Corporate sustainability performance of the Readymade Garments industry in Bangladesh:impact of organisational pressures and sustainability management control system

The Readymade Garment (RMG) industry of Bangladesh has been severely criticized for its negative environmental impact, frequent industrial accidents, inhuman working conditions and low wages. In response to these escalating criticisms, RMG companies in Bangladesh are sincerely trying to improve their Corporate Sustainability Performance (CSP) to pacify the concerns raised by various stakeholder groups. This study first developed and then tested a conceptual framework in order to understand relationships among the Organisational Pressures (i.e. external and internal), the Sustainability Management Control System (SMCS) and CSP, based on a large-scale questionnaire survey in Bangladesh. In total 255 responses were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to identify the major internal and external pressure behind CSP. In this study, International Retailers (IRs) and cost competitiveness emerged as the main triggers to improve CSP in Bangladesh. This is the first study which has investigated the mediating role of SMCS between organisational pressure and CSP. The results confirm the positive mediating effects of SMCS between external pressure and CSP. Drawing upon contingency theory, this study highlights the importance of having a dedicated SCMC as a strategic tool to improve CSP. This study has also utilised the Analytic Network Process (ANP) approach to develop a Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model to assess the performance of the RMG companies, based on their sustainability criteria. This study also demonstrates the application of a benchmarking model based on RMG companies‘ CSP

Total Factor Productivity and the Efficiency of Rice Farms in Bangladesh: a Farm Level Panel Data Comparison of the Pre- and Post-Market Reform Period

The market reform policy in agriculture and the trade liberalization during the early 1990s has led to structural changes in the agricultural sector of Bangladesh. The question of whether market reform policies in Bangladesh facilitated rice production is examined in this paper. This paper uses stochastic frontier production function to measure total factor productivity (TFP), technical change, and technical efficiency change covering the period of pre-market reform (1987) and post-market reform (2000 and 2004). To fulfill the objective, the study used panel data of 73 same farm households from a field survey of 1987–1988, 1999-2000 and 2003-04. It is evident from the study results that over time period (1987-2004), the TFP increased (31.76%) only due to upward shift in the technology. Technological change increased 59.99% in post reform period. However, although TFP increased substantial inefficiencies remain in Bangladesh rice sector. Technical efficiency change (-34.46%) developed negatively over the years of study at farm level. Market reform policy has negative impact on technical efficiency change but positive in technical change and TFP change although all are declining over the time period. Therefore, government policies need for further reform of domestic market and trade policies focusing on institutional changes, tariff and nontariff barriers in order to develop a competitive environment in rice sector.Farm Management,

The Value and Effectiveness of Feedback in Improving Students’ Learning and Professionalizing Teaching in Higher Education

There is a great importance of feedback in improving learning experience for the students. This has also significant effect in professionalizing teaching in the higher education level. However, feedback is considered as a difficult issue in this arena. Most of the lecturers are still continuing with the tradition form of feedback. This form of feedbacks often unable to satisfy the students in improving their learning experience. It is high time for the lecturers to re-think about the feedback providing process. They should avoid traditional way of proving feedback towards the students. This paper comes with some modern and technology based way of proving feedback which can eventually help students in improving student learning experience. This can also help in professionalizing the teaching of lecturers in higher education.

Innovative financing through pay-for-performance for providers to improve quality of care in Bangladesh: Transforming research into action

To improve access to and use of facility-based obstetric and newborn care, the Government of Bangladesh is implementing two innovative performance-based financing programs, namely demand-side financing (DSF) and pay-for-performance (P4P). With the purpose of identifying the lessons learned, limitations of the P4P and DSF models, and scopes for cross learning, a two-day workshop was organized in Dhaka. This workshop report, prepared by the Population Council, resulted in several recommendations to modify DSF and P4P schemes. In Bangladesh, the need for continuing performance-based financing programs to meet MDGs and other health indicators is beyond argument, but it is urgently required to decide in what capacity the performance-based financing program should continue. The government needs to prepare itself to continue performance-based incentive programs in pursuance of achieving the MDGs of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality

Technical efficiency changes at the farm-level: a panel data analysis of rice farms in Bangladesh

This paper examines technical efficiency changes at the farm-level for rice farms in Bangladesh over a 17 year period (1987 to 2004) using nationally representative panel data. Results from the stochastic production frontier analysis indicate that technical efficiency of the rice farmers has declined from 83% to 60% over this period due to a host of farm as well as socio-economic factors. Age, education, tenure status and involvement in off-farm work are factor negatively influencing technical efficiency while the relationship with farm size is positive. Under the current production technology and input use, 40% higher production could be reached by removing technical efficiency which is substantial. Policy recommendations include consolidation of land and strengthening of extension services

Innovative financing through pay-for-performance for providers to improve quality of care in Bangladesh: Transforming research into action

To improve access to, and use of, facility-based obstetric and newborn care services in rural areas, the Government of Bangladesh is implementing two innovative performance-based financing programs: demand-side financing (DSF) and pay-for-performance (P4P). Both programs have contributed to the increase in institutional deliveries, yet not enough women receive the recommended care during pregnancy and delivery. DSF and P4P are implemented in parallel and have their own merits and limitations. As described in this brief, a two-day workshop was organized in 2011 in Dhaka to identify the lessons learned and limitations of P4P and DSF models and scopes for cross-learning. Both DSF and P4P were found to have the same goal but differ in approaches and outcomes. The main difference is that P4P implements a “quality of care”-based incentive mechanism for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) care, which has the potential to improve monitoring of health-service delivery in rural areas of Bangladesh. The workshop resulted in several recommendations for modifying DSF and P4P schemes

A P4P model for increased utilization of maternal, newborn and child health services in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, maternal health programs are not yet reaching the desired level of facility-based obstetric care service. Most deliveries are conducted by untrained persons at home, demonstrating inequity in access to recommended maternal health care services and underutilization of existing obstetric and newborn care services. Suboptimal performance by providers is a key barrier to improving availability and quality of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services. To increase use of facility-based services, an operations research study of “pay-for-performance” (P4P) incentives for providers and subsidization of consumer costs was initiated in 2010. The study, part of the Government of Bangladesh–United Nations MNCH and maternal and newborn health projects, has been included as a human resource innovation project under the operational plan of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh. The Population Council provided technical assistance in implementing the study, with collaboration from James P. Grant School of Public Health of BRAC University. This policy brief describes the implementation of the P4P operations research study and its consequent implications for policymakers

Increasing dual protection among rickshaw pullers in Bangladesh

The main objective of this study, conducted in six urban clinics of Dhaka, Bangladesh was to increase contraceptive use among rickshaw pullers, with special emphasis on condom use. The study tested two strategies to increase access to family planning and reproductive health (RH) information and services: a) an educational campaign together with improved availability of condoms; and b) an educational campaign alone. Findings show that rickshaw pullers’ knowledge on contraceptive methods increased significantly in both the experimental sites compared to the control site. Use of any contraceptive method increased significantly in the experimental sites, and condom use increased significantly in site I. However, translation of acquired knowledge about condoms into changes in risky behaviors does not seem to have happened, as evidenced by the increase in extramarital sex across all groups. These findings provide some important guidance on reaching men with RH information and services, and the report offers recommendations for the scale-up efforts

Scaling up a reproductive health curriculum in youth training courses

The Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health (FRONTIERS) program, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Urban Family Health Partnership, and two nongovernmental service delivery partners, carried out the Global Youth project in northwestern Bangladesh from 1999–2003. The important lesson learned from that project was that reproductive health education could increase reproductive health knowledge in adolescents, particularly in areas related to reproductive biology, family planning, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, and AIDS. The population-based surveys further showed that contrary to common belief, reproductive health education does not increase sexual activity; instead it increases the use of condoms among sexually active youth, increases reproductive health knowledge, improves life skills, and positively changes the attitudes of the youth. Results also revealed that training of trainers and training materials, especially the transparencies, curriculum, and question boxes, enabled teachers to effectively impart reproductive health education. The study recommends further scaling up of this tested curriculum to other nonresidential training centers of the Department of Youth Development in order to ensure maximum utilization of limited resources, and makes several recommendations to guide these efforts

C-Terminal Domain of the Human Zinc Transporter hZnT8 Is Structurally Indistinguishable from Its Disease Risk Variant (R325W)

The human zinc transporter 8 (hZnT8) plays important roles in the storage of insulin in the secretory vesicles of pancreatic β cells. hZnT8 consists of a transmembrane domain, with its N- and C-termini protruding into the cytoplasm. Interestingly, the exchange of arginine to tryptophan at position 325 in the C-terminal domain (CTD) increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). In the present study, the CTDs of hZnT8 (the wild-type (WT) and its disease risk variant (R325W)) were expressed, purified, and characterized in their native forms by biophysical techniques. The data reveal that the CTDs form tetramers which are stabilized by zinc binding, and exhibit negligible differences in their secondary structure content and zinc-binding affinities in solution. These findings provide the basis for conducting further structural studies aimed at unravelling the molecular mechanism underlying the increased susceptibility to develop T2D, which is modulated by the disease risk variant