A survey of operations management practices in Islamic banks of Bangladesh

The establishment of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. in 1983 was the first step of Islamic banking system in Bangladesh towards achieving the vision of having an Islamic financial system operating side by side with the conventional interest -based system for nation’s socio-economic development goals. Operations Management is a set of activities that creates goods and services through the transformation of inputs into outputs. For Islamic banks, the inputs are the managers, employees, machines, and various facilities, whereas, the outputs are the various services such as Letter of Credit (LC), Mudharaba, Musharaka Contract, etc. The present research is undertaken to conduct a survey on Operations Management practices in various Islamic banks in Bangladesh. The survey involves 37 branches of five Islamic banks in Bangladesh. In particular, the survey focuses on operations strategy, process, technology, layout, location, supply chain, and quality management. The survey findings are expected to provide guidelines to the managers of Islamic banks in designing an effective Operations Management system

Determinants of corporate social responsibility practices in Bangladesh garment sector

The research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice has grown exponentially over the last few decades. However, further research is required to understand the CSR practice within a complex industry like garment Thus, the current study aims to investigate the determinants of CSR practice within the supply chain of the Bangladeshi garment sector. It is interesting to note that research on CSR has only recently focused on the social responsibility within supply chains due to the increasing operation of multinational companies (MNCs) in developing countries. While early studies examined CSR practise of large companies, only a handful of studies examined the determinants behind CSR practices, especially within the subsidiaries located in emerging economies. Although these studies have their own contributions in terms of identifying determinants, as well as re-examining the old determinants in different country contexts, they are limited in understanding how some particular determinants directly, and others indirectly mediate the relation between different determinants and CSR practices within the supply chains. Therefore, the current study argues that this is partly due to the fact that most previous studies are based on developed countries and used qualitative research methods. Hence, the researcher conducted a survey to understand the CSR practice within the supply chain of the garment industry in Bangladesh. The 'drop off and collect' survey administration techniques were selected as the method. The researcher collected 120 data and employed structural equation modelling with the help of SMART-PLS 3 software.The finding suggests that the level of CSR practice is improving. Furthermore, it has been observed that there is buyer pressure, media interest and government policy influence on CSR practice within the supply chains. Moreover, top management commitment (TMC) plays an important role in mediating the influence among the determinants

Agronomic Performance of Modern Rice Varieties in South-west Bangladesh

An experiment was carried out in Boro season during November 2018 to April 2019 at two farmer’s fields of Batiaghata and Dumuria sub-district under Khulna district of Bangladesh with the objective of testing agronomic status and adaptability of four modern rice varieties in comparison with the popular mega variety BRRI dhan28. The varieties were BRRI dhan67, BRRI dhan81, BRRI dhan84 and BRRI dhan86. BRRI dhan28 was chosen as a control due to its wide acceptability among the farmers. The soil of the studied area was moderately alkaline and medium to moderately saline. In Batiaghata and Dumuria field, initial soil EC was 3.19 and 3.29 dS/m, respectively and it was 4.7 and 4.8 dS/m, accordingly at maturity stage. It was observed that germination rate, plant height, effective tiller number were significantly higher in BRRI dhan67 than the other varieties but insignificant with BRRI dhan28 (p?0.05) for both fields. All the yield components spikelets per panicle, filled grain and 1000-grain weight were also significantly higher in BRRI dhan67 in compared to the other varieties but insignificant with BRRI dhan28 (p?0.05) for both fields as well. The highest grain yield was observed in BRRI dhan67 in both plots (7.89 and 7.29 t/ha) and showed significant differences among all other varieties (p?0.05). Harvest Index of BRRI dhan67 (51.02±4.2, 57.84±8.6)% indicated that this variety is the best yielder among the varieties. Considering overall performances and facts, BRRI dhan67 showed better agronomic performance and adaptation than the other modern varieties in compare with popular mega BRRI dhan28

Historical Development of Corporate Social Responsibility- A Review on Early Studies

In this twenty first century, the term corporate social responsibility briefly known as CSR is becomes the business strategy. Multinational corporations are paying much more attention to publicize their commitment towards CSR. However, none of the early research explores the historical development of CSR in literature. This study highlighted the debate of CSR followed by the literature development. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, History, Responsible Business, Strateg

Social Responsibility in Global Supply Chain: Research Trend from 1999 to 2014

The well know term of corporate social responsibility (CSR) or simply social responsibility for business organization refers to the concept where the companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their day to day business operations. The aim of this article is to observe the social responsibility research trend within global supply chain. Based on the review of prior literature, it is easy to say that the concept of CSR has received overwhelming attention by the professional and academia of all over the global. Even though, there is debate whether the companies have any responsibility for their supplier premises, more literatures are confirming that the business organizations are considering carefully the issues of CSR within supply chain. Since the concept of CSR covering enter arena of business, it is interesting to work on literature and discover the recent research trend on CSR study within supply chain. Current study has taken an initiative to determine the drivers that influence CSR practice within the supply chain based on literature review for sixteen years Finding suggests, there are drivers influences CSR practice within supply chain

Laboratory tests based strength evaluation of alluvial soil: A case study

This article represents an analysis of alluvial soil behaviour using laboratory tests where samples being collected from different parts of Khulna, Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a riverine country and 80% of soil in Bangladesh is alluvial. Especially, the Khulna region stands on the Gangetic alluvial soil track that poses a challenge to the foundation engineers. Determination of shear strength parameters comprising of cohesion (c) and internal friction angle (Φ) plays a vital role in soil mechanics. These parameters are often used in quantification of soil strength and thereby play an important role in designing the foundation. In this study, direct shear tests and triaxial tests have been conducted to investigate the shear strength parameters of alluvial soil. Four soil samples were collected from four distinct locations (Rupsha-22˚47’58.01” N, 89˚34’45.82” E; Boyra-22˚50’30.33” N, 89˚32’.63” E; Sonadanga-22˚49’7”.00” N, 89˚32’47.07” E; Fulbarigate 22˚53’56.90” N89˚32’47.07” E) of Khulna. Test results show a significant change in the value of the internal friction angle of the soil samples while its shear strength parameter is measured by a direct shear test compared to triaxial testing on the undisturbed specimen. Whereas, the discrepancy of results is less significant for samples in remoulded conditions. The disparity of shear strength results obtained by different test methods has been explained by analyzing soil sample structure at different states

Mediating Effect of BMI on the Association of Economic Status and Coexistence of Hypertension and Diabetes in Bangladesh: A Counterfactual Framework-based Weighting Approach

Background and Aims Non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes are matters of huge concern worldwide, with an increasing trend in prevalence over the previous decade. First of all, this study aimed to evaluate the association between economic status (ES) and body mass index (BMI), ES and comorbidity of hypertension and diabetes, and BMI and comorbidity independently. Second, it explored the mediating role of BMI in the association between ES and comorbidity of hypertension and diabetes. Finally, it investigated whether the mediating effect differs with the place of residence, gender, and education levels. Methods A total of 11,291 complete cases from the Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2017–18 were utilized for this study. Survey-based binary logistic regression or multiple logistic regression was used to find the association among outcome, exposure, and mediator variables, and a counterfactual framework-based weighting approach was utilized for mediation analysis. Results Middle-income (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.696, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.219, 2.360) and rich (AOR: 2.770, CI: 2.054, 3.736) respondents were more likely to have comorbidity of hypertension and diabetes compared to the poor. The odds of comorbidity increased with the increase in BMI. A positive association was observed between ES and BMI. A significant mediating role of BMI in the association between ES and comorbidity was found. We observed that 19.85% (95% CI: 11.50%, 49.6%) and 20.35% (95% CI: 14.9%, 29.3%) of total effect was mediated by BMI for middle and rich respondents, respectively, compared to the poor. Conclusions The mediating role of BMI was greater for female, no or primary educated respondents, and respondents from rural areas. Therefore, the study will facilitate policymakers of Bangladesh and other countries with a similar set-up to decide on health policies regarding hypertension and diabetes

A Conceptual Foundation for Blockchain Development: The Contribution of Ibn Khaldun

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has provided the potential answers for many real-world problems in this digital era. Blockchain is a topic of immense interest in various industries and academia in terms of discovering technology and identifying challenges and innovative practical implementation for the industry. This study deliberates the challenges that are of major concern in designing a Blockchain platform. In this context, the problems such as inefficient technology design, the criminal connection, scalability, energy consumption, privacy, regulation, security, lack of adequate skill sets, energy consumption and public perception are uncovered to be significant. Due to such challenges, the blockchain technologies have emitted a negative impression due to its inabilities to be effectively implemented while, at the same time, its advantages could not be fully reaped by its stakeholders. The aim of this study, hence, is to evaluate the blockchain initiatives and development in light of the eight foundations for economic development as propounded by Ibn Khaldun. Using Ibn Khaldun’s theory, each challenge is discussed and analyzed to find the answers and solutions for addressing and overcoming the afore-mentioned challenges