves duplicates of. Readers are attracted to a ludicrous parody of perfection, and are even encouraged to model themselves upon. School, careers and politics are only spoken of with scorn, or misguided efforts to make them seem acceptable, but mostly are seen as taboo subjects, ridiculed and forgotten, when these are really very important issues on todays world, and this omission only adds to the fai Ade of a faultless world. Parents are seen as objects rather than people, inhuman units who freely deal out money, work as their daughters slaves, and are the very limit of un-coolness. It is however, their money which pays for copies of magazines to be brought, and for the seemingly endless fashion pages to be brought for. When in reality, some girls scrape together two pounds each month, the ideals shown by magazines present a certainly well-off if not rich teenager. Love, and boys, are also seen as objects. Obtainable, but only on your terms. Love is as, or even more important than life, shown by the size of its allocation in the monthly horoscopes. Boys are stereotyped just as much as girls, and are seen as items to drape over the fashionable young females arm, to be bent to their will, and then dumped once they cease to amaze one, or perform one the sexual side of things. However, if this where true, surely there wouldnt be so many problem pages and letters titled such as He says hell hit me if I dont do as he says, or He says he will dump me if I dont sleep with him, where exclusively for a few scant pages in this girl power propaganda, boys are dominating scumbags. Sex, support of, and caution against, conflict across the glossy pages. Some serious reports are posted on the subject, but most subtle messages reek from the pages, all directing towards sex being acceptable, accept the tiny print across the bottom of the page, scrawled on to keep legal, of Be sure, be safe, sex under 16 is illegal. These contradictory messages are enforced by the adverts, which make up 27% of an average magazine, which show Wonderbra adverts, which suggest that females better equipped in the chest area are more probable to get a taxi on New Years Eve, a naked man and woman hugging with bottles of perfume, and images of insect thin big chested women everywhere, which all conclude in a teens uniqueness and individuality being suppressed or smothered by advice from people who arent even teenagers themselves. The language used in teenage magazines consists mostly of made up words and slang. In an eternally optimistic tone, glazing over any descriptions of anything less than forever cheerful and optimistic voices and messages. Alliterations litter the pages, along with similes and metaphors. Slang is used liberally, and several words such as totty, slap-happy and vampish, spring up amongst Smug sistas, cleavage queens and needy chicks Magazines are giving teenagers what they have been trained by previous issues to want and think they need. They are manipulating and hindering teenagers, in their beliefs and lives,. They assume, wrongly, that all of girl kind want to be the same. , and do not even address alternatives lifestyles, except to ridicule and ostracize them. Magazines are becoming more and more risqui , indulging in speculation and addressing less and less of the real problems of the world teenagers are having to grow up in. They are suited more to what adults think teenagers are like, and what they desire, and a stereotype of typicality, than to those who pay their pocket money out each month, to see behind the glossy front covers, read and gasp in adoration and wonder, feel for the real-life stories and laugh at mishaps. All they are really doing is limiting, destroying and suppressing their true selves.

SERVQUAL Model for Measuring Customer Satisfaction

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