RELATIONSHIP COMMITMENT OF PREPAID AND POST-PAID SUBSCRIBERS OF A PRIVATE TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANY IN BANGLADESH By

This study intends to investigate the relationships of communication effectiveness, trust, technical quality, functional quality, and relationship commitment in the context of the prepaid and post-post subscribers of a major private telecommunication company of Bangladesh. It presents a critical appraisal of some important antecedents of subscribers ’ relationship commitment to the respective mobile service provider. Data were collected from 103 prepaid subscribers and 107 post-paid by using self-administered questionnaires. For prepaid subscribers, stepwise regression has showed that technical quality, communication effectiveness, and functional quality have statistically significant relationship with relationship commitment. However, stepwise regression for post-paid subscribers has showed that trust and technical quality have statistically significant relationship with relationship commitment. A clear understanding of important precursors of subscribers ' relationship commitment might induce the service provider(s) to germinate and strengthen subscribers ' relationship commitment to create a loyal customer bas

Remembrance

Remembrance puts celestial tints on the black and white of every day..

Performance Measurement that Affects SMEs Business Profits: Case Study of SMEs in Khon Kaen Province

This study aims to measure performance measurement related to business profi ts of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study was conducted by using self-administered questionnaires which were distributed to a sample group of 400 SME entrepreneursin Khon Kaen Province, in the north-eastern region of Thailand. The data was analyzed using SPSS, in regarding with chi-square test, and multinomial logistic regression. By using the multinomial logistic regression, it shows that this method is able to predict the performance measurements related to business net profi ts of SMEs with an accuracyof 51.3%. It was found that, there are two factors, time and fi nance, signifi cantly aff ecting business profi t based on the results of the multinomial logistic regression models. As a result, performance measurement related to business profi ts of SMEs shows that SMEsentrepreneurs should focus on time and fi nancial factors. It could aff ect business profi ts at a high net of 15% or more. It can be concluded that SMEs can obtain a higher possibility of net profi t if the performance measurement is taken into account in those businesses

University Student Loyalty Model: Structural Equation Modelling Of Student Loyalty in Autonomous, State, Transformed, and Private Universities in Bangkok

University student’s loyalty is a key factor that contributes to the long-term growth and survivability of the university through financial stability, increased enrolment, and better reputation. The objective of this research is to develop a comprehensive university student loyalty model that incorporates important constructs in a service quality dimension and a relationship quality dimension as well as image and reputation perception. The model is tested using the structural equation modelling approach. The multiple group analysis is conducted to compare the models across different types of university in Bangkok namely, autonomous, state, transformed (Rajabhat and Rajamangala), and private universities. This research collected data from more than 2,400 undergraduate students in the Bangkok Metropolitan area. The University Student Loyalty Model provides university administrators with an objective and practical guideline to formulate an appropriate strategy for their universities

An Analysis of Chinese Students’ Performance in IELTS Academic Writing.

This study aims at investigating the cohesion and coherence problems in EFL essay writing in terms of the second part of IELTS academic writing task. There are fifteen sample articles written by fifteen Chinese students who studied in BJ IELTS School in Beijing. These texts consist of 3 levels：band 5, band 6 and band 7 and the articles have an equal number in each level. The selected data were analyzed with Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) framework.The result of the study revealed that there were five major types of cohesive devices in these writings. It involved reference, ellipsis, substitution, conjunction and lexical cohesion. In terms of the frequencies of occurrences, reference was the highest, followed by conjunction and lexical cohesion, while substitution was the lowest among the five types of cohesive devices in the three levels. There were few ellipses appearing in the data.Moreover, the study highlights some of the cohesive problems found in writing. Those problems were misused，overused and mechanical use of conjunctions and reference, and lack of substitution devices due to a large number of repetitions appearing, as well as some cohesive problems were influenced by grammatical mistakes and inappropriate task response.The study suggests that EFL teachers and students should foreground the importance of cohesion and coherence in their text. In addition, they should not overemphasize the quantity of cohesion used but also focus on other factors such as task response, lexical resource and grammatical features

REINFORCEMENT OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION MANAGEMENT: A CASE IN SUPHANBURI PROVINCE

This qualitative research firstly aims to study the present situations and problems of community participation in education management in Suphanburi province. Secondly to capture lessons-learned from an achievement of prototype school in promoting community participation in education. And finally, to propose some guidelines to promote ‘community participation in education’ in the area. Target populations are education stakeholder consisting of school board committee, school directors, teachers, parents, and people in the research area. Data was collected by using in-depth interview and focus group discussion and was analyzed by technique of content analysis and constant comparison. The results found that the studied schools’ committee scarcely involved in education management because of their limited knowledge in education management and restriction in recruitment process. Based on the experience from prototype school; actual and sustain participation of the community could significantly encourage school committee to discover the education goals and principles of education management and allowed them to perform more effectively. Ultimately, the recommendations derived from the research are 1) Establish the awareness of responsibility on education within each community 2) Promote experiential learning to build up the competency in team-working 3) Adopt participation approach to be carried out in the entire process 4) Sustain the continuity in co-working or collaboration and 5) Develop the competencies and traits of the institutes’ administrators to be compatible with participatory approach

Academic Solidarity and Peace

Educators treat peace as a supreme universal value. The founding fathers of UNESCO had the merit of reflecting it in its Constitution, pointing out that peace must be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind. Building bridges for peace demands a great variety of activities for strengthening dialogue and trust and finding the best modalities for conflict resolution. Academic solidarity can bring its valuable contribution to making genuine peace a reality during the irreversible process of globalization. Academics should offer visions of positive alternatives and realistic solutions, as well as sound inspiration for strategies to deal with global issues and to combat planetary vulnerability. Education for peace is a responsible, humanistic process which aims to give peace a chance. There is a UNESCO Appeal to develop a worldwide Network called Global Mega University Net (GMUNET) to promote mutual understanding and academic solidarity and explore ways andmeans of cooperation between mega-universities. The university volunteers concept is based on the belief that through the very nature of their activities and endeavours academics are driven by the spirit of academic solidarity and are ready to contribute to finding solutions to global issues facing the world today. Universities are strongly invited to stand in academic solidarity with other academic institutions throughout the world, as well as in their own country. Programmes for peace education, conflict resolution, human rights and democracy, should be supported by academic institutions and by public and private donors. In the spirit of academic solidarity universities are invited to take specific action to support institutions of higher education in the least developed parts of the world and in regions suffering the effects of conflict or natural disasters. There are reasons to expect a strong display of academic solidarity after the tragic natural disasters in Asia on December 26, 2004. The assistance in the academic field demonstrates the power of human solidarity. European universities are expected to be more inclined to welcome students from the affected regions and to offer scholarships. In the medium and long term, this will cement both economic and cultural relationships. If solidarity and moral responsibility become the guiding light of academic cooperation, that would bring a direct contribution to the promotion of national, regional and universal peace. There is a legitimate hope that the concept opus solidaritatis pax (peace is the fruit of solidarity) will receive further visibility and tangibility in conformity with the aspirations of all peoples

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON STUDENTS’ SCORES THROUGH COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AND NON-COLLABORATIVE LEARNING AT SAINT JOSEPH BANGNA SCHOOL, THAILAND

In 1999, Thailand triggered some drastic changes and reforms by implementing the National Education Act (NEA). Accordingly, students were encouraged to become critical thinkers, and to acquire information technology knowledge based on the student-centred model. These reforms have socio-constructivist roots, promoting the use of collaborative learning, and the use of information technology. Almost fifteen years after the implementation of the NEA, the purpose of the current study was to examine if collaborative learning, for the computer science subject, would be beneficial for the grade seven Thai students of the English Program at Saint Joseph Bangna School or, as some research stated, it would be very hard to implement because of cultural hindrances. This study had three objectives. The first objective was to compare the difference among the pre-tests and post-tests scores of the experimental group who studied through collaborative learning. The second objective was to compare the difference among the pre-tests and post-tests scores of the control group who studied through non-collaborative learning. The last objective was to compare the difference among the post-tests scores of the experimental group who studied through collaborative learning with the control group who studied through non-collaborative learning. The pre-test and the post-test were the same, and consisted of 25 multiple choice questions based on a Microsoft Office Specialist certification test for the Microsoft Excel software. In conclusion, this study suggests that collaborative learning delivers better outcomes for Thai students for the computer science subject

Developmnent of a Model to Enhance Effective Change Management In Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study In Can Tho University, Vietnam

Change management (management of change), is known to be a significant model based on theories and practices from educational experts, educators, professors, school administrators and even scientists. Like other higher education institutions in Vietnam, Can Tho University (CTU) is a change management type organization. Its educational decentralization from the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training has allowed step-by-step management of change implementation but is not yet effective. And it is likely that CTU organizational change with participation of change agents really may need new ingredients. In this research a model is proposed to enhance the effectiveness of change management in a higher education institution, particularly in CTU, Can Tho City, South Vietnam: Where the change process has been implemented for about 10 years. This is in the context of wider change following on 30 years after the Vietnam War conclusion in 1975. Thus, the paper aims (1) to construct a hypothetical model for enhancing effective change management in universities, (2) to verify the model for enhancing effective change management in universities, and (3) to propose the model towards the effectiveness of change management in CTU, Vietnam. The findings of this paper utilized a mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) - through documents, email discussions, self-made questionnaires, structured interviews, and observations from the international experts (5 from Thailand, 5 from Asia and 5 from Europe and North America), CTU administrators (70), teachers (70), office staff (30) and students (30). The evaluation of the applicability of the model was judged by experts using a focus group of 11 members from CTU, Vietnam. In addition, there were descriptive reports and data collection that were analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation tools. The concepts brought forth and feasibility of this study could bring those interested in change management to have a better understanding regarding change management theories: Especially models implemented in higher education institutions around the world including CTU regarding ways of practicing change management. Moreover, it would be a useful reference for educational administrators and a strong impetus for researchers to engage in a comparative study among levels of education beyond ones borders in the regionally and globally sensitized educational environment

How Collaborative is Collaborative Group Work? A Case Study of Thai Undergraduate University Students’ Group Tasks

This study aims to investigate how students collaborate within the group while working on a group task and what the pattern of the students' collaboration is when Thai undergraduate students perform a task. The data of this research study were collected from 38 volunteer Science and Technology students who enrolled in an Academic English course at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi in Bangkok, Thailand. Two research instruments were employed in the present study. The memo notes were primarily used to recall students' collaboration. After analyzing the data gained from the memo notes, a semi-structured interview protocol was conducted to further probe any ambiguous or unclear points mentioned in the memos.  The findings revealed that students did collaborate while performing a group task as they helped one another to complete the task. Two patterns of collaboration were identified in this study. The first pattern is that students separate the task and each team member work on his/her own on the part he/she is responsible for. After that they come back to the group and work together to finish the assigned task. The second pattern is that students work together from the beginning to the end of the group task.