Vol 2 Issue 3 May 2015-June 2015

Abstract: Life is a blessing. One should strive to make it worth living, which is possible when the attitude of a person changes towards life in a positive manner. A positive attitude is something that everybody strives for, but this is something one has to imbibe, it cannot be bought. Positive thinking leads to better learning, followed by success and happiness. It is a strategy to deal with problems and to move towards success.  Everybody has a time when they do not have a positive attitude about themselves and their lives. Positive vibes can helps to cope more easily with the daily affairs of life. It brings optimism in life, and makes it easier to avoid worries and negative thinking. It is truly said- “Nothing changes until you change, everything changes once you change”. If one can adopt it as a way of life, it would bring productive changes in our lives which will be worth living.  Positive attitude shows the bright side of life and expect the best to happen. Humans perceive their life according to the circumstances. Success creates positivity and failure creates negativity in the attitude of people towards life .But this is not the end of the world. If one would look to a shining side of life, then life will glitter .This paper highlights as to how the positive change in an attitude of a person can do wonders and make their life beautiful.

Abstract: Economic development of a country largely depends on productivity of the entire population. Being almost half of the total population issue of women work force participation is important for economic development of any country. Social constraints and attitude inhibit the women's participation in productive activities and employment especially in developing countries. The waves of globalization are sweeping across the world and also in India. Major structural changes in industries and other professions are taking place. All these developments caused an increase in the women workforce participation all over the world and also in India. Women Work Force Participation has increased and increasing in the unorganized sector at a very high rate compared to the marginal increase in organized sector.  This paper makes an effort to understand the developments in the women workforce participation in India and related issues.

Abstract: Despite the apparent silence of librarians on the issue of conflict, conflict is alive in libraries as in other complex organisations. This study assesses the common causes of conflict and the types that can be identified among management and staff of the University of Cape Coast library. The study employed descriptive research design and used questionnaire to collect data from 64 respondents who were drawn from various sections and units of the library. The main results of the study were that conflict existed among staff and power struggle, communication barrier, and poor rewarding system are the major causes of conflict in this library. The types of conflict identified were interpersonal and intersectional and the management techniques mostly employed were accommodation, compromising and collaboration.

Abstract: This Research paper discusses the problems of language variation and grammatical changes in English. Language change has been the object of numerous researches and it is often applied for studying the nature of systematic variability. The author attempts to prove that the interest in language variation focuses mostly on differences that have some social significance.  A key term in the study of linguistic variation is the notion of linguistic variable. The paper gives insight into the  methodology  of  eliciting,  analyzing  and  evaluating  the  data  for  the  analysis  of  language variation  and  change.  Also some preliminary results are suggested explaining grammatical variation within the forms of nominal number.

Abstract:  Empowerment of women is the buzz word for all of us. We talk about it in public places and try to prove our inclination towards the issue. Everybody knows that a patriarchal setup has its impact on societal structures with ramifications in all spheres. Women which constitute about half of the population can’t be free from the evil impact of patriarchy. They are pushed to a closed setup deliberately to make them subservient to the men folk in every sphere of life. They are made to depend on men and for such dependence they are restricted to show up their inherent skills and capabilities. Given an open settings which allows them to flourish, women can accomplish the goals both personal and societal and prove their mantle. The present paper is an outcome of the empirical study conducted by the researcher for purpose of Ph.D. degree. The study was conducted in the district of Puri in Odisha to analyze the impact of SHGs on empowerment of women. The members of different SHGs, local elite and officials both Govt. and NGOs connected with this process were interviewed to collect data.

Abstract: There are at the moment issues that are cropping up in schools in Mauritius which are calling for the need to introduce counselling in schools. At the same time, some are claiming that teachers are best suited to provide counselling because they see students for a long period of time and given their knowledge of educational psychology, they can identify those students who might be in need of counselling. The aim of this paper is to explore the issue of teachers crossing the divide between teaching and counselling in secondary schools in Mauritius. Data has been collected from seven participants who participated in a Nominal Group Technique. Findings reveal that teachers do not easily picture themselves as counsellors. Yet the author proposed a series of actions which might help cross the divide between teaching and counselling and thus shift counselling from being ingressive to being egressive to teaching.

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to determine factors influencing a firm’s competitive advantage among supermarkets in Kenya.  Specifically the study sought; to determine the influence of product innovation, information technology, managerial capacity and relationship with suppliers on supermarkets’ competitive advantage. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population of the study was 89 staff at Nakummatt holdings limited divided into 9 senior managers, 13 line managers, 19 supervisors and 32 non-management staff. Stratified random sampling was used to a sample of 73 respondents. The strata representation was selected using the proportional allocation method. Tool for data collection was a standardized questionnaire. The study showed that product innovation, information technology, managerial capacity and relationships with suppliers have a direct positive influence on competitive advantage at Nakumatt Holdings Limited.

Abstract: This Research paper focus on need  of  the  hour  is  the  implementation  of  learner oriented autonomy  in  language classroom to have an effective and successful language learning situation. With this belief, the present paper seeks to throw light on the importance of learner autonomy, learner  centered  classroom  and  teacher  as  a  facilitator  in  language  learning environment.  This  paper  is  divided  into  three  different  sections  for  a  fruitful discussion.  The first section discusses the importance of learner autonomy within the context of language learning. The second section aims to focus on some crucial issues related to class rooms in Indian language learning context and their effect on language learners. This section also addresses some of the relevant issues which hamper an effective progress of language learning in India. They are: scanty classroom size, meager classroom infrastructure, learners with mixed ability, emphasis not on skills but grades (examination), not ability but availability (attendance). In the final section I intend to recommend learner autonomy as a panacea for bringing desirable result in language learning.  This  recommendation,  I  believe,  will  help  in  sorting  out  the language learning problems in India. 

Abstract: The main aim of this study is to investigate whether market reacts asymmetrically to the issuance of selected Sukuk in Malaysia for the period 2009-2011. 45 companies are selected and data on the date of issuance, issuers, issue size in million and tenors in years for each group are collected from the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and Bloomberg database. The study employs event study methodology using cumulative average abnormal return (CAAR) on all symmetric and asymmetric events of [0,0] 1-day, [-1,+1] 3-day, [-2, +2] 5-day, [-5,+5] 11-day, [-1,+2] 4-day, [-2,+1] 4-day, [-2,+5] 8-day, [-5,+2] 8-day, [-15,+5] 21-day, [-5,+30] 36-day, [-30,+60] 91-day, [-60,+30] 91-day and [-90,+15] 106-day based on the reaction of the FTSE Hijrah Shari’ah Index and Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIM) to the announcement of Sukuk issuance. The findings would be useful to Sukuk issuers and decision-makers to ensure the stability of the Islamic capital market and sustainable economic growth.

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to examine staff selection and retention processes currently in place at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Botswana and to find out ways in which the organisation could improve them. Another aim was to find out reasons for staff turnover at the IEC.  The methodology approach applied in this research was a hybrid one; entrepretivism philosophy, inductive approach, case study, survey and cross sectional time horizon. Quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used. The researcher used a questionnaire and a semi-structured face to face interview guide. The results of the study indicated that there is high staff turnover at the IEC which is caused by among others lack of staff progression, less competitive salaries, lack of recognition and too much workload. The results also revealed that reference checks and interviews are the two main selection processes used at the IEC. The principal conclusion was that there are several issues leading to high staff turnover at IEC. Another conclusion was that the staff selection and retention processes currently in place at the IEC do not assist much in the retention of staff over a long period of time and that there is need for new strategies to be put into place to address the situation. Time allocated to this research was very limited. A longitudinal research on a similar study is recommended. This study would be very useful not only to the IEC but any organisation which is interested in staff retention.

Abstract: This study is intended to find out the language attitudes of students in Hong Kong towards these three languages, and it is similar to the study which was carried out by Kwok in 2004. However, this study expands from Kwok’s study, which includes students’ language attitudes on Cantonese. Moreover, the respondents for this study are from two different universities, which are The City University of Hong Kong and The Open University of Hong Kong, as for Kwok’s study, the respondents do not have a restriction. Therefore, this study can find out students ‘opinions on language attitudes of Cantonese, English and Putonghua.

Abstract: This article aims at exploring how children, particularly in rural areas of West Bengal, an economically poor but culturally rich state of India, enjoy their lei¬sure with limited resources available to them. Broken bangles, tamarind seeds, old clothes and even hard covers of old notebooks become sports equipment and a source of enjoyment for them, especially for those who cannot afford buying expensive goods.