American Journal of Trade and Policy
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Factors Influencing the Earning Capacity of NCBs in Bangladesh: An Evaluation
Get PDFRecently, Bangladesh economy has been experiencing a rapid growth in most of the sectors of economic activities. For the attainment of higher levels of economic development, Bangladesh is trying to achieve and maintain high rates of economic growth. Economic development and the development of banking sector are closely related. The banks especially state-owned commercial banks have been playing significant role to the development process. The state-owned commercial bank makes the profit through banking business. But there are some factors those influence the profit volume of state-owned commercial banks. The objective of the study is to identify those influencing factors and examine the opinions of the respondents regarding the factors. It is also attempted to see whether there is any significant difference of opinions among the respondents regarding various influencing factors of profit volume using null hypotheses, χ2 test and ANOVA test. It is found that the identified factors include attitude of government, maintenance of privacy, proper control, efficiency of management, conflict in management, creativity and innovation and job satisfaction. The study also revealed that the respondents are unanimous regarding the various influencing factors of profit volume
Most Anti-Corruption Programs Have Lacked Key Components
Get PDFThe five field studies reported here and published research examined successful and unsuccessful anti-corruption programs, and the processes of corruption in Africa and Central America. They found most Third World governments\u27 anti-corruption programs have lacked the appropriate mix of strategies and exercises needed to build new behaviors to overcome the core problem of a culture of corruption, or the hysteresis effect. The five studies led to development and testing of a model anti-corruption program. Test of the model program showed it could be assimilated by participants who lacked advanced education, and they could achieve an initial operational competence in a relatively brief period of training. The authors’ five field studies found eight (8) components were necessary for successful anti-corruption programs, and these findings were bolstered by the published research of others that was empirically based. The eight components are: (1) the actual and visible support of the head of government or C.E.O., (2) behavior modification training for civil servants to build informal social controls and internalize negative reactions to corruption, (3) a public component to build public support and social conscientiousness, (4) a degree of career security for civil servants, (5) laws and formal structures, such as criminal statutes, ethics code, transparency, audit, legislative incentives such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, other official and independent oversight, (6) exercises and follow up to operationalize new behaviors and feedback, (7) reduction and streamlining of government licensing and regulation of the economy, and (8) training to build new sensitivities to mission, professionalism, fiduciary duty, and peer group responsibility. The model program developed and tested included skill building, group exercises, role-playing, cohort projects, and practice scripts.
 
Digital Transformation of the High-Technology Manufacturing: An Overview of Main Blockades
Get PDFQuality of life is linked to a country\u27s or region\u27s economic progress. Recent academic research has found that the pace of digitalization of the economy and society is similar. Despite this, there is evidence of low digital/advanced manufacturing technology adoption preparedness across economic sectors, despite government assistance and senior manager strategic orientation. The research aims to measure industry and organizational readiness for digital/advanced manufacturing technology adoption. An expert poll conducted by the author’s revealed low industrial readiness for digital/advanced manufacturing technology. As a result, the research focuses on identifying organizational digital transformation hurdles. An examination of academic literature and digital maturity assessment frameworks revealed a paucity of criteria for evaluating barriers. The project seeks to establish a method for evaluating digital transformation barriers. A questionnaire developed using analytical research measures an overall digital-transformation barrier level for a manufacturing firm and identifies issue areas. The power engineering company has a lower barrier level, which aligns with the engine construction and turbine engineering industries\u27 higher degrees of readiness to use digital technology. This finding validates the author\u27s method\u27s reasonableness.
 
Internationalization of Bangladeshi Banks: What Can We Learn?
Get PDFInternationalization of banking institutions has been more evident to a greater extent recently due to the advancement of technology and global inter-connectedness. As the ‘engine of economic growth,’ banks are the dominant players in Bangladesh financial market. Due to intense competition and quick saturation of the domestic market, banks in Bangladesh are tending to move towards the international market. This research aims to explore the nature and challenges of international banking practices in Bangladesh banking sector, and also to develop the relevant policy perspectives. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to survey top level management of 41 out of total 56 scheduled banks operating in Bangladesh during May 2015. Analyzing the survey, the study finds that Bangladeshi banks do not follow the usual internationalization path, tends to more cost-intensive mode, are in the defensive approach of internationalization, and face several challenges and deficiencies in their current international banking practices. This paper contributes to existing literature by being the first exploring the facet of bank internationalization in Bangladesh and generating new insights for better bank regulation.
JEL Classification: M16, M20, N20, F23, G20, L10
 
Factors Influencing Customers\u27 Purchase Intention towards Local Clothing Brands in Bangladesh
Get PDFThis study is an attempt to determine the factors influencing customers to purchase local clothing brands. Data was collected through self-administered questionnaire. Total 350 respondents from specific geographical areas (Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet) have been selected to conduct the study. Cross tabulation was used for the analysis of collected data under the support of IBM SPSS 16. The study addressed some important features regarding choice of clothes. The findings indicate that quality is the first priority among all the factors for preferring local brands. Promotional activities have more influence on male customers instead of female customers. Other factors like variation, reasonable price and scope for change are less important factors for the adult buyers.
 
Towards the Sustainable Development by 2020: Malaysia Perspective on Economic Growth and Wellbeing
Get PDFThis paper has prioritizes on the impact of national growth on wellbeing. This is a review paper that contributes to define the 14 components of Malaysia Wellbeing Index (MWI, 2012) and its relation to country’s economic growth (the Gross Domestic Products (GSP)). The aim is to introduce and analyze the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP), the 11th Malaysia plan Strategic Thrusts, achievement from macroeconomic indicators, average monthly incomes, Malaysia Wellbeing Index, and the sustainability by 2020. The findings are of a great value to both theory and practice and have important implications for the country growth. Furthermore, the paper argues that although MWI projected to increase about 1.7% per year with estimated growth of 5-6% every year from 2016-2020, some challenges are expected to undermine the target set by Economic Planning Unit (EPU) if not given a proper attention. Furthermore, the study shared few wellbeing indicators that used internationally, which only concerned about material aspects and outcomes without looking into the spiritual part of wellbeing. This paper concludes with possibilities for future study to consider the importance of spiritual aspect in the wellbeing index.
 
Global Climate Change and Its Impact on Agriculture Sector in Pakistan
Get PDFImpact of global climate change on the agriculture sector of Pakistan is estimated in Pakistan. Agriculture is considered as the backbone of Pakistan economy because more 60% population is directly involved with this profession. Due to rapid industrialization the temperature level is increasing, which is harmful for agriculture crops and also for people. The objective of this research paper is to explore the impact of the global warming at agriculture sector of Pakistan and to measure climate impact on the agriculture sector in future. Times series dataset from 1974 to 2013 is used to analyze the impact. Agriculture value added annual growth rate is used as dependent variable. Carbon oxide emission, agriculture methane emission, agriculture nitrous oxide emission, greenhouse gas emission and population density are used as explanatory variables. Auto regressive distributed lag model is used as statistical technique to analyze the dataset. The result shows that the variables have significant impact on the agriculture sector of Pakistan. Auto regressive distributed lag model presents the existence of the short run and long run relationship between the dependent and independent variables. In a policy recommendation government try to reduce the warming through control on industrialization.
 
Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Stakeholders’ Awareness: Case of Ethiopia
Get PDFThe main aim of this review is to explore the corporate social responsibility practices and stakeholders’ awareness about firms’ CSR in Ethiopia. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) came into existence to show the responsibilities that the business should take from the shoulders of the government and the NGOs particularly in developing nations. Since the living standard of the society is low in emerging economies, the CSR expected from business firm is much higher than it is used to be in advanced economy. Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries and thus, the involvement of private sector is very crucial since government does not fulfill all needs of the society. In one way or another, businesses are economic entities that have the ability to change corporate social responsibility activities into business opportunities. Several studies suggest that companies may receive external benefits from implementing CSR policies. However, the success of practicing CSRs depends upon the level of stakeholders’ awareness. Specifically, in conducting the survey the reviewer was motivated by the following research questions which constitute the objectives of the article: (1) where do firms in Ethiopia categorized in the Carroll’s 1991 pyramid; and (2) what was the level of awareness of different stakeholders in the country. Therefore, this review explores the CSR practices of firms and the level of stakeholders’ awareness about the concept in Ethiopia. The paper employed qualitative research approach by reviewing 16 research articles which address CSR policies of firms in Ethiopia. The finding shows, the most important stakeholder considered by firms are customers which contribute to profitability. This shows the fact that firms in Ethiopia are in the lower-level of Carroll’s CSR pyramid: economic responsibility. Furthermore, the level of stakeholders’ awareness regarding the firms’ CSR practice in Ethiopia is low. To summarize, corporate social responsibility practice in Ethiopia is at its infancy stage and thus, need much more improvement from both firms and the government.
 
Security and Privacy in Cloud Computing: Challenges and Opportunities
Get PDFICT advancements have made cloud computing popular and successful. Cloud computing lets corporate users relocate and utilize the pay-as-you-go price model\u27s scalability. However, outsourcing data and business applications to the Cloud or a third party creates security and privacy concerns, which are crucial to cloud adoption. Researchers and impacted organizations have offered several security measures to address security issues in the literature. Cloud computing security and privacy are extensively covered in the literature. Unfortunately, literature efforts lack flexibility in mitigating numerous threats without contradicting cloud security aims. The literature has also focused on security and privacy issues and has yet to give technical solutions. Research on technical remedies to security concerns has yet to explain their origins. This paper introduces security and privacy challenges that require adaptive solutions without compromising cloud security. This research evaluates the literature, including its adaptability to future threats and how cloud security conflicts have invalidated their models. The essay uses STRIDE to highlight cloud computing security issues from a user perspective. It also analyses literature-based inefficient solutions and recommends secure, adaptive cloud environments
Marketing Efficiency and Value Chain Analysis: The Case of Garlic Crop in Bangladesh
Get PDFGarlic is a highly profitable crop and is largely used both in medicinal and culinary purposes. The study was undertaken to determine marketing system, marketing cost, marketing margin, marketing efficiencies and to examine the value chain of garlic aiming to determine the value addition in different steps of garlic marketing. A purposive and simple randomized sampling procedure was used in selecting primary data. Marketing margin, profit, efficiency ratio, value addition etc. were calculated by different relevant equations and formulas. Four major marketing channels were identified for domestic produced garlic marketing. Channel-3 was the most important supply chain through which 40% domestic produced garlic reaches to consumers. Marketing margin and profit were the highest in retailer than those of other intermediaries. Out of four marketing channel, Channel-2 was more efficient than those of other channels. Six actors like; farmer, local trader, trader, commission agent, wholesaler, retailer and consumer are identified who are involved in the garlic value chain activities. Retailer added highest amount of value per unit of garlic and that of the lowest in wholesaler. Eleven marketing problem were identified, among them price fluctuation, high transport cost and lack of loan facilities were the major problem. It is therefore, recommended that Government intervention is urgent necessary to stabilize the price of garlic, loan facilities should be provided to the intermediaries and transportation cost should be kept reasonable.