Comparative Small Business: Toward A Model

This paper addresses the issue of comparability of the small business across geographical boundaries based on organizational contextual, structural variables and the effectiveness indicators.  The authors argue that (1) there are already many features, profiles, managerial challenges and the role the small businesses play in a political economy that are common to many countries; (2) the gradual homogenization (due to successful penetration and integration of web based information and transactional technology) of business cultures in a borderless and seamless global business environment may enable tentative generalizations based on empirical as well as ethnographic studies.    The paper first defines small business effectiveness and then outlines several common factors through a review of case and ethnographic studies. Finally, the author takes one of the common factors—the issue of capacity utilization and proposes a quasi deterministic empirical econometric model and shares the findings through a secondary analysis of survey data collected from 179 small scale enterprises in West Bengal, India. The findings reflect positively on the efficacy of the model. The authors conclude:  the scholarly pursuits such as this are likely to enrich and contribute to the nascent comparative small business literature and enhance the empirical understanding of the small business dynamics.  Consequently, a greater homogenization of the global business practices may facilitate more small business to small business transactions within the country specific diverse global business cultures

Constraints And Contingencies Of The Small Business: A Comparative Perspective

Small businesses relative to the medium and large businesses tend to demonstrate culture (country) specific business practices. However, in spite of the recognized diversity of business practices, strong homogeneous tendencies and norms have been developing specially among the small businesses that operate in the global market place. These tendencies and norms offer unique opportunity for a comparative perspective. This paper is an attempt in this regard toward identifying the issues of constraints and challenges of the small business from a comparative perspective. A part of multi-country study, authors collected data in 2006 from 133 small businesses of India, and 112 small enterprises in Bangladesh. The findings provide a varying degree of supports for two illustrative hypotheses concerning issues, constraints and contingencies of small businesses in these two countries. The authors believe that the paper is likely to enhance empirical understanding of the small business from a comparative perspective

Employee Turnover In The Small Business: Practical Insights From Urban Child Care Centers

This paper investigates the claims of alarming turnover rates in the childcare work force (as claimed by the Center for the Childcare workforce) in the context of organizational literature.  Data collected from 70 childcare centers of New York City partially support the traditional claim that behavioral variables (such as job satisfaction and commitment) explain variations in turnover rate.  Additionally, it claims that negative work outcomes (or work itself could be cause of voluntary turnover) in this instance, the behavior problem, discipline problem, funding uncertainty and the like may be included in any deterministic model of employee turnover.  Finally, this study did not find overwhelming evidence supporting the alarming rate of turnover in the childcare centers

Organizational Profile, HR Practices And The Perceived Quality And Performance Of Small Businesses: Empirical Highlights From The Urban Child Care Centers

This paper examines the relationships among the organizational profile, the human resource practices, and the quality and profitability of private childcare centers of a large metropolis.  Organizational profile variables included: size (measured in terms of total FTE employees), age (measured in terms of number of years in service), HR practices included: empowerment and enrichment strategies, benefits, grievances, affirmative action, promotion, supervision, participation in decision-making, and the like. Quality is a variable reflecting the perception of service relative to the population of similar centers.  It also includes the application of quality concepts such as benchmarking, and continuous improvement. The organizational performance includes such variables as perceived relative profitability, annual revenues, and behavioral measures of employees (i.e., motivation, morale, commitment, trust, turnover, and job satisfaction).  Data was collected as a pilot project in 2001 through a mail questionnaire as well as through personal interviews of the owners/directors of 70 (out of 200 selected) private childcare centers of New York City. The findings of correlation and the regression analyses support a number of illustrative hypotheses pertaining to the association among the selected variables.  The paper interpreted the finding in the light of existing organizational theories and concludes with a list of highlights (imperatives) for the owner/directors of urban child care centers

Determinants of Structural Change in the Dairy Sector

Even though the dairy products are not a staple food item, but they are necessary for humans as an excellent source of protein. The consumption of dairy commodities began a long time ago, and over time there has been an improvement in the processing to match the changes in the tastes. Small scale dairy production was the root of today’s dairy sector. However, now it is going on a large scale. This changed gradually through a process accompanied by different factors. This study aimed at identifying and understanding existing determinants and their role behind the change in the dairy sector. For this, peer-reviewed articles published by researchers around the world were obtained with all possible search combinations from reputed online databases. Statistical data were collected from reliable statistical data providers, and all activities were done focusing on the determinants of changing the dairy sector. The regulatory policy framework of dairy-producing countries, change in farm size, shift in consumption pattern, etc. were found as the most crucial factors behind the change. Possible suggestions required to keep pace with this massive change were discussed

Socioeconomic factors differentiating maternal and child health-seeking behavior in rural Bangladesh: A cross-sectional analysis

BACKGROUND: There has been an increasing availability and accessibility of modern health services in rural Bangladesh over the past decades. However, previous studies on the socioeconomic differentials in the utilization of these services were based on a limited number of factors, focusing either on preventive or on curative modern health services. These studies failed to collect data from remote rural areas of the different regions to examine the socioeconomic differentials in health-seeking behavior. METHODS: Data from 3,498 randomly selected currently married women from three strata of households within 128 purposively chosen remote villages in three divisions of Bangladesh were collected in 2006. This study used bivariate and multivariate logistic analyses to examine both curative and preventive health-seeking behaviors in seven areas of maternal and child health care: antenatal care, postnatal care, child delivery care, mother's receipt of Vitamin A postpartum, newborn baby care, care during recent child fever/cough episodes, and maternal coverageby tetanus toxoid (TT). RESULTS: A principal finding was that a household's relative poverty status, as reflected by wealth quintiles, was a major determinant in health-seeking behavior. Mothers in the highest wealth quintile were significantly more likely to use modern trained providers for antenatal care, birth attendance, post natal care and child health care than those in the poorest quintile (χ(2), p < 0.01). The differentials were less pronounced for other factors examined, such as education, age, and the relative decision-making power of a woman, in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. CONCLUSION: Within rural areas of Bangladesh, where overall poverty is greater and access to health care more difficult, wealth differentials in utilization remain pronounced. Those programs with high international visibility and dedicated funding (e.g., Immunization and Vitamin A delivery) have higher overall prevalence and a more equitable distribution of beneficiaries than the use of modern trained providers for basic essential health care services. Implications of these findings and recommendations are provided

In silico Analysis of Human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT) Gene: Identification of a Distant Homolog of Melanoma Antigen Family Gene (MAGE)

Melanoma antigen family (MAGE) genes are widely expressed in various tumor types but silent in normal cells except germ-line cells lacking human leukocyte antigen (HLA) expression. Over 25 MAGE genes have been identified in different tissues, mostly located in Xq28 of human chromosome and some of them in chromosome 3 and 15, containing either single or multiple-exons. This in silico study predicted the genes on hTERT location and identified a distant relative of MAGE gene located on chromosome 5. The study identified a single exon coding ~850 residues polypeptide sharing ~30% homology with Macfa-MAGE E1 and hMAGE-E1. dbEST search of the predicted transcript matches 5′ and 3′ flanking ESTs. The predicted protein showed sequence homology within the MAGE homology domain 2 (MHD2). UCSC genome annotation of CpG Island around the coding region reveals that this gene could be silent by methylation. Affymetrix all-exon track indicates the gene could be expressed in different tissues particularly in cancer cells as they widely undergo a genome wide demethylation process

Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activity of Three Bitter Plants-Enhydra fluctuans, Andrographis Peniculata and Clerodendrum Viscosum.

Purpose: In this study, three important medicinal plants (Enhydra fluctuans Lour, Clerodendrum viscosum Vent and Andrographis peniculata Wall) of Bangladesh were investigated to analyze their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities against some pathogenic microorganisms and Artemia salina (brine shrimp nauplii). Methods: The coarse powder material of leaves of each plant was extracted separately with methanol and acetone to yield methanol extracts of leaves of Enhydra fluctuans (MLE), Clerodendrum viscosum (MLC) and Andrographis peniculata (MLA), and acetone extracts of leaves of Enhydra fluctuans (ALE), Clerodendrum viscosum (ALC) and Andrographis peniculata (ALA). The disc diffusion method and the method described by Meyer were used to determine the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of each plant extract. Results: Among the test samples, MLE and ALE showed comparatively better antimicrobial activity against a number of bacteria and fungi with inhibition zones in the range of 06-15 mm and according to the intensity of activity, the efficacy against microorganisms were found in the order of Enhydra fluctuans> Andrographi speniculata> Clerodendrum viscosum. In cytotoxicity assay, all samples were found to be active against brine shrimp nauplii (Artemia salina) and ALA produced lowest LC50 value (7.03 μg/ml). Conclusion: Enhydra fluctuans and Andrographi speniculata possesses significant antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities

Numerical Prediction of Laminar Characteristics of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Finned-Tube Heat Exchangers

This study is performed to determine the characteristics of fin and tube heat exchanger for the plain and wavy fin configurations considering in lined and staggered tube arrangements for laminar flow regime. This analysis has been conducted using Commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics Code ANSYS CFX-11. The results are expressed in terms of friction factor (f) and the Colburn factor (j) and efficiency index (j/f).The code was validated by comparing the results obtained with the previously investigated experimental data. The effects of different geometrical parameter such as Longitudinal pitch, Transverse Pitch, Fin Pitch, Wavy angle on the heat transfer and the pressure drop were investigated. This study reveals that the flow distinction between plain and wavy fin has a profound influence on the heat transfer and pressure drop performance. It was observed that, increasing the longitudinal and transverse pitch causes a decrease in the thermal and hydraulic performance of the heat exchanger for low Reynolds Number problem. The result for the fin pitch study indicated that decrease in the fin pitch causes a decrease in both heat transfer and friction characteristics significantly. Keywords: Friction factor, Colburn factor, Efficiency index, longitudinal pitch, transverse pitch, fin pitch

Selection of cemented carbide turning tools using EMF and optimization criteria

Tool life and quality of surface finish of the workpiece influence production rate and production cost. Cemented carbide tools have found wide application in the production arena of Bangladesh. In the absence of any testing facility in the country for the selection of cost-effective tools, poor quality carbide tools are frequently imported. A testing method and a selection criteria were developed for testing carbide tools of different shapes and sizes and for selecting the most cost-effective tool. For each tool cutting tests were performed to generate tool life data under different cutting conditions. Mild steel served as the work material. The relationship between tool life and cutting speed was developed using a curve-fitting software on a PC. From these relationships the values of the constants of the Taylor’s equation were determined. The cost equation was then derived for each tool for a given amount of work in a cutting speed range. Finally, the most cost-effective tool was selected on the basis of the relative location of the cost curves of the tools tested