British Policy and Reform of Madrasah Education in Bengal (1780-1947)

British Academ

Business Strategy and Cost of Bank Loans

Following Miles and Snow’s Business Strategy (BS) topology, we find that banks impose relatively higher loan spreads for the firms that follow an Innovation-Oriented Business Strategy (IOBS). We further document that IOBS is positively associated with corporate risk measures such as variances in equity returns and returns on assets. Overall, our findings suggest that banks charge a higher cost of debt in anticipation of borrowers’ payback riskiness from an IOBS

e-Learning for expanding distance education in tertiary level in Bangladesh: Problems and progress

E-learning has broadly become an important enabler to promote distance education (DE) and lifelong learning in most of the developed countries, but in Bangladesh it is still a new successful progressive system for the learning communities. Distance education is thought to be introduced as an effective way of educating people of all sections in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Open University (BOU), the only distance education provider in Bangladesh, has been trying to adopt the use of various e-learning materials for its distance delivery. This paper has tried to describe the current progress of quality e-learning for expanding distance education, identifying the major problems of e-learning in distance education at tertiary level in Bangladesh, with special reference to BOU, and finally to put forward some valuable recommendations for solving the problems. The study is based on both primary and secondary sources. It is observed from the research that e-learning is going to ensure its bright prospect as an alternative mode of education at the tertiary level in Bangladesh. There are several problems that are identified and can be mitigated and solved through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development, greater acceptance by learners, and much research in this sector in Bangladesh to face globalization. DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v3i4.17

Photocatalytic decolorization of methyl orange dye using SnO2-TiO2 nanocomposite particles synthesised by Ultrasonic Assisted Co-Precipitation Method

The ultrasonic-aided co-precipitation method was used to create SnO2-TiO2 nanocomposite particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to characterize the nanocomposite particles. XRD patterns revealed the crystalline structure of particles and the average particle size determined by Debye Scherrer’s equation was found to be 11.355, 4.9577, and 4.333 nm for TiO2 nanoparticles, SnO2 nanoparticles, and SnO2-TiO2 nanocomposites, respectively. The Ti, Sn, and O species were confirmed to exist by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The UV absorption peaks at 288, 305, and 350 nm were attributed to SnO2, TiO2-SnO2, and TiO2 respectively. The photocatalytic aspect was investigated in a model organic contaminant (methyl orange). Data obtained by the above-mentioned characterization methods confirmed the superior photocatalytic activity of SnO2-TiO2 nanostructure than SnO2 or TiO2 alone

Information Seeking Behaviour of Grass Root Level Extension Workers of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Bangladesh

This study assessed the information searching behaviour of root level extension workers (SAAOs) to explore the relationships between the selected characteristics of the root level extension workers and their information searching behaviour. Chawgacha, Jhikargacha and Jessore Sadar upazila under Jessore district were the study area. All the 70 Sub Assistant Agriculture Officers (SAAOs) in these three upazilas participated in the study. The study revealed that 64.30%of the respondents were frequent information searcher Findings reveal that job satisfaction and aspiration for training had positive significant relationship with information searching behaviour while age, experience of extension work, annual expenditure, and motivation for searching job related information, organizational problem confrontation and technical knowledge had no significant relationship with information searching behaviours

Service Quality of Five Star Hotels in Bangladesh: An Empirical Assessment

Although the importance of service quality and service quality measurement have been recognized, there are limited researches that have addressed the structure and antecedents of the concept for the hotel industry in Bangladesh. The clarification of the dimensions of service quality is inevitable for the managers in the hotel industry as these identify the bundles of service attributes consumers find important. Therefore, this study aims to measure the service quality from the customers’ perspective of five star hotels in Bangladesh based on the SERVQUAL model. Three five star hotels (Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, and Radison Water Garden Hotel) out of four were selected for the purpose of the study. The study is based on the primary data collected from the respondents with the help of a self-administered questionnaire to measure the perception of service quality characteristics of the five star hotels. Data analysis has been done using SPSS software and a factor analysis has been conducted to measure the differences among the factors affecting service quality perceptions. To measure the service quality gap, five dimensions related to hotel industry were identified. The analysis shows that the service quality of the five star hotels is highly dependent on the physical appearance, interior decoration, food quality, behavior of the employees, security system, and customized services given to individual customers. &nbsp

Service Quality of Five Star Hotels in Bangladesh: An Empirical Assessment

Although the importance of service quality and service quality measurement have been recognized, there are limited researches that have addressed the structure and antecedents of the concept for the hotel industry in Bangladesh. The clarification of the dimensions of service quality is inevitable for the managers in the hotel industry as these identify the bundles of service attributes consumers find important. Therefore, this study aims to measure the service quality from the customers’ perspective of five star hotels in Bangladesh based on the SERVQUAL model. Three five star hotels (Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, and Radison Water Garden Hotel) out of four were selected for the purpose of the study. The study is based on the primary data collected from the respondents with the help of a self-administered questionnaire to measure the perception of service quality characteristics of the five star hotels. Data analysis has been done using SPSS software and a factor analysis has been conducted to measure the differences among the factors affecting service quality perceptions. To measure the service quality gap, five dimensions related to hotel industry were identified. The analysis shows that the service quality of the five star hotels is highly dependent on the physical appearance, interior decoration, food quality, behavior of the employees, security system, and customized services given to individual customers

Modelling housing market fundamentals : empirical evidence from the Sydney housing market

Housing prices in Sydney have increased rapidly in recent years. This leads to a debate of whether Sydney housing prices have departed from macroeconomic fundamentals. However, little empirical studies have been devoted to this area. Therefore, the study aims to fill this gap by examining the long run association between housing prices and market fundamentals. In addition, it also examines the long-run determinants of housing prices in Greater Sydney over 1991-2016 by using a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The empirical results suggested that Sydney housing prices are cointegrated with market fundamentals in the long run. In addition, this study also found that market fundamentals such as gross disposable income, housing supply, unemployment rate and gross domestic product are the key long-run determinants of housing prices in Greater Sydney. The findings of the study have some profound implications to policy makers and housing investors

Modelling housing prices and market fundamentals : evidence from the Sydney housing market

Purpose: Housing prices in Sydney have increased rapidly in the past three decades. This leads to a debate of whether Sydney housing prices have departed from macroeconomic fundamentals. However, little research has been devoted to this area. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by examining the long-run association between housing prices and market fundamentals. Further, it also examines the long-run determinants of housing prices in Greater Sydney. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis of this study involves two stages. The first stage is to estimate the presence of long-run relationship between housing prices and market fundamentals with the Johansen and Juselius Cointegration test. Thereafter, the determinants of housing prices in Greater Sydney is assessed by using a vector error correction model. Findings: The empirical results show that Sydney housing prices are cointegrated with market fundamentals in the long run. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that market fundamentals such as gross disposable income, housing supply, unemployment rate and gross domestic product are the key long-run determinants of Sydney housing prices, reflecting that Sydney housing prices, in general, can be explained by market fundamentals in the long run. Research limitations/implications: The findings enable more informed and practical policy and investment decision-making regarding the relation between housing prices and market fundamentals. Originality/value: This paper is the first study to offer empirical evidence of the degree to which the behaviour of housing prices can be explained by market fundamentals, from a capital city instead of at a national level, using a relatively disaggregated dataset of housing price series for Greater Sydney