Recent Trends in Hrm Essay Example for Free

Recent Trends in Hrm EssayIndian organizations ar likewise witnessing a change in systems, management cultures and philosophy due to the orbicular alignment of Indian organizations. There is a need for multi skill culture. Role of HRM is enough all the more important. Some of the recent trends that are world observed are as follows The recent quality management standards ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 of 2000 focus more on people centric organizations. Organizations now need to prepare themselves in order to address people centered issues with commitment from the top management, with renewed thrust on HR issues, more particularly on training. Charles Handy also advocated future organizational models like Shamrock, Federal and Triple I. Such organizational models also focus on people centric issues and call for redefining the future role of HR professionals. To leapfrog ahead of competition in this world of uncertainty, organizations have introduced six- sigma practices. Six- si gma uses rigorous analytical tools with leadership from the top and develops a method for sustainable improvement. These practices improve organizational values and helps in creating defect free product or services at minimum cost. Human resource outsourcing is a new accession that makes a traditional HR department redundant in an organization. Exult, the international pioneer in HR BPO already roped in Bank of America, international players BP Amoco over the years plan to spread their business to most of the Fortune 500 companies. With the increase of global job mobility, recruiting competent people is also increasingly becoming difficult, especially in India. Therefore by creating an enabling culture, organizations are also required to compute out a retention strategy for the existing skilled manpower.NEW TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL HRM International HRM places greater emphasis on a phone number of responsibilities and functions such as relocation, orientation and translation serv ices to help employees adapt to a new and different environment outside their own country. Selection of employees requires metrical evaluation of the personal characteristics of the candidate and his/her spouse. Training and development extends beyond information and orientation training to include sensitivity training and field experiences that will change the manager to understand cultural differences better.Managers need to be protected from career development risks, re-entry problems and culture shock. To balance the pros and cons of home country and host country evaluations, execution of instrument evaluations should combine the two sources of appraisal information. Compensation systems should support the overall strategic intent of the organization but should be customized for local conditions. In many European countries Germany for one, law establishes representation. Organizations typically negotiate the agreement with the unions at a national level.In Europe it is more believably for salaried employees and managers to be unionized. HR Managers should do the following things to ensure success- Use prepareforce skills and abilities in order to exploit environmental opportunities and neutralize threats. Employ innovative reward plans that recognize employee contributions and grant enhancements. fuck up in continuous quality improvement through TQM and HR contributions like training, development, counseling, etc Utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create unsurpassed competence in an area, e. g. bolt in photocopiers, 3M in adhesives, Telco in trucks etc. Lay off workers in a smooth way explaining facts to unions, workers and other affected groups e. g. IBM, Kodak, Xerox, etc. HR Managers today are focusing attention on the following- Policies- HR policies based on trust, openness, equity and consensus. Motivation- Create conditions in which people are willing to work with zeal, initiative and enthusiasm make people feel like winne rs. Relations- Fair treatment of people and prompt redress of grievances would pave the way for healthy work-place relations. depart agent- Prepare workers to accept technological changes by clarifying doubts. Quality Consciousness- Commitment to quality in all aspects of personnel administration will ensure success. referable to the new trends in HR, in a nutshell the HR manager should treat people as resources, reward them equitably, and integrate their aspirations with corporate goals through suitable India is being widely recognized as one of the most exciting emerging economics in the world.Besides becoming a global hub of outsourcing, Indian firms are spreading their wings globally through mergers and acquisitions. During the first four months of 1997, Indian companies have bought 34 foreign companies for about U. S. $11 billion dollars. This impressive development has been due to a growth in inputs (capital and labor) as well as factor productivity. By the year 2020, In dia is expected to add about 250 million to its crunch pool at the rate of about 18 million a year, which is more than the entire labour force of Germany.This so called demographic dividend has drawn a new interest in the Human Resource concepts and practices in India. Indian HRM in Transition One of the noteworthy features of the Indian workplace is demographic uniqueness. It is estimated that both China and India will have a population of 1. 45 billion people by 2030 however, India will have a larger workforce than China. Indeed, it is likely India will have 986 million people of working age in 2030, which will probably be about 300 million more than in 2007.And by 2050, it is expected India will have 230 million more workers than China and about 500 million more than the United States of America (U. S. ). It may be noted that half of Indias current population of 1. 1 billion people are under of 25 years of age. While this fact is a demographic dividend for the economy, it is als o a danger sign for the countrys ability to create new jobs at an unprecedented rate. With the retirement age being 55 to 58 years of age in most public sector organizations, Indian workplaces are dominated by youth. Increasing the etirement age in critical areas like universities, schools, hospitals, research institutions and public service is a topic of considerable current debate and agenda of political parties. The divergent view, that each cabaret has a unique set of national nuances, which guide particular managerial beliefs and actions, is being challenged in Indian society. An emerging dominant perspective is the influence of globalisation on technological advancements, business management, and education and communication infrastructures are leading to a converging effect on managerial mindsets and business behaviors.And when India embraced liberalization and economic reform in the early 1990s, dramatic changes were set in motion in terms of corporate mindsets and HRM prac tices as a result of global imperatives and attendant changes in societal priorities. Indeed, the onset of a burgeoning competitive service sector compelled a demographic shift in worker educational status and heightened the call for for job relevant skills as well as regional diversity. Expectedly, there has been a marked shift towards valuing human resources (HR) in Indian organizations as they pay off increasingly strategy driven as opposed to the culture of the status quo.

Britishness tests Essay Example for Free

Britishness tests EssayA) One reason why David Blunkett wants to introduce the Britishness Tests is because he feels that understanding the UKs musical mode of life will help immigrants to take part in the British society. Assimilation is increasing as the ethnic minorities be adopting the mainstream culture of the British society. This flannel-hotthorn show that as immigrants enter the country they adopt to the culture to feel part of the society. This may also increase the immigrants sense of values that we hold inwardly Britain if a Britishness Test is introduced. A second reason why David Blunkett wants to introduce this test is that he wants to see a greater pride from British mass about their own culture and identity. British pride is shown through the symbols and rituals that are followed. The symbols include flags, anthems and monuments this show Britishness as they are present in some(prenominal) places and are valued by many of the British members. Rituals such a s the Queens speech as also valued by many people as they are proud of their country.Schusden talks about how people celebrate their nationality through symbols and rituals and unite us in Britishness. This shows that these types of values could show how Britishness is measured. B) One criticism of the Britishness Tests is that globalisation is increasing. The boundaries are blurring in nations. This means that thither are more(prenominal) varieties within the people living in the UK. Therefore Britishness does not fit extremely wholesome as the variations go away from Britishness and focus more on the Globalisation of the country.Waters states that Celtic identities within Britain separate the British Identity as there are many people that say they are Scottish, welsh etc. this shows that people have different identities within Britain and that people see themselves in a global culture. A second criticism of the Britishness Tests is multiculturalism. As we live in a society wher e there is the co existence of two or more distinctive ethnic groups we are more exceptive of other norms, values and ways of life. Ethnic minority cultures and identities are slowly changing.This may represent a conventionality development of the culture rather than a step towards assimilation. Nevertheless, the divisions between cultures seem to be getting more blurred. Britishness cannot be measured when there are many different ethnic groups living together because they are sharing their views and beliefs on culture. C) One agent of secondary socialisation that creates ethnic identities is peer groups. Johals concept of the white mask focused on second and third generation British Asians.He found that they have a dual identity in that they get an Asian identity and adopt a British one. This results in Asian youth adopting a white mask in order to interact with white peers at school or college, but emphasising their cultural difference whenever they feel it is necessary. This shows that peers can have a huge impact on creating an ethnic identity. Tony Sewell suggests that junior African-Caribbeans are overly influenced by commercial popular culture and its emphasis on designer labels and logos in constructing a personal identity and ethnicity.

Maxima And Minima Of Functions Mathematics Essay

Maxima And Minima Of Functions Mathematics EssayMaxima and Minima atomic deed 18 authorised topics of maths Calculus. It is the approach for finding utter to the highest degree or stripped regard as of whatsoever function or any event. It is practic every(prenominal)y very helpful as it helps in solving the complex problems of science and commerce. It apprize be with one and only(a) variable of with more(prenominal) than one variable. These can be done with the help of simple geometry and math functions. Finding the maxima and minima, both direct and relative, of various functions represents an important class of problems solvable by use of diametricial calculus. The theory behind finding level best and stripped hold dears of a function is based on the fact that the derivative of a function is contact to the slope of the tangent.Analytical definitionA current-valued function f defined on a real line is said to cook a topical anaesthetic (or relative) utmost bak shis at the point x-, if at that place exists some 0 such that f(x-) f(x) when x x- Restricted commonwealths There whitethorn be maxima and minima for a function whose domain does not include all real numbers. A real-valued function, whose domain is any rear, can have a world-wide maximum and stripped. There may in any content be topical anesthetic anesthetic anaesthetic anaesthetic maxima and local minima points, but only at points of the domain set where the concept of locality is defined. A neighbourhood plays the role of the set of x such that x x- A continuous (real-valued) function on a compact set always takes maximum and lower limit values on that set. An important example is a function whose domain is a unlikable (and echoed) interval of real numbers (see the graph above). The neighbourhood requirement precludes a local maximum or nominal at an endpoint of an interval. However, an endpoint may still be a global maximum or minimum. Thus it is not always t rue, for finite domains, that a global maximum (minimum) moldiness also be a local maximum (minimum).Finding Functional Maxima And MinimaFinding global maxima and minima is the goal of optimization. If a function is continuous on a unlikable interval, then by the extreme value theorem global maxima and minima exist. Furthermore, a global maximum (or minimum) either must be a local maximum (or minimum) in the interior of the domain, or must lie on the boundary of the domain. So a method acting of finding a global maximum (or minimum) is to look at all the local maxima (or minima) in the interior, and also look at the maxima (or minima) of the points on the boundary and take the biggest (or smallest) one.Local extrema can be found by Fermats theorem, which states that they must occur at critical points. One can distinguish whether a critical point is a local maximum or local minimum by using the head start derivative turn out or jiffy derivative test.For any function that is defin ed piecewise, one finds maxima (or minima) by finding the maximum (or minimum) of apiece piece separately and then seeing which one is biggest (or smallest).ExamplesThe function x2 has a unique global minimum at x = 0.The function x3 has no global minima or maxima. Although the first derivative (32) is 0 at x = 0, this is an inflection point.The function x-x has a unique global maximum over the dictatorial real numbers at x = 1/e.The function x3/3 x has first derivative x2 1 and second derivative 2x. Setting the first derivative to 0 and solving for x gives stationary points at 1 and +1. From the theatre of the second derivative we can see that 1 is a local maximum and +1 is a local minimum. Note that this function has no global maximum or minimum.The function x has a global minimum at x = 0 that cannot be found by taking derivatives, because the derivative does not exist at x = 0.The function cos(x) has infinitely legion(predicate) global maxima at 0, 2, 4, , and infinitely m any global minima at , 3, .The function 2 cos(x) x has infinitely many local maxima and minima, but no global maximum or minimum.The function cos(3x)/x with 0.1x1.1 has a global maximum at x= 0.1 (a boundary), a global minimum near x= 0.3, a local maximum near x= 0.6, and a local minimum near x= 1.0. (See figure at top of page.)The function x3 + 32 2x + 1 defined over the closed interval (segment) 4,2 has twain extrema one local maximum at x = 1153, one local minimum at x = 1+153, a global maximum at x = 2 and a global minimum at x = 4.Functions of more than one variableFor functions of more than one variable, similar conditions apply. For example, in the (enlargeable) figure at the right, the necessary conditions for a local maximum atomic number 18 similar to those of a function with only one variable. The first partial derivatives as to z (the variable to be maximized) are zero at the maximum (the glowing dot on top in the figure). The second partial derivatives are negative. These are only necessary, not sufficient, conditions for a local maximum because of the possibility of a saddle point. For use of these conditions to solve for a maximum, the function z must also be differentiable throughout. The second partial derivative test can help classify the point as a relative maximum or relative minimum.In contrast, there are substantial differences between functions of one variable and functions of more than one variable in the identification of global extrema. For example, if a differentiable function f defined on the real line has a single critical point, which is a local minimum, then it is also a global minimum (use the ordinary value theorem and Rolles Theorem to prove this by reduction ad absurdum). In two and more dimensions, this argument fails, as the functionshows. Its only critical point is at (0,0), which is a local minimum with (0,0)=0. However, it cannot be a global one, because (4,1)=11.The global maximum is the point at the topIn relation to setsMaxima and minima are more generally defined for sets. In general, if an uniform set S has a superlative element m, m is a maximal element. Furthermore, if S is a subset of an ordered set T and m is the greatest element of S with respect to order induced by T, m is a least(prenominal) upper bound of S in T. The similar result holds for least element, minimal element and greatest lower bound.In the case of a general partial order, the least element (smaller than all otherwise) should not be confused with a minimal element (nothing is smaller). Likewise, a greatest element of a partially ordered set (poset) is an upper bound of the set which is contained within the set, whereas a maximal element m of a poset A is an element of A such that if m b (for any b in A) then m = b. Any least element or greatest element of a poset is unique, but a poset can have several minimal or maximal elements. If a poset has more than one maximal element, then these elements will not be mutua lly comparable.In a totally ordered set, or image, all elements are mutually comparable, so such a set can have at most one minimal element and at most one maximal element. Then, due to mutual comparability, the minimal element will also be the least element and the maximal element will also be the greatest element. Thus in a totally ordered set we can patently use the terms minimum and maximum. If a chain is finite then it will always have a maximum and a minimum. If a chain is infinite then it need not have a maximum or a minimum. For example, the set of natural numbers has no maximum, though it has a minimum. If an infinite chain S is bounded, then the closure Cl(S) of the set occasionally has a minimum and a maximum, in such case they are called the greatest lower bound and the least upper bound of the set S, respectively.The diagram below shows part of a function y = f(x).The Point A is a local maximum and the Point B is a local minimum. At each of these points the tangent to the curve is parallel to the x-axis so the derivative of the function is zero. both of these points are therefore stationary points of the function. The term local is used since these points are the maximum and minimum in this particular region. There may be others away this region.function f(x) is said to have a local maximum at x = a, if $ is a neighbourhood I of a, such that f(a) f(x) for all x I. The number f(a) is called the local maximum of f(x). The point a is called the point of maxima.Note that when a is the point of local maxima, f(x) is increasing for all values of x a in the given interval.At x = a, the function ceases to increase.A function f(x) is said to have a local minimum at x = a, if $ is a neighbourhood I of a, such thatf(a) f(x) for all x IHere, f(a) is called the local minimum of f(x). The point a is called the point of minima.Note that, when a is a point of local minimum f (x) is decreasing for all x a in the given interval. At x = a, the function ceases t o decrease.If f(a) is either a maximum value or a minimum value of f in an interval I, then f is said to have an extreme value in I and the point a is called the extreme point.Monotonic Function maxima and minimaA function is said to be insipid if it is either increasing or decreasing but not both in a given interval.Consider the functionThe given function is increasing function on R. Therefore it is a monotonic function in 0,1. It has its minimum value at x = 0 which is equal to f (0) =1, has a maximum value at x = 1, which is equal to f (1) = 4.Here we state a more general result that, Every monotonic function assumes its maximum or minimum values at the end points of its domain of definition.Note that every continuous function on a closed interval has a maximum and a minimum value.Theorem on First Derivative Test(First Derivative Test)Let f (x) be a real valued differentiable function. Let a be a point on an interval I such that f (a) = 0.(a) a is a local maxima of the function f (x) ifi) f (a) = 0ii) f(x) trades sign from controlling to negative as x increases through a.That is, f (x) 0 for x f (x) a(b) a is a point of local minima of the function f (x) ifi) f (a) = 0ii) f(x) changes sign from negative to positive as x increases through a.That is, f (x) f (x) 0 for x aWorking obtain for Finding Extremum Values Using First Derivative TestLet f (x) be the real valued differentiable function. footmark 1Find f (x)Step 2Solve f (x) = 0 to get the critical values for f (x). Let these values be a, b, c. These are the points of maxima or minima.Ar set forth these values in ascending order.Step 3Check the sign of f(x) in the immediate neighbourhood of each critical value.Step 4Let us take the critical value x= a. Find the sign of f (x) for values of x slightly less than a and for values slightlygreater than a.(i) If the sign of f (x) changes from positive to negative as x increases through a, then f (a) is a local maximum value.(ii) If the sign of f (x) cha nges from negative to positive as x increases through a, then f (a) is local minimum value.(iii) If the sign of f (x) does not change as x increases through a, then f (a) is neither a local maximum value not a minimum value. In this case x = a is called a point of inflection.Maxima and Minima ExampleFind the local maxima or local minima, if any, for the following function using first derivative testf (x) = x3 62 + 9x + 15Solution to Maxima and Minima Examplef (x) = x3 62 + 9x + 15f (x) = 32 -12x + 9= 3(x2- 4x + 3)= 3 (x 1) (x 3)Thus x = 1 and x = 3 are the only points which could be the points of local maxima or local minima.Let us examine for x=1When xf (x) = 3 (x 1) (x 3)= (+ ve) (- ve) (- ve)= + veWhen x 1 (slightly greater than 1)f (x) = 3 (x -1) (x 3)= (+ ve) (+ ve) (- ve)= veThe sign of f (x) changes from +ve to -ve as x increases through 1.x = 1 is a point of local maxima andf (1) = 13 6 (1)2 + 9 (1) +15= 1- 6 + 9 + 15 =19 is local maximum value.Similarly, it can be examined that f (x) changes its sign from negative to positive as x increases through the point x = 3.x = 3 is a point of minima and the minimum value isf (3) = (3)3- 6 (3)2+ 9(3) + 15= 15Theorem on Second Derivative TestLet f be a differentiable function on an interval I and let a I. Let f (a) be continuous at a. Theni) a is a point of local maxima if f (a) = 0 and f (a) ii) a is a point of local minima if f (a) = 0 and f (a) 0iii) The test fails if f (a) = 0 and f (a) = 0. In this case we have to go back to the first derivative test to find whether a is a point of maxima, minima or a point of inflexion.Working Rule to delimitate the Local Extremum Using Second Derivative TestStep 1For a differentiable function f (x), find f (x). gibe it to zero. Solve the equation f (x) = 0 to get the Critical values of f (x).Step 2For a particular Critical value x = a, find f (a)(i) If f (a) (ii) If f (a) 0 then f (x) has a local minima at x = a and f (a) is the minimum value.(iii) If f (a) = 0 or , the test fails and the first derivative test has to be applied to study the nature of f(a).Example on Local Maxima and MinimaFind the local maxima and local minima of the function f (x) = 23 212 +36x 20. Find also the local maximum and local minimum values.Solutionf (x) = 62 42x + 36f (x) = 0x = 1 and x = 6 are the critical valuesf (x) =12x 42If x =1, f (1) =12 42 = 30 x =1 is a point of local maxima of f (x).Maximum value = 2(1)3 21(1)2 + 36(1) 20 = -3If x = 6, f (6) = 72 42 = 30 0x = 6 is a point of local minima of f (x) minimal value = 2(6)3 21 (6)2 + 36 (6)- 20= -128Absolute Maximum and Absolute Minimum Value of a FunctionLet f (x) be a real valued function with its domain D.(i) f(x) is said to have absolute maximum value at x = a if f(a) f(x) for all x D.(ii) f(x) is said to have absolute minimum value at x = a if f(a) f(x) for all x D.The following points are to be noted carefully with the help of the diagram.Let y = f (x) be the function defined on (a, b) in the graph.(i) f (x) has local maximum values atx = a1, a3, a5, a7(ii) f (x) has local minimum values atx = a2, a4, a6, a8(iii) Note that, between two local maximum values, there is a local minimum value and vice versa.(iv) The absolute maximum value of the function is f(a7)and absolute minimum value is f(a).(v) A local minimum value may be greater than a local maximum value.Clearly local minimum at a6 is greater than the local maximum at a1.Theorem on Absolute Maximum and Minimum ValueLet f be a continuous function on an interval I = a, b. Then, f has the absolute maximum value and f attains it at least once in I. Also, f has the absolute minimum value and attains it at least once in I.Theorem on Interior point in Maxima and MinimaLet f be a differentiable function on I and let x0 be any interior point of I. Then(a) If f attains its absolute maximum value at x0, then f (x0)= 0(b) If f attains its absolute minimum value at x0, then f (x0) = 0.In view of the above theorems, we state the following rule for finding the absolute maximum or absolute minimum values of a function in a given interval.Step 1Find all the points where f takes the value zero.Step 2Take the end points of the interval.Step 3At all the points calculate the values of f.Step 4Take the maximum and minimum values of f out of the values calculated in step 3. These will be the absolute maximum or absolute minimum values.Real life Problem Solving With Maxima And MinimaFor a belt drive the power transmitted is a function of the speed of the belt, the law beingP(v) = Tv av3where T is the tension in the belt and a some constant. Find the maximum power if T = 600, a = 2 and v 12. Is the answer different if the maximum speed is 8?Solution First find the critical points.P = 600v 2v3And so= 600 6v2This is zero when v = 10.Commonsense tells us that v 0, and so we can forget about the critical point at -10.So we have just the one relevant critical point to worry about, the one at x = 10. The two endpoints are v = 0 and v = 12.We dont hold out a lot of hope for v = 0, since this would indicate that the weapon was switched off, but we calculate it anyway.Next calculate P for each of these values and see which is the largest.P(0) = 0,P(10) = 6000 2000 = 4000,P(12) = 7200 3456 = 3744So the maximum occurs at the critical point and is 4000.When the range is reduced so that the maximum value of v is down to 8, neither of the critical points is in range. That being the case, we just have the endpoints to worry about. The maximum this sequence is P(8) = 4800 1024 = 3776.A box of maximum volume is to be made from a sheet of card measuring 16 inches by 10. It is an open box and the method of construction is to cut a square from each corner and then fold.SolutionLet x be the side of the square which is cut from each corner. Then AB = 16 2x, CD = 10 2x and the volume, V, is given byV= (16 2x)(10 2x)x= 4x(8 x)(5 x)And so= 4(x3-132+40x)=4(32-26x+40)The critical points occur whe n32 26x + 40 = 0i.e.whenx ==The commonsense restrictions are 5 x 0.So the only critical point in range is x = 2.Now calculate V for the critical point and the two endpoints.V(0) = 0,V(2) = 144,V(5) = 0So the maximum value is 144, occurring when x = 2.Uses of Maxima and Minima in War.Concepts of maxima and minima can be used in war to call most probably result of any event. It can be very helpful to all soldiers as it help to save time. Maximum damage with minimum armor can be predicted via these functions. It can be helpful in preventive actions for military. It is use dto calculate ammunition numbers, food requests, fuel consumption, parts ordering, and other logical operations. It is also helpful in finding daily expenditure on war.

Effect of Paradigms on Research Methods

Effect of Paradigms on Research MethodsEach paradigm brings a unequaled mess to look for and to how reality and all of which it consists should be viewed. No paradigm is more effective than another as each looks at reality differently. Interpretivism is a paradigm which was created as an alternative to Positivism and took an alternative approach to explore by encouraging the single-valued function of qualitative, in-depth entropy to create knowledge. The article, The Insiders Experience of long-run Peer Victimisation, by Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011), is in weeed by the Interpretive paradigm as it aims to regard the concept of determent from a subjective perspective through the use of personal ascertain. The use of the Interpretivist paradigm regulates every aspect of this search from how the stem is viewed, the purpose, how the enquiry chore is presented, the collection of materials, how the data is analysed and displayed as well as the honorable considerations of t he research.Interpretivism, similarly to other paradigms, has a unique and distinct view of the introduction and of how the world should be understood. Interpretivism does not accept reality as it appears at face- value. or else this paradigm claims that reality consists of peoples subjective experiences of the external world (Terre Blanche Durrheim, Histories of the present Social science research in context, 2006). This means that a world which is shared by everyone is experienced differently by everyone as each undivided applies their own unique perspective and meaning to their experiences and actions. In order to see to it this type of reality, the patterns and problems which occur in reality and even solutions to these problems Interpretivism proposes that research explores peoples subjective experiences and actions and the meanings or reasons they attach to these actions and experiences.In order to conduct research through the Interpretivist paradigm, the investigator m ustiness too take a unique stance to reality and to the subjects in the research. The researcher is required to be open and empathetic. Empathy involves attempting to view the beliefs and experiences of other as they themselves would view or experience them. Therefore, the use of empathy go away allow for the researcher to fully witness the individuals subjective experience and the meaning they attached to the experience. Empathy and understanding of the subjective experience female genitalia be achieved through the Qualitative methodologies which Interpretivism uses. These methodologies create a subjective relationship between the researcher and the participant which allows the researcher to interpret the data at a deeper, involved level and to form ideas from the interpretations in a mutually constructed manner (Mottier, 2005). Ultimately, it is important to punctuate that the way the Interpretivist paradigm sees reality, the way the researcher engages in the research and the various research methods employ by this paradigm all work simultaneously and go the research in order to answer the research question in a particular, desired way.The topic of the study is usually the first part of the research which is decided upon. How the researchers wish to study and understand the topic, however, is influenced by the research paradigm, Paradigms are all-encompassing systems of interrelated practise and thinking that define for the researcher the nature of their doubtfulness (Terre Blanche Durrheim, Histories of the present Social science research in context, 2006, p. 6). The topic of the article by Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011) revolves around ballyrag and the experience of bullying. The researchers have chosen to look at the experiences of bullying which requires them to look into the data deeply as the experience of bullying is not simple but an extremely personal experience which has many thickening layers and effects to understand. Through this topic, the influence of the chosen paradigm, Interpretivism, begins to immerge. Kelliher (2005) states that Interpretivism is based on the assumption that if people are studied according to their social context, there is a greater chance of understanding the meanings associated with and perceptions they have of their experiences and actions. Therefore, the interpretivist paradigm is perfectly suited to study and understand the concept of bullying as a social action and a social problem experienced by individuals. This is because this paradigm focuses on the meanings underpinning human actions and associated with human experience (Kelliher, 2005). Ultimately, it is straighten out that how the topic is being viewed and researched is influenced by the Interpretivist paradigm as the researchers have chosen to study bullying in an in-depth manner and to view it from a subjective or personal perspective in order to understand bullying in its entirety.The paradigm informing the research a lso has an effect on the purpose of the research as the paradigm indicates what type of questions are asked just roughly the topic and the purpose of the research is to ensure that these questions are answered. This idea is supported by Durheim (2006) who states that although the paradigm does not directly define the purpose of the research, it provides a head framework for the purpose of the research. The article states that the overall purpose of this research is to improve the understanding of bullying through the personal experiences of bullying victims who have experienced long- shape victimization (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). The research is however divided into three sub-questions or purposes in order to gain a full representation of bullying.The first purpose of the research is to understand the victims perspectives of what factors contributed to bullying while the second purpose aims to understand the why the victims allow themselves to be continuously subjected to the bullying. The third purpose of the research is to provide tuition on and discuss various treatments and interventions of bullying. All of these research aims rely intemperately on the personal opinions and experiences of the victims. Thus it is evident that Interpretivism plays an indirect role in the institution and fulfilment of these research purposes. This is because these purposes have a qualitative, interpretivist nature as they require the researcher to delve into the experiences of the individuals. Therefore only Interpretative, qualitative methods focusing on individuals personal experiences can thoroughly and correctly fulfil these purposes.The collection of material in research typically involves the type of sample and participants used, the taste methods and the methodological summary used to collect data from this sample group. The methodology used within Interpretivist contains various Qualitative methods which are clearly employed in the research conducted by Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011). These interpretivist methodologies had a great impact on the type and number of participants used, how the participants were selected and how the data was retrieved.The participants used in this research had to be victims of bullying and had to have experienced bullying for the majority of the school year. These specifications of the participants are undoubtedly influenced by the Interpretivist nature of the research which aims to understand the subjective experiences of individuals and therefore, the research specifically requires the participants to have subjective experiences of bullying which can be analysed and interpreted. The sample population size used in this research was also influenced by the Interpretivist nature of the research. Only three participants, one female senile eleven and two males aged twelve and fifteen were selected to take part in the research (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). This is due to the fact that Interpretivism on ly needs a teensy-weensy amount of participants in order to achieve a meaningful, ethnographic inquiry. This small sample is also influenced by the type of instructive data analysis which is used, namely Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA requires an even smaller sample sizes than typical interpretivist research as it analyses the cases of the participants in intense detail rather than using many participants to form generalizations, The detailed case-by-case analysis of individual transcripts takes a long time, and the aim of the study is to say something in detail about the perceptions and understandings of this particular group (Smith Osborn, 2007 , p. 55). Thus, it is clear through the extremely small sample population, that Interpretivism and IPA have had an impact on the number of participants decided to be used.The interpretivist nature of the research requires the research to rely heavily on the participants and their experiences and therefore these partici pants should be selected extremely carefully (Scotland, 2012). The size of the sample population and the specifications of this population greatly affect the type of sampling used in the research. In the case of this research, only a small sample population, who had personal experiences of being bullied, was needed. Therefore, purposive sampling was used to meticulously select these types of participants. Purposive sampling is the typical sampling method used for interpretive research as it allows for a particular group of participants, for which the research question will significant, to be chosen (Smith Osborn, 2007 ). Ultimately, the use of purposive sampling was influenced by the Interpretivist nature of the research as it allowed for the perfect sample population to be selected.The method of data collection is also an aspect of research which is undoubtedly influenced by the paradigm informing the research. Interpretivist research primarily focuses on using the power of ordina ry language and expression in order to understand the social world (Terre Blanche, Kelly, Durrheim, 2006). This is achieved through Interpretivist data collection methodologies which are flexiable and yeild indepth, qualitative data for example interviews, focus groups, observations and role-playing (Scotland, 2012). The semi- structured interview, which is used in Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011) research, is a common type of data collection method informed by the Interpretivist paradigm. This is because a semi- structured interview allows insight on behaviours to get hold and also aids in explaining actions and experiences from the individuals perspectives which is the primary goal of this research. Scotland (2012) further states that semi- structured interviews are unique as they allow the participant to freely express themselves and for the participant to delve deeper into their story. In Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011) article semi- structured interviews are used precisely f or this purpose as the research requires the method of data collection to be able to get the particpant to reveal intimite details of their victimization and also to allow for important areas of the topic to be probed. The quote, if it gets bad, the teacher will real say the names of the bullies, and they get really embarrassed So that usually keeps them down for a few days. Which is a relief for me, in the article taken from a participants interview cis just one example that shows how the particpant was able to explain and express their feelings around their experience through the interview.The paradigm informing the research instructs the research to use certain participants, collect certain data in a certain way and therefore it also instructs the research on how this data must be analysed. In Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011) research, the Interpretivist paradigm has influenced the use of the Interpretive technique, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), in order to ana lyse the data in manner which will yield the results needed. Generally, IPA is used to examine how individuals interpret their world and their experiences and attempts to understand the meaning of these interpretations and experiences. When researching a specfic topics such as bullying, IPA focuses on attempting to understand what the individual believes and feels about the topic and how they have personally experienced the topic and ultimately transforms this information into themes (Chapman Smith, 2002). The use of IPA is clearly seen through the results of the research which used how the individuals described their experiences to generate themes of why the victims felt up they were bullied. An example of this is seen through the theme, being different which emerged from the interpretive analysis of the victims statements such as, they tease me about being names friend, because shes different and They tease me about being different, because I care for my brother(Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011).IPA is also distinct from other Interpretivist research as it understands that the researcher plays an active role in data analysis as they interpret the participants interpretation of their experiences in order to reveal patterns and themes in the data (Smith Osborn, 2007 ). The use of this interpretive technique is evident in the research by Mackay, Carey and Steven (2011) as the researchers regularly discussed the emerging themes throughout the data analysis process in order to assure that they each found were related to the experience of the individual. Thus, the influence if the interpretive paradigm is seen in the data analysis of the research as it allowed for the use of IPA to generate themes. IPA was specifically needed in order to completely understand and interpret the individuals experiences but also allowed for themes to be formed based on these three experiences.In Mackay, Carey and Stevens (2011) research, the way in which the themes and findings were presented was based on the interpretive nature of the research. Through the use of IPA, the superordinate themes, experience of victimization and Strategies and their subthemes were generated and were presented in a very simple thematic table (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). Typical to interpretive research, the thematic table containing the superordinate and subordinate themes is then explained and the themes are described in depth and are supported with statements made by the participant (Chapman Smith, 2002). An example of this is seen when discussing the bullying policy at school which was discovered through the research to be inefficient and was support by statements such as, Yeah they had a bullying policy, but nobody abided by it. (Mackay, Carey, Stevens, 2011). Terre Blanche, Kelly, and Durrheim, (2006) further state that Interpretive techniques in communicating research findings make use of evocative language which is strong language used to bring about images or feelings (p. 274). In the results of this research the use of descriptions stating that the vicitms had, only one or two friends and that there was an unwillingness of teachers to suspend bullies creates an image of the problem and consequences of the bullying being experienced by the participants. Ultimately, the influence of the Interpretivist paradigm is evident through the thematic table and various linguistic techniques used to discuss the results of the research.

Effect of the Financial Crash on Islamic Banks in the UK

Effect of the Financial Crash on Muslim Banks in the UKChapter 1 groundingIntroduction to the SubjectBackground of the SubjectGeneral accusiveThe purpose of this study is to examine how the inherent f accomplishmentors of the Muslim Banking prompted their performance before, during and aft(prenominal) the m unitytary crisis in the GCC in comparison to the constituted brinking in the very(prenominal) atomic number 18a.Research QuestionsThis study aims to answer the following(a) questions How did the pecuniary crisis affect the favour qualifiedness of Muslim Banks in comparison to established Banks? What ar the internal cyphers ( blaspheme specific characteristics) that form the turn a net income readiness of Muslim asserting for every year from 2006 2009? Did these factors engage the same shock on the advantageousness of Moslem Banking before, during and after the financial crisis? Did these internal factors influence the favourableness of Moslem Banking in the same manner as of the Conventional Banking?Need for the story deduction of the StudyAssumptions of the StudyLimitations of the StudyAlthough we cannot neglect the importance of the verboten-of-door factors on the lucrativeness of Islamic Banking, they were not include in this study. To understand the reason bum this decision, we need to go through with(predicate) the different types of external factors and how they argon classified Macroeconomic Factors Country Regulation Rules Bank Regulation RulesThese factors were not included for the following reasons Since we ar examining the performance of 92 deposes (27 Islamic Banks and 65 Conventional Banks) in 6 countries, the number of countries utilise in the study is not significant exuberant to study the intrusion of GDP and inflation accurately on Bank gainfulness especially when examining each year separately Country Regulation Rules as per the IMF Database, although it differs slightly for the selected countries, d id not change over the period from 2006 to 2009. This promoter that for each wedge, these factors waited constant. Data about Bank Regulation Rules could not be obtained for GCC jargonsDelimitation of the StudyThis study was delaminated to the Islamic and Conventional Banks in the GCC whose data could be obtained in the Bankscope database.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewOverview of Islamic BankingIslamic Baking has established as an alternative to courtly interest- ground banking. The first stirring of the Islamic Banking relocation began in 1963 by Dr. Ahmed Alnajar in a small town in Egypt, called Mit Ghamar. Dr. Alnajar completed his grooming in Germ some(prenominal) and launch that it had many saving banks operating on interest. He took the idea from a savings bank in Germany and created his own small Islamic bank that was interest free.After Dr. Alnajars small bank be successful, the establishment of other Islamic banks followed. In 1971, the Nasser Social Bank was founded in Egypt with the objective of bestow out m cardinaly as a charity on the basis of a receipts and waiver sharing system and helping people in need. And in 1975, the idea of Islamic banking spread to other Islamic regions such(prenominal) Dubai Islamic bank in United Arab Emi judge and The Islamic breeding (IDB) Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Wilson, 1990).Even though Islamic Banking has lonesome(prenominal) been slightly for thirty years and is still in an evolving stage, Islamic Banking is the fastest growing segment of the citation grocery stores in the Muslim countries. In 2009, Assets held by Islamic Banking banks go by 28.6 sh are to $822bn from $639bn in 2008, according to The Bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institutions check into while conventional banks posted annual summation increase of just 6.8 percent.Furtherto a greater extent, GCC states accounted for $353.2bn or 42.9 percent of the global aggregate, while Iran remained the largest single market for Shar iah-compliant assets, accounting for 35.6 percent of the total.Finally, Islamic banking opeproportionns are not limited to Islamic countries only are spreading throughout the world. One reason is the growing trend toward transcending guinea pig boundaries, and unifying Muslims into a political and economic entity that could befuddle a significant impact on the pattern of world trade (Abdel-Magid, 1981).Islamic Banking Rules and PrinciplesIslamic banking rules are according to the Islamic Shariah derived from the book of account and prophet Mohameds sayings. The tether main practices that are clearly prohibited in the Quran and the prophets sayings are, Riba (Interest), Gharar (Uncertainty), and Maysir (Betting).Prohibition of Riba or any pre squared or fixed rate in financial basiss is the almost important factor in the Islamic patterns pertaining to banking. As stated in the Quran Allah forbids riba. Riba means an increase and under Shariah the term refers to the grant tha t mustiness be paid by the borrower to the lender along with the principle amount as a condition for the loan (Omar and Abdel, 1996).Gharar occurs when the barter forr does not go what has been bought and the seller does not know what has been sold. In other words, trading should be clear by stating in a contract the existing actual object(s) to be sold, with a price and time to eliminate confusion and uncertainty between the buyers and the sellers.Maisir is con situationred in Islam as one form of injustice in the appropriation of others wealthiness. The act of gambling, sometimes referred to betting on the occurrence of a future event, is prohibited and no strengthener accrues for the employment of spending of wealth that an individual may garner through means of gambling. Under this prohibition, any contract entered into, should be free from uncertainty, risk and speculation. spotting parties should consume perfect knowledge of the counter values mean to be exchanged as a result of their transactions.Therefore, and according to Ahmed and Hassan (2007), the principles of Islamic banking and finance enshrined from al-Quran and prophet Mohameds Sayings can be summed up as follows whatever predetermined payment over and above the actual amount of principal is prohibited. The lender must share in the profits or losses arising out of the enterprise for which the money was lent. Making money from money is not acceptable in Islam. Gharar (deception) and Maisir (gambling) are alike prohibited. Investments should single support practices or products that are not forbidden or even discouraged by Islam.Islamic Banking ProductsIslamic Banking products have to be through with(p) according to Islamic rules and principles, based on profit and loss sharing as well as avoiding interest. fit to BNM statistics 2007, Al Bai Bithaman Ajil financing is the most common in Islamic Banking. There are a lot of Islamic Banking products however on that point are some fam ous Islamic products that ordain be discussed in this section.1. Al Bai Bithaman Ajil /BBAThis involves the credit sale of goods on a deferred payment basis. In BAA, the Islamic bank leave alone purchase certain assets on a deferred payment basis and then sell the goods sticker to the customer at an agreed price including some margin or profit. The customer exit make payment by installments over an agreed period. A fixed rate BBA is a powerful hedging tool against interest rates (Rosly, 1999).2. MurabahahMurabahah is a contract of sale. The Islamic Bank acts as a nerve man and purchases the goods requested by the customer. The bank entrust later sell the goods to the customer in a sale and purchase agreement, whereby the lender re-sales to the borrower at a higher(prenominal) price agreed on by both parties. These are more for short-change term financing3. MudharabahAccording to Kettel (2006), Mudharabah is a basic principle of profit and loss, where instead of lending money at a fixed rate return, the banker forms a partnership with the borrower, thereby sharing in a ventures profit and loss. Mudharabah is an agreement between the lender and entrepreneur, whereby the lender agrees to finance the project on a profit sharing basis according to a predetermined ratio agreed by both parties concerned. If there are any losses the lender will bear all the losses.4. MusharakahMusharakah means partnership whereby the Islamic institution provides the capital needed by the customer with the understanding that they both share the profit and loss according to a formula agreed before the problem transaction is transacted. In Musharakah all partners are entitled to participate in the management of the enthronization barely it is not compulsory. Musharakah can help in providing financing for large investments in modern economic activities5. Al IjarahIjarah means meaning to give something on a rental basis. In Ijarah, the bank acquires self- have got based on the promise and leases back to the client for a given period. The customer pays the rental but the ownership still remain with the bank or lender. As the ownership remains with the lessor (bank), it continues to give the armed service for which it was rented. Under this contract, the lessor has the right to re-negotiate the quantum of the lease payment at every agreed interval to ensure rental remains in line with the market rates (Hume, 2004).6. WadiahWadiah is a trust contract and the bank provides demonstrate (hibah) and various types of benefits to the customer. This is exactly like a normal conventional savings account.7. IstisnaIstisna allows one party buys the goods and the other party undertakes to manufacture them according to agreed specifications. Normally, Istisna is apply to finance construction and manufacturing projects.8. SalamSalam is defined as the forward purchase of specified goods with full forward payment. This contract is normally used for financing agricultur al production. According to Hassan (2004), Salam based future contracts for agricultural commodities, supported by Islamic Banks, can help to overcome the agricultural financial problemsTable 2.1 lists the products of conventional banking and their correspondent products in Islamic Banking.Source Obaidullah, 2005Financial Crisis and the Islamic BankingTo be able to compete with conventional banks, Islamic banks have to offer financial products that are comparable to the ones offered by the conventional banks. This exposes the Islamic banks to similar credit, fluidness and risks operate by market instability. Despite that, Islamic banks managed to remain stable at the early phases of the crisis. That was driven by three main Factors. First, Islamic banks financing activities are powerfully tied to the real economic activities than their conventional counterpart.Even though Musharakah and Mudharabah both provide conk out risk sharing while keeping strong stake to the real sphere of influence, they are used minimally for different reasons. Most financing activities are done through Murabah and Ijarah followed by Istinsa. In the GCC and during 2007, Murabaha comprised of 65.4%, Ijarah 12.78% and Istinsa 2.83%. Both Murabaha and Ijrah transactions petition the Islamic bank to know the clients purspose and use of finance as well the ownership of the asset by the bank. This help in ensuring that the notes are used for their stated purposes. On the other hand, conventional banks do not require disclosing the use of funds as long as the client is believed to credi bothrthy or can post suitable collateral.Second, Islamic banks avoid order flick to exotic and unhealthful financial derivative products. SinceShariah prohibits riba and gharar, the asset portfolio of Islamic banks did not include any CDOs, CMBSs, and CDSs which turned out to be exceedingly toxic for conventional banks and amplifying factor for the crisis. These derivative products, initially used for hedging purposes, became device for highly speculative investments among conventional financial institutions. Unavailability of hedging instruments for Islamic financial institutions, which was perceived as weakness before the crisis, became a strengthening factor for them. However, exposure to other investment risks driven from lawfulness markets, sukuk, real-estate and ownership stakes in other businesses remain a source of concern when overdone or undertaken purely for speculative gains.Third, Islamic banks in general have a larger proportion of their assets in liquid form than their conventional counterparts. This is driven by two main reasons (1) there is no lender of last resort (LOLR) facility available to Islamic banks, and they do not have rag to market fluidity in the form of the interbank market, high liquidity was maintained for risk management purpose. (2) Excess liquidity is required due to lack of interest-free short-term investment opportunities as real econo mic investments require some development period.As the global financial crisis became a global economic crisis, it started to affect Islamic banks in an corroboratory manner. The financial crisis has triggered a chain reaction whereby the slowdown in the real economies of the developed countries has started to affect economic increase and investment activities in export driven economies of the developing countries through lower trade in goods and services as well as through the declining commodity prices including that of oil. The economic downturn is not only affecting the investment and financing activities of financial institutions including those of Islamic banks, it is excessively reducing the funding of these banks through lower personal savings and declining corporate profits. It should be renowned that most of the Islamic banking industry comprises of commercialized banks whose major funding source are retail deposits, investment banking constitutes only a small portion of the industry. Islamic banks in some regions may face risk on their financing and investment side of the balance sheet due to the crisis induced irritability of righteousness markets where these banks have large positions. Downturn in the real estate markets where these banks have large direct and indirect exposures is also another source of risk. Similarly, the changing wealth position of their high-net-worth (HNW) clients who also hold financial exposure in the hard-hit conventional financial empyrean of the West and therefore are now postponing any investment plans is also a factor. The relative importance of each of these factors varies by the region. For example, the banks in the GCC and particularly in the UAE are more exposed to real estate market risk, followed by risk of international truth markets. For the banks in Asia, their investments in domestic and international fair-mindedness markets are a source of concern as equity markets are chargeing higher volatility . In some of the countries, the existing fiscal imbalance which has widened after the crisis is also a factor in the increased volatility of the marketsPrevious LiteratureThe study of bank profitableness is an important tool to evaluate bank operation by examining the different factors affecting bank controllingness and victimization these factors for management planning and strategic analysis. In the last four decades, many studies have been conducted to study both bank favourableness and the determinants of bank profitableness both for particular country or for a instrument panel of countries. These studies normally divide these factors into internal factors and external factors. Internal factors represent the bank-specific characteristics such as bank surface, liquidity structure liabilitiesetc while external factors can be macroeconomic factors such as inflation and GDP growth or Country-specific regulations rules and practices.In the subject of banking profitability, m any studies have been conducted to investigate the profitability of conventional banks while only few were conducted in the field of Islamic banking. In this chapter, we will review these studies for conventional banking first and then will focus on studies in the Islamic banking field. Then we will cover the conceptual frame convey of this research.Conventional BankingDifferent studies have been conducted in the field of conventional banking profitability. Short (1979), Bourke (1989), Molyneux and Thornton (1992), Goddard, Molyneux, and Wilson (2004), Peters et al. (2004) are some of the researchers in the field.Short (1979) is one of the early scholars who examine the kindred between banking profit rates and concentration for sixty banks in Canada, Western Europe and Japan during the 1970s and he included independent variables including government ownership and concentration by using H index to quantify concentration. Results limned that the government ownership impact on profi tability change throughout the countries canvass but expressed an overall ostracise relationship. He also found severalize that indicated higher concentration rates lead to higher profit rates (Short, 1979).Bourke (1989) also compared concentration to bank profitability but included other determinants. Bourke (1989) cover ninety banks in Australia, Europe, and North America between 1972 and 198 and examined different internal and external factors internal factors such as staff expenses, capital ratio, liquidity ratio, and loans to deposit ratio external factors such as regulation, size of economies of scale, competition, concentration, growth in market, interest rate, government ownership, and market power. His results show that increase in government ownership leads to lower profitability in banking. He also found that concentration, interest rates, and money supply are supremely think to profitability along with capital and reserves of total assets as well as cash and bank d eposits of total assets. Bourke adds that well capitalized banks enjoy cheaper access to sources of funds as they are less risky than less capitalized banks (Bourke, 1989).Later, Molyneux and Thornton (1992) studied the determinants of European banks profitability. The make-up examined eighteen counties in Europe between 1986 and 1989. This account replicated Bourkes (1989) work by using internal and external determinants of bank profitability. However, Molyneux and Thornton (1992) results showed that government ownership expresses a positive coefficient with return on capital (profitability) which contradicts with Bourkes findings. Other results were similar to Bourkes, demonstrate that concentration, interest rate, and money supply were positively related to bank profitability (Molyneux and Thornton, 1992).In one of the recent papers on bank profitability on European banks, Goddard, Molyneux, and Wilson (2004) shows similar findings to the paper by Molyneux and Thornton (1992). It investigates the determinants of profitability in six European countries and it covered 665 banks between 1992 and 1998. The study used cross-sectional and dynamic panel models. The variables used in the regression analysis were roe, the logarithmic of total assets, Off Balance tag end (OBS) dividends, big(p) to Asset Ratio (CAR). The results from both models were similar evidence reveals that there is a positive relationship between size (total assets) and profitability. Meanwhile, OBS appears to have a positive relationship with profitability for UK but neutral or shun for other European countries. Moreover, results also state that CAR has a positive relationship with profitability. Furthermore, the paper touched on ownership type by indicating that there is high competition in banking due to the fact that there is foreign bank involvement in domestic banks, and that profitability is not linked to ownership (Goddard, Molyneux, and Wilson, 2004).Peters et al. (2004) studied the characteristics of banks in post-war Lebanon for the years 1993 to 2000 and compared the results to a group of banks from five other countries in the center(a) East including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman for the years 1995 through 1999. They used subject on Equity (ROE) measure profitability and leverage and they employed regression models that relate bank profitability ratios to various explanatory variables. This study tests the relationships between bank profitability and size, asset portfolio composition, off-balance sheet items, ownership by a foreign bank, and the ratio of employment to assets. The results show a strong association between economic growth and bank profitability, whether measured by ROE or ROA. They found that Lebanese banks are profitable, but not as profitable as a control group of banks from five other countries located in the spirit East.Islamic BankingIn the orbit of Islamic Banking, Bashir (2000) assessed the performance of Islamic banks in eight Middle Eastern countries. He analyzed important bank characteristics that affect the performance of Islamic banks by controlling economic and financial structure measures. The paper studied fourteen Islamic banks from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Sudan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates between 1993 and 1998. To examining profitability, the paper used Non Interest Margin (NIM), in front Tax Profit (BTP), Return on Assets (ROA), and Return on Equity (ROE) as performance indicators. There were also internal and external variables internal variables were bank size, leverage, loans, short-term funding, overhead, and ownership external variables included macroeconomic environment, regulation, and financial market. In general, results from the study confirm previous findings and show that Islamic banks profitability is positively related to equity and loans. Consequently, if loans and equity are high, Islamic banks should be more profitable. If leverage is high and loan t o assets is also large, Islamic banks will be more profitable. The results also indicate that favorable macro-economic conditions help profitability (Bashir, 2000).Hassoune (2002) examined Islamic bank profitability in an interest rate cycle. In his paper, compared ROE and ROA Volatility for both Islamic and conventional banks in three GCC region, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. He states that since Islamic banking is based on profit and loss sharing, managements have to generate sufficient returns for investors given that they are not willing accept no returns (Hassoune, 2002).Bashir and Hassan (2004) studied the determinants of Islamic banking profitability covers 43 Islamic Banks between 1994 and 2001 in 21 countries. Their figures show Islamic banks to have a better capital asset ratio compared to commercial banks which means that Islamic banks are well capitalized. Also, their paper used internal and external banks characteristics to determine profitability as well as economic measures, financial structure variables, and country variables. They used, Net-non Interest Margin (NIM), which is non interest income to the bank such as, bank fees, service charges and foreign exchange to identify profitability. Other profitability indicators follow were Before Tax Profit divided by total assets (BTP/TA), Return on Assets (ROA), and Return on Equity (ROE).Results obtained by Bashir and Hassan (2004), were similar to the Bashir (2000) results, which found a positive relationship between capital and profitability but a negative relationship between loans and profitability. Bashir and Hassan also found total assets to have a negative relationship with profitability which amazingly means that smaller banks are more profitable. In addition, during an economic boom, banks profitability seems to improve be suit there are few nonperforming loans. Inflation, on the other hand, does not have any effect on Islamic bank profitability. Finally, results also indicate that ov erhead expenses for Islamic banks have a positive relation with profitability which means if expenses increase, profitability also increases (Bashir and Hassan, 2004).Alkassim (2005) examined the determinants of profitability in the banking sector of the GCC countries and found that asset have a negative impact on profitability of conventional banks but have a positive impact on profitability of Islamic banks. They also observed that positive impact on profitability for conventional but have a negative impact for Islamic banking. Liu and Hung (2006) examined the relationship between service quality and long-term profitability of Taiwans banks and found a positive link between branch number and long-term profitability and also proved that average salaries are detrimental to banks profit.Masood, Aktan and Chaudhary (2009) studied the co-integration and causal relationship between Return on Equity and Return on Assets for 12 banks in KSA for the period between 1999- 2007. For their res earch, the used time serial model of ADF unit-root test, Johansen co-integration test, Granger causality test and graphical comparison model. They found that there are stable long run relationships between the two variables and that it is only a one-direction cause-effect relationship between ROE and ROA. The results show that ROE is a granger cause to ROA but ROA is not a granger cause to ROE that is ROE can affect ROA input but ROA does not affect the ROE in the Saudi Arabian Banking sector.Conceptual FrameworkTheoretical material is a basic conceptual structure organized around a theory. It defines the kinds of variables that are button to be used in the analysis. In this research, the theoretical example consists of seven independent variables that represent four aspects of the Bank Characteristics. Theses aspects are the Bank Size (Total Assets), Capital Structure (Equity and Tangible Equity), Liquidity (Loans and Liquid Assets) and Liabilities (Deposits and Overheads). Ban k profitability is the dependent variable and two measures of bank profitability are used in this study, to wit return on average equity (ROAE) and return on average assets (ROAA).In this section we develop the hypothesis to be examined in this research paper.Development of HypothesesThis paper attempts to test seven hypotheses. A hypothesis is a claim or assumption about the value of a population parameter. It consists either of a suggested explanation for a phenomenon or of a reasoned design suggesting a possible correlation between multiple phenomena. According to Becker (1995), hypothesis testing is the run of judging which of two contradictory statements is correct.Hypothesis 1 positiveness has a positive and significant relationship with the total assets (ASSETS).Total Assets of a company represents its valuables including both tangible assets such as equipments and properties along with its intangible assets such as goodwill and patent. For banks, total assets include loa ns which are the basis for bank operations either through interest or interest-free practices. Total assets is used as a tool to measure the bank size banks with higher total assets indicate larger banks. Molyneux and el (2004) included total assets in their study and found a positive significant relationship between total assets and profitability. Therefore, total assets are anticipate to have positive relation with profitability which means that bigger banks are expected to be more profitable. Total assets are converted logarithmic to be more consistent with the other ratiosHypothesis 2 profitableness has a positive and significant relationship with equity to asset ratio (EQUITY).Total equity over total assets measures banks capital structure and adequate. It indicated bank ability to withstand losses and handle risk exposure with shareholders. Hassan and Bashir (2004) examined the relationship between EQUITY and bank profitability and found positive relationship. Therefore, EQ UITY is included in this studEffect of the Financial Crash on Islamic Banks in the UKEffect of the Financial Crash on Islamic Banks in the UKChapter 1 IntroductionIntroduction to the SubjectBackground of the SubjectGeneral ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to examine how the internal factors of the Islamic Banking affected their performance before, during and after the financial crisis in the GCC in comparison to the conventional banking in the same area.Research QuestionsThis study aims to answer the following questions How did the financial crisis affect the profitability of Islamic Banks in comparison to Conventional Banks? What are the internal factors (bank specific characteristics) that influence the profitability of Islamic banking for every year from 2006 2009? Did these factors have the same impact on the profitability of Islamic Banking before, during and after the financial crisis? Did these internal factors influence the profitability of Islamic Banking in the same manner as of the Conventional Banking?Need for the StudySignificance of the StudyAssumptions of the StudyLimitations of the StudyAlthough we cannot neglect the importance of the external factors on the profitability of Islamic Banking, they were not included in this study. To understand the reason behind this decision, we need to go through the different types of external factors and how they are classified Macroeconomic Factors Country Regulation Rules Bank Regulation RulesThese factors were not included for the following reasons Since we are examining the performance of 92 banks (27 Islamic Banks and 65 Conventional Banks) in 6 countries, the number of countries used in the study is not significant enough to study the impact of GDP and inflation accurately on Bank profitability especially when examining each year separately Country Regulation Rules as per the IMF Database, although it differs slightly for the selected countries, did not change over the period from 2006 to 2009. Th is means that for each bank, these factors remained constant. Data about Bank Regulation Rules could not be obtained for GCC banksDelimitation of the StudyThis study was delaminated to the Islamic and Conventional Banks in the GCC whose data could be obtained in the Bankscope database.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewOverview of Islamic BankingIslamic Baking has established as an alternative to conventional interest-based banking. The first stirring of the Islamic Banking movement began in 1963 by Dr. Ahmed Alnajar in a small town in Egypt, called Mit Ghamar. Dr. Alnajar completed his education in Germany and found that it had many saving banks operating on interest. He took the idea from a savings bank in Germany and created his own small Islamic bank that was interest free.After Dr. Alnajars small bank proved successful, the establishment of other Islamic banks followed. In 1971, the Nasser Social Bank was founded in Egypt with the objective of lending out money as a charity on the basi s of a profit and loss sharing system and helping people in need. And in 1975, the idea of Islamic banking spread to other Islamic regions such Dubai Islamic bank in United Arab Emirates and The Islamic Development (IDB) Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Wilson, 1990).Even though Islamic Banking has only been around for thirty years and is still in an evolving stage, Islamic Banking is the fastest growing segment of the credit markets in the Muslim countries. In 2009, Assets held by Islamic Banking banks rose by 28.6 percent to $822bn from $639bn in 2008, according to The Bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institutions survey while conventional banks posted annual asset growth of just 6.8 percent.Furthermore, GCC states accounted for $353.2bn or 42.9 percent of the global aggregate, while Iran remained the largest single market for Shariah-compliant assets, accounting for 35.6 percent of the total.Finally, Islamic banking operations are not limited to Islamic countries but are spreading throughout the world. One reason is the growing trend toward transcending national boundaries, and unifying Muslims into a political and economic entity that could have a significant impact on the pattern of world trade (Abdel-Magid, 1981).Islamic Banking Rules and PrinciplesIslamic banking rules are according to the Islamic Shariah derived from the Quran and prophet Mohameds sayings. The three main practices that are clearly prohibited in the Quran and the prophets sayings are, Riba (Interest), Gharar (Uncertainty), and Maysir (Betting).Prohibition of Riba or any predetermined or fixed rate in financial institutions is the most important factor in the Islamic principles pertaining to banking. As stated in the Quran Allah forbids riba. Riba means an increase and under Shariah the term refers to the premium that must be paid by the borrower to the lender along with the principle amount as a condition for the loan (Omar and Abdel, 1996).Gharar occurs when the purchaser does not know w hat has been bought and the seller does not know what has been sold. In other words, trading should be clear by stating in a contract the existing actual object(s) to be sold, with a price and time to eliminate confusion and uncertainty between the buyers and the sellers.Maisir is considered in Islam as one form of injustice in the appropriation of others wealth. The act of gambling, sometimes referred to betting on the occurrence of a future event, is prohibited and no reward accrues for the employment of spending of wealth that an individual may gain through means of gambling. Under this prohibition, any contract entered into, should be free from uncertainty, risk and speculation. Contracting parties should have perfect knowledge of the counter values intended to be exchanged as a result of their transactions.Therefore, and according to Ahmed and Hassan (2007), the principles of Islamic banking and finance enshrined from al-Quran and Prophet Mohameds Sayings can be summed up as fo llows Any predetermined payment over and above the actual amount of principal is prohibited. The lender must share in the profits or losses arising out of the enterprise for which the money was lent. Making money from money is not acceptable in Islam. Gharar (deception) and Maisir (gambling) are also prohibited. Investments should only support practices or products that are not forbidden or even discouraged by Islam.Islamic Banking ProductsIslamic Banking products have to be done according to Islamic rules and principles, based on profit and loss sharing as well as avoiding interest. According to BNM statistics 2007, Al Bai Bithaman Ajil financing is the most common in Islamic Banking. There are a lot of Islamic Banking products however there are some famous Islamic products that will be discussed in this section.1. Al Bai Bithaman Ajil /BBAThis involves the credit sale of goods on a deferred payment basis. In BAA, the Islamic bank will purchase certain assets on a deferred payment basis and then sell the goods back to the customer at an agreed price including some margin or profit. The customer will make payment by installments over an agreed period. A fixed rate BBA is a powerful hedging tool against interest rates (Rosly, 1999).2. MurabahahMurabahah is a contract of sale. The Islamic Bank acts as a middle man and purchases the goods requested by the customer. The bank will later sell the goods to the customer in a sale and purchase agreement, whereby the lender re-sales to the borrower at a higher price agreed on by both parties. These are more for short term financing3. MudharabahAccording to Kettel (2006), Mudharabah is a basic principle of profit and loss, where instead of lending money at a fixed rate return, the banker forms a partnership with the borrower, thereby sharing in a ventures profit and loss. Mudharabah is an agreement between the lender and entrepreneur, whereby the lender agrees to finance the project on a profit sharing basis according to a predetermined ratio agreed by both parties concerned. If there are any losses the lender will bear all the losses.4. MusharakahMusharakah means partnership whereby the Islamic institution provides the capital needed by the customer with the understanding that they both share the profit and loss according to a formula agreed before the business transaction is transacted. In Musharakah all partners are entitled to participate in the management of the investment but it is not compulsory. Musharakah can help in providing financing for large investments in modern economic activities5. Al IjarahIjarah means meaning to give something on a rental basis. In Ijarah, the bank acquires ownership based on the promise and leases back to the client for a given period. The customer pays the rental but the ownership still remains with the bank or lender. As the ownership remains with the lessor (bank), it continues to give the service for which it was rented. Under this contract, the lessor has t he right to re-negotiate the quantum of the lease payment at every agreed interval to ensure rental remains in line with the market rates (Hume, 2004).6. WadiahWadiah is a trust contract and the bank provides gift (hibah) and various types of benefits to the customer. This is exactly like a normal conventional savings account.7. IstisnaIstisna allows one party buys the goods and the other party undertakes to manufacture them according to agreed specifications. Normally, Istisna is used to finance construction and manufacturing projects.8. SalamSalam is defined as the forward purchase of specified goods with full forward payment. This contract is normally used for financing agricultural production. According to Hassan (2004), Salam based future contracts for agricultural commodities, supported by Islamic Banks, can help to overcome the agricultural financial problemsTable 2.1 lists the products of conventional banking and their correspondent products in Islamic Banking.Source Obaidul lah, 2005Financial Crisis and the Islamic BankingTo be able to compete with conventional banks, Islamic banks have to offer financial products that are comparable to the ones offered by the conventional banks. This exposes the Islamic banks to similar credit, liquidity and risks driven by market instability. Despite that, Islamic banks managed to remain stable at the early phases of the crisis. That was driven by three main Factors. First, Islamic banks financing activities are strongly tied to the real economic activities than their conventional counterpart.Even though Musharakah and Mudharabah both provide better risk sharing while keeping strong link to the real sector, they are used minimally for different reasons. Most financing activities are done through Murabah and Ijarah followed by Istinsa. In the GCC and during 2007, Murabaha comprised of 65.4%, Ijarah 12.78% and Istinsa 2.83%. Both Murabaha and Ijrah transactions require the Islamic bank to know the clients purspose and use of finance as well the ownership of the asset by the bank. This help in ensuring that the funds are used for their stated purposes. On the other hand, conventional banks do not require disclosing the use of funds as long as the client is believed to creditworthy or can post suitable collateral.Second, Islamic banks avoid direct exposure to exotic and toxic financial derivative products. SinceShariah prohibits riba and gharar, the asset portfolio of Islamic banks did not include any CDOs, CMBSs, and CDSs which turned out to be highly toxic for conventional banks and amplifying factor for the crisis. These derivative products, initially used for hedging purposes, became device for highly speculative investments among conventional financial institutions. Unavailability of hedging instruments for Islamic financial institutions, which was perceived as weakness before the crisis, became a strengthening factor for them. However, exposure to other investment risks driven from equity mar kets, sukuk, real-estate and ownership stakes in other businesses remain a source of concern when overdone or undertaken purely for speculative gains.Third, Islamic banks in general have a larger proportion of their assets in liquid form than their conventional counterparts. This is driven by two main reasons (1) there is no lender of last resort (LOLR) facility available to Islamic banks, and they do not have access to market liquidity in the form of the interbank market, high liquidity was maintained for risk management purpose. (2) Excess liquidity is required due to lack of interest-free short-term investment opportunities as real economic investments require some development period.As the global financial crisis became a global economic crisis, it started to affect Islamic banks in an indirect manner. The financial crisis has triggered a chain reaction whereby the slowdown in the real economies of the developed countries has started to affect economic growth and investment acti vities in export driven economies of the developing countries through lower trade in goods and services as well as through the declining commodity prices including that of oil. The economic downturn is not only affecting the investment and financing activities of financial institutions including those of Islamic banks, it is also reducing the funding of these banks through lower personal savings and declining corporate profits. It should be noted that most of the Islamic banking industry comprises of commercial banks whose major funding source are retail deposits, investment banking constitutes only a small portion of the industry. Islamic banks in some regions may face risk on their financing and investment side of the balance sheet due to the crisis induced volatility of equity markets where these banks have large positions. Downturn in the real estate markets where these banks have large direct and indirect exposures is also another source of risk. Similarly, the changing wealth position of their high-net-worth (HNW) clients who also hold financial exposure in the hard-hit conventional financial sector of the West and therefore are now postponing any investment plans is also a factor. The relative importance of each of these factors varies by the region. For example, the banks in the GCC and particularly in the UAE are more exposed to real estate market risk, followed by risk of international equity markets. For the banks in Asia, their investments in domestic and international equity markets are a source of concern as equity markets are showing higher volatility. In some of the countries, the existing fiscal imbalance which has widened after the crisis is also a factor in the increased volatility of the marketsPrevious LiteratureThe study of bank profitability is an important tool to evaluate bank operation by examining the different factors affecting bank profitability and using these factors for management planning and strategic analysis. In the last fou r decades, many studies have been conducted to study both bank profitability and the determinants of bank profitability either for particular country or for a panel of countries. These studies normally divide these factors into internal factors and external factors. Internal factors represent the bank-specific characteristics such as bank size, liquidity structure liabilitiesetc while external factors can be macroeconomic factors such as inflation and GDP growth or Country-specific regulations rules and practices.In the area of banking profitability, many studies have been conducted to investigate the profitability of conventional banks while only few were conducted in the field of Islamic banking. In this chapter, we will review these studies for conventional banking first and then will focus on studies in the Islamic banking field. Then we will cover the conceptual framework of this research.Conventional BankingDifferent studies have been conducted in the field of conventional ban king profitability. Short (1979), Bourke (1989), Molyneux and Thornton (1992), Goddard, Molyneux, and Wilson (2004), Peters et al. (2004) are some of the researchers in the field.Short (1979) is one of the early scholars who studied the relationship between banking profit rates and concentration for sixty banks in Canada, Western Europe and Japan during the 1970s and he included independent variables including government ownership and concentration by using H index to quantify concentration. Results showed that the government ownership impact on profitability varied throughout the countries studied but expressed an overall negative relationship. He also found evidence that indicated higher concentration rates lead to higher profit rates (Short, 1979).Bourke (1989) also compared concentration to bank profitability but included other determinants. Bourke (1989) covered ninety banks in Australia, Europe, and North America between 1972 and 198 and examined different internal and externa l factors internal factors such as staff expenses, capital ratio, liquidity ratio, and loans to deposit ratio external factors such as regulation, size of economies of scale, competition, concentration, growth in market, interest rate, government ownership, and market power. His results show that increase in government ownership leads to lower profitability in banking. He also found that concentration, interest rates, and money supply are positively related to profitability along with capital and reserves of total assets as well as cash and bank deposits of total assets. Bourke adds that well capitalized banks enjoy cheaper access to sources of funds as they are less risky than less capitalized banks (Bourke, 1989).Later, Molyneux and Thornton (1992) studied the determinants of European banks profitability. The paper examined eighteen counties in Europe between 1986 and 1989. This paper replicated Bourkes (1989) work by using internal and external determinants of bank profitability. However, Molyneux and Thornton (1992) results showed that government ownership expresses a positive coefficient with return on capital (profitability) which contradicts with Bourkes findings. Other results were similar to Bourkes, showing that concentration, interest rate, and money supply were positively related to bank profitability (Molyneux and Thornton, 1992).In one of the recent papers on bank profitability on European banks, Goddard, Molyneux, and Wilson (2004) shows similar findings to the paper by Molyneux and Thornton (1992). It investigates the determinants of profitability in six European countries and it covered 665 banks between 1992 and 1998. The study used cross-sectional and dynamic panel models. The variables used in the regression analysis were ROE, the logarithmic of total assets, Off Balance Sheet (OBS) dividends, Capital to Asset Ratio (CAR). The results from both models were similar evidence reveals that there is a positive relationship between size (total as sets) and profitability. Meanwhile, OBS appears to have a positive relationship with profitability for UK but neutral or negative for other European countries. Moreover, results also state that CAR has a positive relationship with profitability. Furthermore, the paper touched on ownership type by indicating that there is high competition in banking due to the fact that there is foreign bank involvement in domestic banks, and that profitability is not linked to ownership (Goddard, Molyneux, and Wilson, 2004).Peters et al. (2004) studied the characteristics of banks in post-war Lebanon for the years 1993 to 2000 and compared the results to a group of banks from five other countries in the Middle East including UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman for the years 1995 through 1999. They used Return on Equity (ROE) measure profitability and leverage and they employed regression models that relate bank profitability ratios to various explanatory variables. This study tests the relationships between bank profitability and size, asset portfolio composition, off-balance sheet items, ownership by a foreign bank, and the ratio of employment to assets. The results show a strong association between economic growth and bank profitability, whether measured by ROE or ROA. They found that Lebanese banks are profitable, but not as profitable as a control group of banks from five other countries located in the Middle East.Islamic BankingIn the area of Islamic Banking, Bashir (2000) assessed the performance of Islamic banks in eight Middle Eastern countries. He analyzed important bank characteristics that affect the performance of Islamic banks by controlling economic and financial structure measures. The paper studied fourteen Islamic banks from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Sudan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates between 1993 and 1998. To examining profitability, the paper used Non Interest Margin (NIM), Before Tax Profit (BTP), Return on Assets (ROA), and Return on Equit y (ROE) as performance indicators. There were also internal and external variables internal variables were bank size, leverage, loans, short-term funding, overhead, and ownership external variables included macroeconomic environment, regulation, and financial market. In general, results from the study confirm previous findings and show that Islamic banks profitability is positively related to equity and loans. Consequently, if loans and equity are high, Islamic banks should be more profitable. If leverage is high and loan to assets is also large, Islamic banks will be more profitable. The results also indicate that favorable macro-economic conditions help profitability (Bashir, 2000).Hassoune (2002) examined Islamic bank profitability in an interest rate cycle. In his paper, compared ROE and ROA Volatility for both Islamic and conventional banks in three GCC region, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. He states that since Islamic banking is based on profit and loss sharing, managements have to generate sufficient returns for investors given that they are not willing accept no returns (Hassoune, 2002).Bashir and Hassan (2004) studied the determinants of Islamic banking profitability covers 43 Islamic Banks between 1994 and 2001 in 21 countries. Their figures show Islamic banks to have a better capital asset ratio compared to commercial banks which means that Islamic banks are well capitalized. Also, their paper used internal and external banks characteristics to determine profitability as well as economic measures, financial structure variables, and country variables. They used, Net-non Interest Margin (NIM), which is non interest income to the bank such as, bank fees, service charges and foreign exchange to identify profitability. Other profitability indicators adopted were Before Tax Profit divided by total assets (BTP/TA), Return on Assets (ROA), and Return on Equity (ROE).Results obtained by Bashir and Hassan (2004), were similar to the Bashir (2000) results, which found a positive relationship between capital and profitability but a negative relationship between loans and profitability. Bashir and Hassan also found total assets to have a negative relationship with profitability which amazingly means that smaller banks are more profitable. In addition, during an economic boom, banks profitability seems to improve because there are fewer nonperforming loans. Inflation, on the other hand, does not have any effect on Islamic bank profitability. Finally, results also indicate that overhead expenses for Islamic banks have a positive relation with profitability which means if expenses increase, profitability also increases (Bashir and Hassan, 2004).Alkassim (2005) examined the determinants of profitability in the banking sector of the GCC countries and found that asset have a negative impact on profitability of conventional banks but have a positive impact on profitability of Islamic banks. They also observed that positive impact on profitabil ity for conventional but have a negative impact for Islamic banking. Liu and Hung (2006) examined the relationship between service quality and long-term profitability of Taiwans banks and found a positive link between branch number and long-term profitability and also proved that average salaries are detrimental to banks profit.Masood, Aktan and Chaudhary (2009) studied the co-integration and causal relationship between Return on Equity and Return on Assets for 12 banks in KSA for the period between 1999- 2007. For their research, the used time series model of ADF unit-root test, Johansen co-integration test, Granger causality test and graphical comparison model. They found that there are stable long run relationships between the two variables and that it is only a one-direction cause-effect relationship between ROE and ROA. The results show that ROE is a granger cause to ROA but ROA is not a granger cause to ROE that is ROE can affect ROA input but ROA does not affect the ROE in th e Saudi Arabian Banking sector.Conceptual FrameworkTheoretical framework is a basic conceptual structure organized around a theory. It defines the kinds of variables that are going to be used in the analysis. In this research, the theoretical framework consists of seven independent variables that represent four aspects of the Bank Characteristics. Theses aspects are the Bank Size (Total Assets), Capital Structure (Equity and Tangible Equity), Liquidity (Loans and Liquid Assets) and Liabilities (Deposits and Overheads). Bank profitability is the dependent variable and two measures of bank profitability are used in this study, namely return on average equity (ROAE) and return on average assets (ROAA).In this section we develop the hypothesis to be examined in this research paper.Development of HypothesesThis paper attempts to test seven hypotheses. A hypothesis is a claim or assumption about the value of a population parameter. It consists either of a suggested explanation for a pheno menon or of a reasoned proposal suggesting a possible correlation between multiple phenomena. According to Becker (1995), hypothesis testing is the process of judging which of two contradictory statements is correct.Hypothesis 1 Profitability has a positive and significant relationship with the total assets (ASSETS).Total Assets of a company represents its valuables including both tangible assets such as equipments and properties along with its intangible assets such as goodwill and patent. For banks, total assets include loans which are the basis for bank operations either through interest or interest-free practices. Total assets is used as a tool to measure the bank size banks with higher total assets indicate bigger banks. Molyneux and el (2004) included total assets in their study and found a positive significant relationship between total assets and profitability. Therefore, total assets are expected to have positive relation with profitability which means that bigger banks are expected to be more profitable. Total assets are converted logarithmic to be more consistent with the other ratiosHypothesis 2 Profitability has a positive and significant relationship with equity to asset ratio (EQUITY).Total equity over total assets measures banks capital structure and adequate. It indicated bank ability to withstand losses and handle risk exposure with shareholders. Hassan and Bashir (2004) examined the relationship between EQUITY and bank profitability and found positive relationship. Therefore, EQUITY is included in this stud

A Gradual Decline in Prejudice between Places and People in North and S

A Gradual Decline in Prejudice between Places and People in North and SouthThrough her characterizations of the two main characters in MargaretHale and John Thornton, Elizabeth Gaskell develops a transition from outrage to cognise. She reveals their inner most thoughts through anomniscient third person narrative to allow the sense of hearing to empathisewith their feelings. The Characters develop through dialogue becausethey dispute over the North and South divide and try to distancethemselves from each other. But despite their prejudices love prevailsbecause of the actions of good will shown by Margaret, which Johninterprets to be feelings of love. The audience is satisfied that theyhave found a general cause which is sufficient to counteract the formsof prejudice depicted in the novel, and that cause is love.The fundamental theme of prejudice in the story is location. Gaskellcontrasts the North and South almost as if they were two entirely distinguishable countries. Helstone is a sunny place, and the days are lazyand care free for Margaret. As they approach Milton ...

Body Systems :: Human Body

Body arrangementsThere are 10 body systems, hotshot of them is the Integumentary (skin). It is serene of hair, skin, nails, sence receptions and oil glands. Its functionisto protect from outside, to regulate the body temperature, to make synthesis ofhormones & chemicals and is used as a sense organ.Another one is the Skeletal System (bones). It is made of about 206 bones, thatare divided up in tho categories axial bones (in the body by itself) andapendicular bones (arms & legs). We have Joints too. Theire divided in BallSocket (like elbow and shoulders) and sattle (fingers). This systems functionare movement, storage of minerals, blood formation, support of the body andprotection of body parts. The next one is the Muscular System. It is calm ofmuscles (dah). The muscles are divided in visceral or involuntary or smooth (Theone in the organs, like intestines), skeletal or voluntary or striated (foundsuperficial to the bones, like biceps, triceps...) and cardiac (heart). Their functions are movement, to maintain body posture & tone and in the production ofbody heat. promptly its time for the Nervous System. Its constructed of the brain, the spinalcord and the nerves (neurons). Its functions are to communicate (fast with shortduration), integration, and to control. The subsequent system is the EndocrineSystem (known as ductless too...). This is composed of a lot of things... Theyarepituitary gland - below the brain (master gland), pineal gland - brain (Itscalled the "third eye" by some, because its light-sensitive to light cycles),hypothalamus - also in the brain (it works with the pituitary), the thyrodic -