Exploring the perception of cognitive behaviour group therapy for older adults with depression and / or anxiety

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THE WAY FORWARD FOR BUSINESS INCUBATION PROCESS IN ICT INCUBATORS IN MALAYSIA

The development of ICT SMEs has been the top priority for Malaysia, in trying to achieve its aspirations to become a fully developed nation by the year 2020. The government has launched several initiatives to expedite the launch and growth of ICT SMEs including the establishing science parks, technology parks, and business incubators. This paper examines the critical components that are essential in a business incubation ecosystem. Six ICT incubator managers in Malaysia were interviewed and findings from the interviews revealed that although process of business incubation is evident in all incubators, there is a lack in consistency and implementation. This paper provides a managerial perspective of business incubation process in ICT incubators and the way forward for these incubators to become world-class ICT incubator

Gender integration in enterprise development programmes

Despite the intent for gender balanced development in their strategy and policy documents, donor-funded enterprise development programmes are still implicitly guided by the women in development (WID) approach that considers women as mere 'beneficiaries' of economic growth. This paper is based on data collected from enterprise development programmes that operate within the framework of Business Development Service (BDS) market development, women entrepreneurs associations and BDS providers in Bangladesh. The findings suggest that the current approach to addressing gender is often weak and without adequate strategic focus on how programmes could contribute to changing the wider picture of existing gender inequality. The paper concludes that instead of over emphasising the "cost-effectiveness" criterion that may exclude gender from programme interventions, enterprise development programmes should rather consider integrating gender as a matter of 'priority'. The important considerations should be the 'outreach', 'sustainability' and tangible 'impact' that such integration could make in attaining gender-balanced development. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Corporate social responsibility in multinational enterprises: A developing country study

This paper presents data on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Bangladesh. Based on interviews with senior managers responsible for CSR, the paper demonstrates that CSR engagement is predominantly guided by the discretionary notion of CSR, rooted in 'giving back to society' principle. Despite the global importance of climate change issue, a crucial issue for Bangladesh too, being environmentally responsible didn't seem as important as one might assume. The paper suggests that proactive consideration of climate change issues; capacity building of stakeholders and their effective participation in CSR and integration of CSR in business process may only make a fundamental and sustainable impact, which is hard to achieve following the current approach

Addressing gender in enterprise development programs: Current practices and a proposed approach

Enterprise development programs recognize 'gender' as a important cross-cutting issue. Strategy to address gender, however , is loosely defined with interpretations varying across agencies. Many such programs consider 'gender' more like an 'annex' rather than effectively addressing gender issues in the project design, with appropriate provisions for gender mainstreaming. In spite of the importance of research on the role of enterprise development initiatives implementing BDS market development approach to facilitating women's entrepreneurship and economic growth, the issue has not been adequately studied. Further, academic research with data from such programs is almost non-existent. This paper makes an attempt to address gender as a cross-cutting issue. It further builds on data of 120 male and female entrepreneurs and business development service providers. The paper argues that addressing genders should oftenbe a matter of 'choice' for impact, outreach and sustainability and not always ' cost effectiveness' of program interventions.E

Corporate social responsibility and sustainable development: A developing country study of businesses' attitude towards and perception of corporate social responsibility

This paper, based on data from thirty-two large businesses in Bangladesh, investigates if the various efforts taken to promote CSR have had any impact on local businesses' attitudes towards CSR and if those efforts have been able to change their perceptions as to the important considerations of CSR practices which could meaningfully contribute to sustainable development. The study confirms that businesses have a positive attitude towards CSR which has improved quite considerably in recent years. Philanthropic and charitable contributions seem to be the most important determinants of CSR while environmental performance is thought to be the least important determinant, as revealed by perception data. Although philanthropy certainly has a role in developing countries, this paper emphasizes on the need to revisit strategies and intervention to promote CSR so that they are able to generate interest among businesses to consider other CSR initiatives, along with philanthropy-based CSR, that could meaningfully contribute to sustainable development

Third-generation Business Incubation Practices in Malaysian ICT Incubators - A Bridge Too Far?

Business incubation is an economic development tool that is widely used to stimulate the growth of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The Malaysian government in line with the country’s aspirations to become a developed nation by the year 2020, has established its own incubation programs to catalyze the growth of ICT SMEs. This paper examines four constructs of the business incubation process: Selection Performance, Monitoring and Business Assistance Intensity, Resource Allocation and Professional Management Services. A total of 118 incubatees from ICT incubators in Malaysia responded to an online survey questionnaire. Principal component analysis and multinomial logistic regression analysis were used to determine the components of business incubation process and test their relationships with Business Incubation Performance. Results show that all four constructs and their respective components are significant predictors of Business Incubation Performance. The findings provide valuable information for policy makers, business incubator managers, and potential incubatees regarding better incubation management practices thus driving incubator development towards best practice, third generation incubators