Womens Suffrage and the Seneca Falls Convention

The Seneca Falls Convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Many individuals cite this convention as  the beginning of the womens movement in America. However, the idea for the convention came about at another protest meeting: the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention  held in London. At that convention, the female delegates were not allowed to participate in the debates. Lucretia Mott wrote in her diary that even though the convention was titled a World convention, that was mere poetical license. She had accompanied her husband to London, but had to sit behind a partition with other ladies such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They took a dim view of their treatment, or rather mistreatment, and the idea of a womens convention was born. The Declaration of Sentiments In the interim between the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention and the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed the Declaration of Sentiments, a document declaring the rights of women modeled on the Declaration of Independence. It is worth noting that upon showing her Declaration to her husband, Mr. Stanton was less than pleased. He stated that if she read the Declaration at the Seneca Falls Convention, he would leave town. The Declaration of Sentiments contained several resolutions including ones that stated a man should not withhold a womans rights, take her property, or refuse to allow her to vote. The 300 participants spent July 19th and 20th arguing, refining and voting on the Declaration. Most of the resolutions received unanimous support. However, the right to vote had many dissenters including one very prominent figure, Lucretia Mott. Reaction to the Convention The convention was treated with scorn from all corners. The press and religious leaders denounced the happenings at Seneca Falls. However, a positive report was printed at the office of The North Star, Frederick Douglass newspaper. As the article in that newspaper stated, [T]here can be no reason in the world for denying to woman the exercise of the elective franchise....   Many leaders of the Womens Movement were also leaders in the Abolitionist Movement and vice-versa. However, the two movements while occurring at approximately the same time were in fact very different. While the abolitionist movement was fighting a tradition of tyranny against the African-American, the womens movement was fighting a tradition of protection. Many men and women felt that each sex had its own place in the world. Women were to be protected from such things as voting and politics. The difference between the two movements is emphasized by the fact that it took women 50 more years to achieve suffrage than it did African-American men.

The, Where Am Calling From `` And What We Talk About Love

Raymond Carver was one of the most dominant American authors of short stories. Carver was born in the state of Oregon on May 25, 1938. In an interview Carver recalled himself as a boy telling stories. At a time in Carver’s life he suffered from alcoholism and tried very hard to let go of his addiction. However, alcohol plays a contradictory role in Raymond Carver’s short stories. The characters use alcohol to form social bonds, as a social lubricant which allows them to interact with other characters and also the apprehension of death experienced by some characters. In the following stories which will be discussed are as follow: â€Å"Cathedral†, â€Å"Where Am Calling From† And â€Å"What We Talk about When We Talk about Love†. The concept of impermanence of life and love are discussed in these stories. However, in some of the stories alcohol allows these characters to truly express themselves and to speak and perform activities they would have never been able to do. The contrasts and perspectives of using alcohol, can have negative impacts on the characters’ lives and also define their moral values. While, alcohol acts as a socializing figure it allows the characters to unite with one another through stories, tends to create anxiety, stress and between dear ones and furthermore, separate them by breaking up the social bonds. Furthermore, Cathedral denotes alcohol not as a negative force but as a positive way. In the means of uniting the strangers and in the eventsShow MoreRelatedThe Passage From Revelations 21 : 1-7 Talks About A New Earth And How The Old Will Pass Away1231 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction The passage from Revelations 21:1-7 talks about a new heaven and a new earth and how the old will pass away. The author of the Book of Revelations is describing a voice that says, â€Å"Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and he will be his people and God himself will always be with them. 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Twitter Case Analysis Free Essays

To the average technologically advanced American, Twitter is one of the most visited social media sites. From a popularity contest standpoint, Twitter would be amongst the top winners; however, when evaluating Twitter from a business analytical aspect it might not be a lucrative business venture. The attractive attribute to Twitter Inc. We will write a custom essay sample on Twitter Case Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now is the fact the sites does not make any of its users pay. Twitter is designed to allow users to voice multiple thoughts, ideas, or share different information amongst the site’s visitor. Unlike Facebook, Twitters does not have multi-million dollar corporations using the site on a regular basis to market more potential users. Therefore, with a low revenue base and poor strategic development implementation plan it’s going to be hard for Twitter Inc. to grow into a lucrative corporate investment. From a consultant standpoint, many business analyses would characterize Twitter Inc. as a â€Å"dog†. A dog is considered to be a man’s best friend, however form a business outlook it could be the indication that a business is in their final stages of existence. When a product is evaluated as being a dog most business experts would describe the company as have a low or staggered growth rate and yielding no profits. Twitter has documented that it does not have enough money many times to meet the site’s operation cost. Many experts believe that Twitter needs to expand the company in order to see some financial gain. The only problem with expanding the company is most investors need some form of a positive indicator that they are going to get their money back along with interest. From an explicit view, why should money be invested in Twitter? Read also Twitter Case Study Nearly every expert has come to the same conclusion that a social media site is a risky investment. Primarily, this investment is risky because consumer taste change, and social media sites has a previous trend of not being in existence more than five to seven years. Twitter consumer base is narrow, and the differentiation of the market sector would just add the list of difficulties the company is currently trying to solve. Twitter has been segmented since the creation of the company; they tend to have a consumer base in the age group of 13 to 35 years of age. The age group of 13 to 35 tend to spend the most money, owever this consumer base taste tend to be very inconsistent. Twitter is experiencing a maturity phase. In the maturity phase, there is little growth and the profit margin has reached its highest peak. If present circumstances are any forecast of the future, Twitter Inc. is in the early portion of the declining stage. In the declining stage there is no growth and the compa ny spread sheet starts to show the company in operating in the red or negative. My recommendation for Twitter is quite simple. Twitter Inc. needs to restructure their company and marketing scheme. They need to market the site for corporations to think it is worth the investment to advertise. Twitter need to find sponsors to give financial support to a new site design, better advertisement, and also creating partnerships. Twitter Inc. needs to reposition itself to look more like a corporate media site and not a site for teens to release trash gossip. In the segmentation of the market, Twitter should segment the market for mature users and teens. In the segmentation they may have one side that focus on corporate sponsors and the other side should focus on alternative financial support. Additionally, it would be interesting to experiment with the merging of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. All of these social media sites would cover the different segmentation of the market, which would give them the advantages of reaching from the youngest to oldest of users. These social media sites would allow users to upload thoughts, ideas, statements, and pictures to a single site. From a financial standpoint, there would be a large revenue base because of advertisement and sponsors trying to penetrate this lucrative market. Contrastingly, the only set back is the division of power and how would the profits be allocated in the new company corporate structure. Twitter has the fundamental basis of being an enjoyable, yet profitable company to own. However, Twitter needs to start making decisions that promotes growth and look to attract corporations to advertise on their site. Its time for Twitter to move on the matrix from a â€Å"dog† to a â€Å"cash cow†, and they will find there balance sheets doing more than breaking even. The segmentation and differentiation of markets will also help them find various area of potential success. How to cite Twitter Case Analysis, Papers

Common Source Bias Spurious Relationships â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Common Source Bias Spurious Relationships? Answer: Introduction Merit pay is recognized as one of the most frequently used ways for paying to the organisational employees in respect with their individual performance level. The key objective of a merit pay plan is to have an interconnection to the employees performances in such a way that it is consistent with the organisational goal and mission. There are two specific conditions that are mandatory for merit pay plan i.e. some sort of variations in the performances of the employees which measurable in nature and must also be measured. Secondly, the organisational managers must offer with adequate tools for determining the appropriate recognition and rewards (Gerhart and Fang, 2014). The paper will highlight the various perceptual problems and biases associated with the merit pay plan and the ways in which the performance evaluation and success of the merit pay plan can be improved. Merit Pay Plan: Perceptual problems and biases and ways to improve performance evaluation The merit pay is a specific approach to compensation that is used for the purpose of rewarding the higher performing employees with incentive pay and additional pay. There are both several advantages as well as disadvantages associated with implementing merit pay plan in the organisations. The best use of these merit pay plans is for improving the retention rate of the employees as well as to motivate them to work harder and retain in the organisation for a longer period of time (Nyberg, Pieper and Trevor, 2016). There are number of perceptual problems as well as bias related issued which are associated with the merit pay plans that results in negative implications for the organisations of taking use of these merit pay plans. There are several perceptual problems such as stereotype, halo effect, selective perception and contrast effects. In the merit pay plan, there is a key role of these perceptual problems such as in the stereotype factor, the managers used to analyse and evaluate the performance of the employees by having a perception of the group in which that individual belongs. Thus, there are extreme chances that the merit pays of the employees can diverse and they might be offered an incorrect pay as they are not analysed in an adequate manner (Den Ouden, Kok and De Lange, 2012). The employees who are might be hard working and have performed well are not offered incentives because of the perception the managers have developed for them because of their group belongingness and thus it results in de-motivation of the employees (Meier and OToole, 2012). The second perceptual problem is the halo effect as per which the managers develop an impression or perception of an individual just on the grounds of a unique or single characteristic. The most negative aspect of this perceptual factor which gives rise to number of issues is that the managers tend to avoid all other factor and good characteristics of the employees and evaluate their performance only on the basis of that single aspect. This can be explained as when the managers evaluate the performance of an individual from the way the person communicate and if he is not found to be confident then there develops a perception that the performance of the employee is not good. Thus, such halo effect is one of the major perceptual errors which take place while rewarding the employees (Johnson, et al., 2013). Other perceptual errors include selective perception and contrast effects. On the basis of selective perception, the organisational managers used to evaluate the performance of the i ndividuals on the basis of their own interest, attitude, experience and background rather than evaluating the performance on organisational standards. Thus, it develops a strong negative impact on the employees as they tend to loose faith in the organisation as well as in the reward and merit pays (Hilbert, 2012). The next is contrast effect where the managers evaluate performances of the employees in comparison with the performances that have been recently analysed as lower performers or higher performers. This is also a problem as it is not adequate to compare an individual performance on those characteristics as it can give a diverse result and may also reward a less competent person with higher incentives and pays (Deco, et al., 2013). There are certain biases also which have a direct influence on the merit pay plan of the organisation. At the time of decision making by the managers regarding the rewards and incentives to be offered to the employees such biasness occurred and influence the decisions of the managers. The biases are called as cognitive biasness that are of majorly six types i.e. memory based biases, statistical based biases, confidence based biases, adjustment, presentation and situation abased biases. On the basis of these biases there are various which the employees also tend to influence the managers for getting higher incentives and rewards (Rolls, Grabenhorst and Deco, 2010). The presence of biasness in the decisions of the managers impact the employees in the most de-motivating way which increases the workplace place disturbance and influence the employees to leave the organisation due to inequitable behaviour and distribution of incentives and merit pays. Thus, because of presence of all these perceptual errors and biases there is ineffective and less competent merit pay plan in the organisations (Hensher, 2010). To improve the performance evaluations as well as the success of the various merit pay plans in the organizations, there are certain ways and recommendations which the organisations are required to effectively follow and implement. The first and the foremost step is to develop a more clear goal and vision statement of the merit pay plan which should be motivating for the employees to have improved outcome and enhanced efficiency could be seen in their work (Shields, et al., 2015). The second step is that the managers must adequately measure the competencies and the results. The results can be measured through analysing the profit and sales seek by the organisation by the efforts of the employee and the competencies can be evaluating factor such as communication, initiative and teamwork (Prowse and Prowse, 2010). The next way to improve the performance evaluation is to enhance the level of transparency as the decisions and the grounds of decisions regarding pay and incentives must be clear in front of all the employees. The merit pay plan is also required to be simple rather than complicated so that the employees can easily understand their individuals results and performances. It is also recommended atht there must be involvement of the teams which developing a framework or metrics for analysing the performances of the individuals (Bowman, 2010). It is also essential that there must be a self-appraisal program where the employees themselves can judge and evaluate their performances as well as the associate positive and negative points so that they can agree on the pays offered to them. All these ways will improve the performance evaluation of the employees as well as also increase the success of the merit pay plans in the organisations (Boachie-Mensah and Dogbe, 2011). Conclusion The paper concludes that there is a vital role of merit pay plans in increasing the motivation and retention of the employees as they offer incentives and additional pays to the employees in respect with their higher performances which boost their morale to work harder and with utmost efficiency. But there are several perceptual errors and biases which negatively impacts these merit pay plans and develops a negative thought process for the employees which force them to leave the organisation. Thus, there is an essential that the merit pays must be completely free from these perceptual errors and biases so atht there can be an equitable workplace environment where all the employees are treated and rewarded in an adequate manner. Thus, to improve the performance evaluation as well as to attain success of the merit pay plan is it is necessary that the organisational managers must follow and implement the ways and recommendations offered in the paper. References Boachie-Mensah, F., Dogbe, O. D. (2011). Performance-Based pay as a motivational tool for achieving organisational performance: an exploratory case study.International Journal of Business and Management,6(12), 270. Bowman, J. S. (2010). The success of failure: the paradox of performance pay.Review of Public Personnel Administration,30(1), 70-88. Deco, G., Rolls, E. T., Albantakis, L., Romo, R. (2013). Brain mechanisms for perceptual and reward-related decision-making.Progress in Neurobiology,103, 194-213. Den Ouden, H. E., Kok, P., De Lange, F. P. (2012). How prediction errors shape perception, attention, and motivation.Frontiers in psychology,3. Gerhart, B., Fang, M. (2014). Pay for (individual) performance: Issues, claims, evidence and the role of sorting effects.Human Resource Management Review,24(1), 41-52. Hensher, D. A. (2010). Hypothetical bias, choice experiments and willingness to pay.Transportation Research Part B: Methodological,44(6), 735-752. Hilbert, M. (2012). Toward a synthesis of cognitive biases: how noisy information processing can bias human decision making.Psychological bulletin,138(2), 211. Johnson, D. D., Blumstein, D. T., Fowler, J. H., Haselton, M. G. (2013). The evolution of error: Error management, cognitive constraints, and adaptive decision-making biases.Trends in ecology evolution,28(8), 474-481. Meier, K. J., OToole, L. J. (2012). Subjective organizational performance and measurement error: Common source bias and spurious relationships.Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory,23(2), 429-456. Nyberg, A. J., Pieper, J. R., Trevor, C. O. (2016). Pay-for-performances effect on future employee performance: Integrating psychological and economic principles toward a contingency perspective.Journal of Management,42(7), 1753-1783. Prowse, P., Prowse, J. (2010). The dilemma of performance appraisal. InBusiness Performance Measurement and Management(pp. 195-206). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Rolls, E. T., Grabenhorst, F., Deco, G. (2010). Decision-making, errors, and confidence in the brain.Journal of neurophysiology,104(5), 2359-2374. Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P., ... Plimmer, G. (2015).Managing Employee Performance Reward: Concepts, Practices, Strategies. Cambridge University Press.

Know Why You Believe Essays - Christian Philosophy,

Know Why You Believe Paul E. Little Book Critique This book was a very well balanced look at one of the greatest problems with the Church today; the fact that most Christians know that they believe... but they don't know why they believe. It covered topics such as is there a God? Did Christ really rise from the dead? Is the Bible God's holy word? If God loves us so much, then why does he allow suffering and evil? And the mother taboo of them all, Is this whole thing even rational? Little takes on some of the most undesirable subjects in Christianity. More importantly he not only exposes them for the fallacies which they are but also shows us why we should believe, that God is God and their is no other, that Christ rose from the dead and paid for our sins, that God's word is holy and eternal, that God loves us so much that he gave us the right to obey or disobey him and had we obeyed him there would be no suffering or evil, and that God's ways are indeed above mans ways and why a lot of this may not make sense to him it is not irrational or illogical that there is a God and he loves us. It's not so much that we can't believe, but that we don't want to believe. This book is a shot right between the eyes to all the silent doubts that have plagued the Church and it's teaching for so many years. Its not enough for us to simply show up for church anymore, but know why were their. That's what has been wrong with the church for so many years, the world looks at us and asks us "how can you worship a God, that allowed my baby to be born blind" or "you can't see God or touch or hear him, why then do you believe in him?" or how do you know that Christ rose from the dead, where you there?" And many other questions that challenge our beliefs. The church has heard these questions for many years and has given them the same answers for many years. "according to the word of God..." "In my personal walk with God, I have found..." The same answers were given to us when we asked these questions, they made sense to us and we believed. However the world still says that these answers are unsatisfactory and that they don't make sense to them. If they believed in your God then they would believe in his word and would believe in your walk with him. But they don't believe in any of that. And we allow that to bother us, we don't understand why we believe and why they don't. But we've never stopped and thought that maybe when we heard these answers we wanted to believe. We wanted to have some justification for our faith. And when the world hears these answers it's not that they don't make sense to them, it's that they don't want it to make sense to them. This book is a great help in understanding that. If they acknowledge that your God is real, then they must acknowledge that they are living in sin. To allot of people this is the true problem and the real reason why they won't believe. This insight is vital to understanding that what you believe is indeed the eternal truth of God and that that the world refuses to acknowledge God because it means that they must acknowledge their sin. This book takes a very accurate look at this. This was a very open look at the rational of faith it was very biblically sound making full use of the scripture and also of personal experience. I would highly recommend it to any Christian that has ever wondered " what if ". I found this book to be fair and open about some of the most ignored issues in the Christian walk. In my personal life I was introduced to Christianity through my mother. In my house my mothers word was law and if she said to pray to god then you prayed to God, and didn't stop until she said it

Communist Russia essays

Communist Russia essays In the past Russia has been a communist society. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the society strived to become more advanced and more Western. After the collapse, the people had optimistic expectations. They believed that there would be a short transition period, a rise of a normal/civil society and that Russia would replace the Soviet Union as a great power. This did not happen. In fact, there were many difficulties that they are slowly overcoming. An event that, in my opinion, has encouraged a step in the right direction is the 1996 presidential election. This election was similar to a democracy but not exactly. There are certain elements of a democracy that Russia has not fully embraced. In the 1996 elections, Russia was still in the shadows on how to make the democracy work for them. Before jumping right into the election, I would like to discuss the collapse and the path that led to the democracy style elections. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the people expected a short, difficult transition period. This period turned out to be long and lasted until the end of the decade. The people were also looking forward to a rise of a normal/civil society with the addition of a middle class. In fact, they developed an hourglass society. This meaning that there was a small amount of middle class people and a large number of lower class people. The concentration of the wealth was in the possession of a small number of people. Russia also expected to take the place of the Soviet as a great power. They have not, as of yet, retained their status. Socialists believed that this would lead to a rebound of a normal democratic society. This didnt happen. Some reasons were that no one remembered the pre-Soviet past and that the totalitarian way had become a way of life. Russia is still making steps to become a normal democratic society. With the 1996 presidential electio...

Efficiency of Clustering Algorithms in Mining Biological databases Research Paper

Efficiency of Clustering Algorithms in Mining Biological databases - Research Paper Example For example Hierarchical algorithms often work by either splitting or merging the groups being analyzed in order to develop a hierarchy of clusters that is based on the similarity of the sequences. On the other hand, partitioning algorithms work by partitioning the data sets being analyzed based on distance between them (Fayyad , 2003, 346). The selection of any type of clustering algorithm should however be primarily based on the nature of the sequences or clusters to be analyzed, the acceptable error expected as the availability of computational resources. This is particularly with regard to the fact that each of the categories of clustering algorithms has its own strengths and limitations and therefore suited for different tasks. Biological databases such as those involving the mining of protein or gene sequences are best analyzed using clustering algorithms because it provides detailed exploratory analysis of the sequences. This paper critically analyzes the efficiency of cluster ing algorithms in the mining of biological databases such as gene sequences. Applications of clustering algorithms in analyzing gene sequences During the statistical analysis of biological databases, the choice of clustering, the choice of clustering algorithm often depends on the nature of data sets as well as the intended application of the results. In biological data mining most of the sequences that are increasingly being analyzed using clustering algorithms include genomic as well as protein sequences. According to Werner (2008, 52), recent advances in bioinformatics have resulted in the increasing use of clustering algorithms in the analysis of both protein and gene sequences In the study of gene expressions, clustering is one of the major exploratory techniques used in the analysis of microarray slides containing hundreds of thousands of genes2. In such cases, clustering is employed to help group together similar genes and consequently enable the biologists to identify the re lationship between the particular genes as well as reduce the amount of information that is needed to be analyzed. Genes clustered together are usually co-regulated or sharing similar functions. Additionally when time series clustering methods are used, genes which exhibit similar characteristics at given times may be grouped together to indicate a possibility of co-regulation. Clustering algorithms can also be efficiently used analyze gene samples on the basis of similar expression patterns. Although expression patterns usually involve complex phenotypes, clustering analysis is one of the most effective techniques that can be used to identify arrays with similar or different phenotype characteristics. This application of clustering algorithms is particularly important in medical researches where the approach allows medical scientists to identify different pathologies on the basis of the gene expression patterns as opposed to the common histological methods. In unsupervised cluster analysis of gene expression arrays, the major assumption is usually that genes of the same biological process should be clustered together whether in condition dependent or in time series. Another important area in the mining of genetic databases in which clustering algorithms is significantly used is the analysis of gene profiles. In this regard clustering algorithm is potentially important in the analysis of sub classes of diseases as well as in the detection of genes

How Information Literacy Influences Scholarship, Practice, and Essay

How Information Literacy Influences Scholarship, Practice, and Leadership in a Specific Discipline such as Education - Essay Example Besides, leaders must have the capacity of converting their acquired theoretical understanding into observable behaviors of leadership, practices and on a daily basis. When one applies this kind of approach to business education, it brings out the aspect of self-aware organization; which gets its operation theory internally, being able to apply the theory in effective usage models, and maturing such a model while at the same time document such evolution for the benefit of professionals in other places to learn from it. Most of such maturity models actually do exist but in many cases, they fail to comprise of rigors of literacy of advancement or even scholarly research (Turusheva, 2009; Lauer & Yodanis, 2004). When we are in learning process, broadening the comparative perspective of such students by use of international contexts gives them a universal pattern that is natural in terms of human behavior. When we apply this kind of concept to business education, evolving standards are i llustrated in the international perspective which includes curriculum training imparted across transnational cultures and other social practices. Information literacy remains a critical trait and with the available information, all stakeholders in business education need to understand the need for consistently looking for new information that is deemed valuable, practices it at work and is able to create required knowledge to enable the entire organization to progress. There is a major problem in the current system since new graduates and the ongoing students have no capacity of knowing reliable information, nor could discerning differences in valuable and sound data from what be considered useless (Lauer & Yodanis, 2004). Scholarship, practice and leadership model dubbed SPL could guide the educators in business in the formation of present and future students and leaders who should be learning on a continual basis. Such a task is quite cumbersome given that it is enshrined in the a ttempts to reforming already established education models. The main approach taken by scholarship practice and leadership model has been the attempt to enjoin theory of different areas with required practices and trying to push new actions that have a beneficial and prolonged impact on those who directly receive such a model. Scholarship aspect in such a SPL model has all to do with gaining profound knowledge and understanding the various theories in the field and presenting constructively debatable arguments and criticism alike that influence evolution, research and thorough understanding (Tourish, et al., 2010). This scholastic level has been the confine of business education for many years. It is quite interesting that the role of education has remained in the transfer of knowledge by use of textbooks and constant examinations. Much as theory is important, the system of such education needs to give a clear guidance on the application of these grasped theories when it comes to act ual or practical situations. Practice is influenced by information literacy through relevant application of such literally works that are currently found in fulfilling an organization’s proposition of value tenets. Such actions start by

Security after September 11 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Security after September 11 - Assignment Example Also, following the Cold War with Russia, the U.S. government could conclude almost with a precision that it had contained all its enemies. However, this was far from reality as sooner than later it terrorists struck. From bombings in U.S. embassies found in East Africa to the deadly attacks at World Trade Centre and Twin Towers, it became evident that U.S. security details had to undergo considerable reforms (Bolton, 2008). In this paper, I present some of the security changes that took place following September 11 incident and their impacts on my lifestyle. Immediately after the attack, it was evident that there was a lot of security laxity at the airports. This is because the suicide bombers who hijacked the ill-fated planes successfully manoeuvred the airport security personnel to carry out the attacks. Congress responded to this by passing Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which resulted in the creation of Transportation Security Administration. Before the 9/11 incident, security issues within the airports was handled by respective airports, which also hired the services of private security companies (Pinkowski, 2008). TSA got into action almost immediately by implementing a set of procedures such as stricter guidelines on passenger and luggage screening. As at the moment, only ticketed passengers are allowed to go through security. The latest set of technologies have also been adopted at the airports to screen for weapons and any other object that could be a threat to passengers aboard the plane. Furthermore, liquids were ba nned and everybody is expected to remove their shoes while undergoing screening. Another change that happened involved tightening the immigration procedures. Unlike before the 9/11 incident, it was somehow easier for immigrants from all over the world to gain access to the United States of America. However, following the attacks, Congress responded immediately be demanding that the immigration department limit such immigration.  Ã‚  

Analysing The Causes And Effects Of Violence At Home Social Work Essay

Analysing The Causes And Effects Of Violence At Home Social Work Essay Violence is a big part of the world today. The news and the television always have some kind of story that is dealing with violence. People are always wondering why violence started and why people would do something like that. When we look at the big picture, most types of violence start at home. As children grow up they are influenced by many things in the world. A lot of times people say that children are the splitting image of their parents. Children tend to act and do things that their parents would do. This means that if a child witnesses someone at home getting abused by a parent, they will most likely think that it is ok and learn from that. A child learning violence at home comes with many kinds of consequences. Many children who learn and observe abusive behaviors will also demonstrate those behaviors. Research has been done in attempt to show, children who witness or are abused during childhood tend to demonstrate these behaviors during later childhood and adulthood. Aggressive and troubled behaviors in young children may be indicators or problems that are suffered at home form direct child abuse from the parents. It may also come from indirect abuse, such as witnessing domestic violence. Direct violence is a violence that is at home and is targeted against the children by the parents. There are several symptoms that a child will face when they are abused. Some will include an attempt to harm themselves, become depressed, model the behaviors of their parents, and acting out in violent and aggressive ways. Indirect violence is a violence at home in which a child witnesses abuse against the parents. There are also several symptoms to watching this kind of abuse such as the childs development is negatively impacted, negative emotional reactions, behavioral problems, and physical and mental health impairment Baldry (2007) conducted a study that was done with 532 Italian young children, measuring direct and indirect child abuse from parents and parent to parent abuse, which were causing troubled and aggressive behaviors. The results showed high levels of delinquent and aggressive behaviors and high levels of reported direct and indirect family abuse. The problems were found mostly to be associated with parental abuse. It indicated that children who are abused are more likely to become aggressive or even involved in deviant acts. The results basically said that if a child is involved in abuse or has witnessed abuse, they will have some kind of affects from it. Many women are abused by intimate partners and millions of children witness this everyday. About half of the men that abuse their wives also abuse their children. About 3.3 million children are exposed to violence against there mothers.(Baldry, 2007) Many of these children are also physically abused. Children who are exposed to violence often show difficulties in life such as violent behavior as adults. There is evidence out there that witnessing or experiencing violent behavior is related to different types of abusive behavior or even psychopathology. There are a variety of outcomes that come with physical abuse such as behavioral, emotional, and social problems. Some of the affects are short-term, but a lot of them are long-term. These affects will have an impact on the children for the rest of their lives. Murrell, Christoff, and Henning (2007) looked at the differences in generality, frequency and severity of the violent crimes, nonviolent crime behavior, and psychopathology within a population of 1,099 adult males with different levels of exposure to violence as a child. Generality, frequency, and severity of crime all increased as the levels of childhood violence increased. A theory showed that men who witnessed domestic violence as a child committed the most frequent domestic violent crimes. They also found that men who were abused as a child were more likely to abuse children. The study also found that men who were abused a child were more likely to commit more violent crimes. Studies are proving that children who are abused or witness violence are the ones that commit more violent crimes as adults. The results proved that violence has an affect of people. As the participants exposure to violence increased, so did the chances of having more violent behavior as adults. The results also showed that adults that were abused as a child will often times become a child abuser. Children who are exposed to parental violence are at risk for adjustment problems, but little is known why children from violent families develop different patterns of adjustment. In Fosco, DeBoard, and Grych (2007) research it showed that childrens perceptions and interpretations of aggression may play a role in the impact of parent violence on their short-term and long-term functioning. Parent conflicts have been linked to childrens emotional and behavioral responses to conflict as well as their adjustments in life. Parents affects on children is what shapes the child and causes them to be who they are. This explains why there are violent children in the world, who learning things from their parents. The results showed that violence does have an effect on children. Many children not only deal with behavioral problems, but also with social and emotional problems. Most children think that most of the time it is their fault for the violence, so they try to figure out why it is happening and what they can do to stop it. This can cause a huge amount of stress, which takes a lot out of a child. In many cases violence can cause a child to have many symptoms such as anxiety, depression, or even posttraumatic stress disorders. Children are often times traumatized from abuse and the effects of it. It is especially difficult for a young child to deal with abuse. That is why a lot of time children have several issues dealing with it. There are several treatment modalities out there that are developed for children who are exposed to abuse and family violence. One type of treatment is one-on-one, which deals with the individuals traumatic problems, thoughts, and behavioral interactions. Another type of treatment is group treatment, which deals with general beliefs, attitudes, and reactions to violence. Some treatments just focus on adjustment problems, such as aggression or conduct disorders that have to do with child abuse. Other treatments deal with preventive strategies, which are to help children that are living in violent families. The overall goals for exposure interventions are to help a child; 1. Separate the thoughts, cues, and any other reminders of surrounding trauma; 2. Make sense of reactions of th e traumatic event; 3. Discuss and think of an alternative response. (Vickerman, Margolin, 2007) There are several problems and results that children face when dealing with abuse. Any way that someone can help a child get through these problems will help them have a better life. All the interventions and resources out there are to help the child, so that they are not dealing with the issues for the rest of their lives. There are many studies and research found to prove that any child who witnesses or has been abused will have many affects from it as and adolescent or an adult. Children do learn and develop at a very young age and that is why it can be very harmful to a child to witness or go through abuse. A child will have many affects from violence and some of them can harm them for the rest of their lives. Many children will grow up with emotional, social and behavioral problems due to the violence that have faced. It is proven that a child that is involved in family violence will have greater chance of becoming a more violent adult. This might be the reason why we have so much violence in the world. There are interventions and treatments out there for children and adults to go for help. In most cases the treatments do help and children are able to move with their lives. The biggest thing when it come to people who have experienced violence is that most of them deal with huge problems and if the y can get help, in most cases it will not affect them forever. Abuse and violence at home needs to stop and in any way that it can be prevented or helped will help fix this problem in the world.

lamb Essay -- essays research papers

The lamb is a symbol of innocence, ignorance, purity, and self justification. In William Blake’s poem The Lamb, children are biblically innocent and the speaker contrast himself to the higher divinity. In this interpretation of children the speaker may possibly be trying to use ignorance as an excuse for sin in his life. The lamb’s natural gifts are clearly envied by the speaker, the gifts being food, shelter, and happiness. William Blake may have used this scene of fertile valleys to allow the reader to also feel the envy towards the lamb’s peaceful existence. â€Å"The lamb by no fault of its own is prosecuted by speaker, later to be found incoherent with his own tortures and suffrages†(Paananem 40).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Blake used direct dictation through his poem, â€Å"The Lamb†, in distributing his theorem, which we, humans, seek to find peace within our selves only after reestablishing our identity with something pure. Humans are biblically damned to eternal unhappiness, the past was the beginning of future’s pain. The biblical reference to Adam and Eve is subtle but clear enough with the envy portrayed by the speaker towards the lamb. The eternal suffering will not cease until humans take acknowledgment of their own faults and own sins. The speaker is seeking answers to his questions, about how the lamb gained such natural innocence here. There are no clear answers to any of the speaker’s questions throughout the poem, causing the readers to stir within themse...

Globalization on Chinese Society Essay

Our research aims to discover peculiarities of ideology in China. It’s going to highlight integrating values, legitimating the government’s policies and continued authority. The study is a review of articles by David Lynch, Gordon White and Feng Chen. From the recent past years up to this point of time, China has been taking part in extensive economic globalization activities like facilitating free trade policy. China’s new economic openness has resulted to remarkable growth trends. It has been practicing its â€Å"go out policy† by participating in the international market competitions. Observers have also noted some major changes in the Chinese media in coping up with globalization. With China’s entry to the World Trade Organization, structural reforms have taken place and more and more researchers have focused their interest on the interaction between Chinese media particularly television and the world at large. Currently, China is still in a whirl and sways with various ideologies such as a waning communist ideology, an increasing conservatism, as well as liberalism. Various ideological trends such as globalism, nationalism, individualism and pragmatism are likewise alive and under further exploration especially by Chinese youths. The pursuit of the leftists who adhere to the theory of socialism, elect to preserve the fundamental purity of the socialist economy and state authority. Meanwhile, reformists have argued that China should rather enrich its market economy and the rights to property. Besides, reformists want to recognize private entrepreneurship to join the Party. There exists some few numbers of youths having true belief in communism. Most of them, however, want membership to the Party as a stepping ladder in gaining their individual objectives. In some of the researches, David Lynch (2000 (Lynch, 1999, p173) has focused his objects on what expectations the intellectual and political elites expect leading to same changes in China for the years ahead. The objects include linked issues on some domestic and political affairs, the power capability of China as a nation, how the party state would defend its national identity as well as its cultural heritage and integrity in the face of the raging and deepening effects of globalization. Besides, Lynch assesses on how China aligns its new development and technology in directing its society’s future. With the continued transformation of the media including print, TV, the Internet, the entry of some foreign TV programming and the likes now depends mostly on the supply and demand and the behavior of the controlling party. The improvements of local or domestic contents have rivalled foreign counterparts. Lynch also assessed the trends in censorship and found some possible means by which media could possibly find ways of overcoming or avoiding rules, laws, problems, or difficulty to government restrictions of imported as well as local media contents. Briefly, Lynch tries to arrive at a point when the communist government’s hold on China’s domestic affairs would become loose due to the use of new technology. â€Å"Dilemmas of ‘Thought Work’ in Fin-de-Siecle China† reports that in May 1997 was established special organ of the Party Central Committee – Central Guidance Committee on Spiritual Civilization Construction. This fact indicates the seriousness of intentions in pursuing the spiritual civilization line. â€Å"Thought work† refers to Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to transmit socialist ideology and to control ideas of the masses so that they will comply to the demands of the national development plan. In his article Lynch argued that the government’s efforts to build a socialist spiritual civilization in China failed. He concluded that government’s attempts to limit access to global media and control political discourse turn out to be ineffective. Lynch reports the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s estimate that as many as 620,000 Chinese had access to the internet in 1997, with a rise to 4 million expected by 2000 (Lynch, 1999, p. 193). The propaganda state is indeed crumbling. The author reports that Chinese children play cops and robbers who require the cops to inform the robbers of their rights before taking them into detention, as they have seen in American movies (Lynch, 1999). Other political writers like Feng Chen and Gordon White agree that China’s Chinese Communist Party is capable of adapting itself to the changing political climate. Moreover, China’s leaders could strengthen its position like having political legitimacy by re-inventing itself and continue some evolutionary tuning to reinforce the CCP’s legitimacy. Nevertheless, evolutionary refining is a hit and miss system that nobody can guaranty its success. Gordon White primarily focused on the politically engaged society in China. According to White politically-engaged society proved to be a durable theme in Chinese politics. Riding the Tiger concludes that society’s political engagement with the state will shape future of the state. For example, There may be a form of Chinese ‘Brezhnevism’ to see out the millennium as the current leadership tries to stay in power. If this is indeed the case, then the political contradictions and trends which I have identified will intensify and make it more likely that the transition, when it comes, will be sudden, radical and possibly violent. (White, 1993, p. 255) Even if the market becomes predominant through radical reform and even if it takes a capitalist form, which is very probable, there is a continuing need for a new form of developmental state to tackle†¦social and economic problems [such as market failure and its consequences for the poor]. In the short term, moreover, the role of the state is even more crucial because of the need to break through the ‘hard policy constraint’ and manage the transition from a planned to a market economy. This is a process†¦which is fraught with instability and tensions arising from the opposition of vested interests, threats to economic security, inflation and growing inequality. A strong state is needed to provide the political order and direction necessary to underpin this transition and regulate an emergent market economy in a huge and increasingly complex country. (White, 1993, pp. 238-9) As Gordon White has observed in Riding the Tiger, an attempt to establish a political system that can serve as an alternative to both capitalist economics and liberal politics has not appeared to be possible in China: â€Å"Marxist-Leninist socialism has been incapable of reforming itself and that ‘market socialism’ rather than saving its bacon, cooks its goose† (White, 1993, p. 12). White was writing at the start of the 1990s. Civil society-like forms emerged in China in the 1990s. That process the result collapse of the state structure, as it was in Soviet Union. But for the time being the Party-state still remains in command. As it was noted in Riding the Tiger, â€Å"to the extent the economic reforms were the spearhead of an attempt to resuscitate the political fortunes of Chinese state socialism, they can be judged to be a dismal failure†(White, 1993, p. 233). By the millennium China was certainly the most successful of the socialist states in adjusting to capitalism. Yet at the same time socialism remains in place in China and power is monopolized by the Communist Party. White denoted this combination as â€Å"market Stalinism† (White, 1993, p. 256). White suggests that the increasing prevalence of the elements of a civil society does not point toward an evolution into more liberal regime with market-oriented economy and multiparty political system. The author also noted that in Chinese society there are some groups that didn’t make benefits from the reforms. These would include state officials and state workers, women and the unemployed and floating populations: Fear of threats to status, power or income; disappointment because the reforms were delivering less than they had promised; disgruntlement arising from the â€Å"red-eye disease†; concerns that gains already achieved were in danger of erosion (through inflation and leadership mismanagement); contrarily, impatience at a deceleration of the reforms and anxiety at an acceleration. (White, 1993, p. 217) Some observers have concluded that the efforts of the Central Party in building some thought works on socialism in China has been not effective. Moreover, they gravitate to some extent. Formerly, China firmly opposed globalization as it disrupts some global institutions. Today, China is one of the firm advocates of liberalization and globalization, opening its trading system to the world. Slowly but surely, the Chinese system has now been updating itself on the rule of law, adapting many foreign laws to transform its civilization. China’s success through globalization, which happened in a short time, has indeed uplifted the standards of living of many workers. With such economic success arising from the impact of globalization, China has learned some stressful and painful lessons adjusting itself. Some of the effects include the decline of state employment from 110 million in 1995 to 66 million in March 2005, the lost of 25 million jobs in the manufacturing establishments, and the consolidation of some 125 car companies to just six firms. Its recent economic growth has revived and revved up the economy of Japan and kept safe its neighboring countries from recession, which otherwise could have led to a risky global downturn. With the prevailing trend of globalization, the process has deeply influenced the study habits, culture, and consumption styles of the youth (ACYF). They now believe that English is a basic skill and reference for one to acquire a degree. As more and more Chinese youths go out to study abroad, more and more of them have returned home, which benefits their culture. The youths now could avail some entertainments made in the USA, Europe, and elsewhere via television, films, videos, and the internet. Even internet games or serial TV programs from Japan or Korea have become the favorite of young students. Young people now in China are learning more the facts of life, society, and world affairs through the said media. When educators, scholars, officials, and artists speak of culture, this includes both the physical and non-physical aspects. The physical or material aspects include sites, landscapes, monuments, buildings, and like objects whereas non-physical aspects include music dance, language, poetry, and the like, which have been associated with China’s social practices. The non-physical culture is China’s living heritage is passed from one generation to the other. In reality, one should accept the fact that culture cannot be easily isolated from the influence or effects of globalization (UICIFD). To conclude the work we should note that ideology is still alive in China. The Chinese communist regime didn’t decline its ideological absolutism. The Communist Party alone that possesses the universal truth and represents the fundamental interest of the people (Guo, 1995, p. 84). In fact, â€Å"Mao Zedong thought† or â€Å"Deng Xiaoping theory† was adapted by the post-Mao party leadership in accordance with the changes of the China’s specific conditions. But this modification does not suggest discarding the fundamental principles and norms, but renovation within the same basic framework of development of Marxism. But post-Mao regime has cautiously modified some of Mao’s doctrines through the official interpretation of the sacred text (Guo, 1995, p. 84-85). As Feng Chen asserted, agricultural decollectivization in China was not an equivalent of â€Å"privatization,† but only the transformation of the rural economy into â€Å"a new type of collective economy, characterized by combining public ownership of the land with totally individualized operations of production† (Feng Chen, 1998, p. 82). To the post- Mao leadership, such an arrangement is defined as the â€Å"separation of land ownership rights and land use rights† (Feng Chen, 1998, p. 88). Land in China remains under public ownership. Reference List White, G. (1993). Riding the Tiger: The Politics of Economic Reform in Post-Mao China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; London: Macmillan. Lynch, D. (1999). Dilemmas of ‘Thought Work’ in Fin-de-Siecle China. China Quarterly, 157. Guo, S. (1995). Totalitarianism: An Outdated Paradigm for Post-Mao China? Journal of Northeast Asian Studies, 14 (2). Chen, F. (1998). Rebuilding the Party’s Normative Authority: China’s Socialist Spiritual Civilization Campaign. Problems of Post-Communism, 45 (6).

Feminine Mystique Essays - Gender Studies, Gender, Free Essays

Feminine Mystique Essays - Gender Studies, Gender, Free Essays Feminine Mystique The Postwar effects on Women The feminine mystique that American culture promotes is entirely dependent upon its ideas, beliefs, and needs of the time. American culture has always tended to influence women into doing what the day and age required. After men went to war there was a gap in the work force that needed to be filled. During World War II women were the most available to join the work force. Due to the discouragement to raise families during the Great Depression and the fact that most men of age had entered the war, many women were left without families to look after and men to take to take care of them. Most women toiled at unskilled jobs; most were young, single, and without children (307). This lack of family and funds left women with no other place to go besides the factories. Womens need for work was nursed along by the media as well as the public. A rapidly expanding war economy absorbed most of the reserve labor force, (307) yet it still was not enough, the economy demanded a larger work force. This demand worked in cooperation with the availability of the women of the time. Commando Mary and Rosie the Riveter became symbols of women who heeded their countrys call (307). There were many enticements luring women to join the work force. These enticements included higher war wages, more available time and opportunity to work, and wartime restrictions on leisure activities. Despite the general expectation that women would return to their home after the war, female laborers did not simply drop their wrenches and pick up frying pans (310). After the war many women continued to work outside the home primarily to help support their families. After the war 28% of the labor force was female compared to the 24% prior to the war. When the war was over nearly one million women were laid off and another 2.25 million voluntarily left. These female losses in the work force were offset by the gain of 2.75 million women into the work force. When women who had been laid off managed to return to work, they often lost their seniority and had to accept reduced pay in lower job categories (310). Due to the severe segregation by gender, the postwar economic life for women was appalling. Postwar American life became organized around marriage and family. As men came back from the war they merged with the peacetime economy, taking jobs away from women and sending them back to the home. With the demise of Mary and Rosie came new role models whose ideas and beliefs were focused around the home and not the workplace. This was due to the fact that during the war many writers were female and supported involvement in the labor force and after the war many of these womens jobs were taken by men with the desire of a cozy domestic life (312). Almost overnight, television became the preeminent mass medium, carrying imagingfeminine or otherwiseof American culture into the home (313). Television shows displayed the personification of what a husband thought a wife should be. An example of this was the show Ozzie and Harriet which showed a warm-hearted, attractive, submissive woman who was only competent within the confines of her own home. Children who grew up seeing this behavior in their own home as well as on television tended to use that lifestyle as a model. Without any external reinforcement, and only by repetition the children learned that men and women had different roles in society. It was this learned behavior which carried the new feminine mystique from generation to generation. As many have said before history repeats itself with WWII as well as WWI, the return of peace meant that women faced layoffs, renewed wage discrimination, and segregation into female-only jobs (307). The media of the 50s and 60s continued to portray women as housewives and mothers. The media has always influenced peoples ideas and values, whether it was a wartime poster of Rosie or a magazine article depicting sweet, submissive housewives, or a TV show with June Cleaver taking care of the boys and her home.

Audit Expectation Gap

Audit Expectation Gap Definition and structure of the audit expectation gapIn today's growing world of business, we see organizations reaching heights and falling dramatically. In last 100 years, the size of the companies has grown multiple folds and so is their list of stakeholders, especially investors. A huge investment in the past years is seen on the corporate governance activities to ensure a good image of the company. Auditing being a legal obligation for the companies now, ensure that the financial reports of the company are without any material misstatement and frauds. Reports presented by the auditors work as an assurance for the investors and other stake holders. However, in recent years, while many corporate scandals and collapses, that were associated with auditors' fraud and negligence, have been unveiled, the auditors' legal liabilities became the bone of contention in almost every country. Auditing being an expensive activity is performed till a limited extent, best possible ways are imple mented to avoid any chance of leaving the problems in the financial reports, but despite everything, things go wrong and probably would continue to be the same way.English: Verner after his 1940 election as Vermont...We will find laws in every country to safeguard the interest of an auditor and the stakeholder as well. In this relation, there is seen an increase in the number of lawsuits filed against the auditors in the recent times. This gives us an indication that the investors are not satisfied with the way auditing firms are operating and or they are not producing the desired results. The atmosphere around and the job profile creates a necessity for the auditor to know its legal duties, so that they can discharge their duties properly. On the other hand, in case of the investor or other stakeholders relying on the audit reports, we will see a lot of misperceptions...

The purpose and usefulness of standard audit report Essay

The purpose and usefulness of standard audit report - Essay Example Normally, audit reports presents the external review of the financial information of a company, conducted by an accounting firm and shareholders use it in assessing the financial health of a company. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in UK recommended for the enhancement of the responsibilities in financial reporting for the audit committees through publicizing of expanded reports. The auditor reporting entails coordinated structure that leverages the resources by IAASB (Boeckman et al. 2013, p. 76). A standard report summarizes an audit by the public accounting firm about the liquidity strength of a company. Auditing process entails comparison of the findings to internal audits to identify any discrepancies or errors involved therewith. When the audit is clean, standard audit report results. The standard audit report is the most used audit report, and it ensures that companies do not defraud the investors. Failure of the audit reports to conform to the acceptable standards in ac counting creates apprehension amongst the shareholders of the company (Boeckman et al. 2013, p. 77). The corporate finance statements and other investors express the concerns on the usefulness of standard audit reports (SAR). ... Three types of audit reports issued by auditors include the qualified, unqualified and adverse. Qualified opinions indicate the violation of accounting standards; adverse report shows shortcomings of the company; while unqualified opinion shows not-material misstatements. Audit reports are beneficial to a company. Standard audit report indicates issuance of non-qualified opinion based on the financial information of a company. This allows for extension of business by seeking outside investment to enhance future operations (Carcello 2012, p. 22). Furthermore, standard audit reports entail warnings. Adverse or qualified audit opinions subject the company to further audits resulting in negative goodwill to the outside investors. Companies also experience regulatory fines from the government agencies due to misleading the public on the financial health of the company. Standard audit reports also contain the expert insight. The accounting firms issue information to companies and auditors on acceptable auditing standards (Carcello 2012, p. 24). Standard Audit Report (SAR) SAR changed insignificantly over the last 60 years. Audit reports had not changed prior to 1988 Statements on Auditing Standards (SAS). There were significant changes made on the audit report by the financial statements. Professions tried making changes in 1965, and SAS incorporated introductory, opinion and scope changes in the third paragraph. The changes enhanced the usefulness of the audit report by giving a comprehensive definition of audit, as well as maintaining effective communication of management responsibilities, and the auditor in order to reduce SASs expectation gap. The main objective of SAR is to enhance credibility of the financial statements by the

Evolution of Health Care Information Systems Essay - 1

Evolution of Health Care Information Systems - Essay Example This paper outlines that the use of health care information systems in United States has changed considerably during last twenty years. U.S. health organizations have modernized most of their health facilities in order to improve service delivery. A great deal of investments has been made in implementation of the information systems that are applied in clinical operations. In an effort to improve service delivery and decrease costs, health organizations have adopted computerized systems such as Electronic Medical Record systems. In the past, before the development of the EMR, health organizations used paper based record systems. At the time, half of the patient’s information was computerized and stored as computer printouts. From this study it is clear that the automated systems were used as primary source for analyzing patients’ information by the physicians or the clinicians. This contrasts sharply with the modern Electronic Medical Recording systems which are used as passive storage devices in many health organizations. Using this system enables physicians to access knowledge resources, reminders and alerts. Health professionals can use the system in decision making due to the fact that it enables them to access the decision support capabilities. Most of the health facilities present in the health centers could not be used to manage the patient health effectively. With the introduction of the electronic system, clinicians and physician have used the system to manage health of patients. The health facilities in the past could not provide the physician with comprehensive view of the patient’s health. Even though there is sharp contrast between health care facilities in the past and at the present, there exist some similarities. Medical records kept whichever the system is used, is very useful for documenting patient care.  

Total Quality Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Total Quality Management - Essay Example Various ways of improvements that can lead to its success and development of the company in a more holistic way has also been discussed in this study. Total Quality Management (TQM) at Toyota Japanese organisations were the first to adopt quality management principles during the early 1950s (Ho, 2011, p. 12). The fundamental concepts behind TQM which include methods like Just-in-Time (JIT) and "jidoka" meaning in-station quality were not originally developed by Toyota. However the production followed by Toyota are widely studied and followed by many organisations operating their businesses worldwide. Kaizen or continuous quality forms the basis of Toyota Production System (TPS). Kaizen is found to be enforced at almost every levels of the company. It helps in increasing the commitment levels of the employees of the organization, thereby helping it to reduce its costs and increase in its performance levels. The total quality management system followed by Toyota is commonly known as To yota Production System (TPS). ... The organisation needs to have a top-down approach towards implementing TQM to have any kind of meaningful effects generating out of it. Hence the TQM strategy needs to be initiated by the top management of the organisation and from there it would percolate down to all the management levels of the organisation. 2) The Scope: The scope of TQM within an organisation is not limited to certain people or departments. To implement TQM in the organisational system it is necessary to involve each and every individual working for the company and it also needs to include all the business processes carried on within the organisation. There must be some pre-defined goals or objectives of the organisation and each of the departments of the company would be working together for the fulfilment of the goals of the organisation as a whole. 3) The Scale: Each and every person working for an organisation are meant to have some responsibilities at the personal levels for the improvement and maintenance of quality of the products or services offered by the company and ensuring the satisfaction of its customers. Along with the external customers associated with a business organisation, the internal customers who are mainly the employees of the organisation are also required to be satisfied with the working environment within the company. Proper communication levels and teamwork must be ensured through concerted efforts by all the internal customers of the organisation. 4) The Philosophy: The philosophy behind the concept of TQM is that it does not aim for detection of any kinds of defects or errors but is aimed at the prevention of occurrence of such defects or errors. Hence in

The challenge for a self regulatory organization arbitrator Essay Example for Free

The challenge for a self regulatory organization arbitrator Essay An effective arbitration system requires competent, impartial and just arbitrators who will discharge their duties with great care. It is essential for arbitrators to realize that the disputing parties consider them to be akin to judges and that their power in some respects exceeds that of the judges in the sense that with the exception of a few causes, their decisions cannot be reversed. Arbitrators should not only be impartial but they should also appear to be so. â€Å"In arbitration, even more than in court, not only must justice be done, but justice must also be seen to be done . † Ethical Responsibilities. Sometimes, the arbitrator’s position in respect of a dispute could lead to a conflict of interests. Whenever such an event occurs, the arbitrator has to appraise the Director of Arbitration in this regard or in the alternative the arbitrator may decline to sit on the arbitration panel. The reason for such stringency is that arbitrators, in the course of their work, decide on issues that are of immense importance to the disputing parties, who must at all times be assured that their dispute has been accorded the fairest hearing possible and that justice to the fullest extent possible has been rendered. Independence and Impartiality The concept of independence and impartiality occupies a central place in civil justice and both the Online Dispute Resolution or ODR service provider as well as the individual arbitrator must not only be independent and impartial but must also appear to be so. Further, they should not have any vested interests. Moreover, it should be necessary for individual arbitrators and mediators to strictly adhere to a code of professional ethics. Such a code of professional ethics should ensure that arbitrators and mediators reveal personal interests in the dispute. Further, it should ensure that the arbitrators and mediators avoid conflicts of interest. The extent of the job security and remuneration of third parties should be adequate to ensure neutrality. The ODR user should be granted access to information in respect of the compliance of the arbitrators and mediators with these requirements. Moreover, third party arbitrators and mediators should be allocated on a strictly random basis and no single party should be permitted to select a particular arbitrator or mediator . It is important to note that the rules of international arbitration require the arbitrators to be invariably impartial in their reasoning. Further, these arbitrators have to be independent of the parties involved in the arbitration. The rules however do not specify this applicability in practice and in this respect, Article 7 of the American Arbitration Association’s International Rules allows this impartiality to vary if the parties involved have agreed to so. This Article 7 states that â€Å"Unless the parties agree otherwise, arbitrators acting under these rules shall be impartial and independent. † In an inflexible manner, the ICC Rules provide that â€Å"every arbitrator appointed or confirmed by the Court must be and remain independent of the parties involved in the arbitration† and that they shall make disclosures accordingly . The London Court of International Arbitration makes it mandatory that arbitrators â€Å"be and remain at all times wholly independent and impartial, and shall not act as advocates for any party† . The UCITRAL states that â€Å"Any arbitrator may be challenged if circumstances exist that give rise to justifiable doubts as to the arbitrator’s impartiality or independence† . The process of arbitration entails an impartial, independent third party that considers the statements of the disputing parties prior to resolving the dispute by issuing a decision that is binding on all the parties involved in the dispute. This process is utilized in a wide range of disputes. Arbitrators are required to have better knowledge and better focussed expertise on the subject matter in comparison to the ordinary judges or jurors. Moreover, they should deal with the disputed matter with greater efficiency and logic. Due to these requirements, arbitral firms generally maintain information about prospective arbitrators and such information includes the specialised expertise of these arbitrators. However, in cases involving intellectual property, technical know-how though helpful may not always be desirable. Disputes arising out of contractual terms could differ and arbitrators having legal knowledge invariably have greater expertise than arbitrators without such knowledge. This explains the reason why parties always prefer a lawyer to be their arbitrator. In intellectual property matters the chances of a non legal person becoming an arbitrator are remote . In general, arbitration is characterized by parties who consent to use the process, privacy, the determination of the outcome by a third party, a legally binding and absolute process and the existence of narrow grounds on the basis of which an appeal can be made. Such hearings are usually less formal than court hearings and some forms of arbitration are conducted solely on the basis of documents and do not involve hearings . In A. S. M Shipping v. T. T. M. I it was held that in accordance with the precedent set by the European Court of Justice, the English law required the determiner of a bias to be fair minded and knowledgeable. In the case of Porter v. Magill the court created a test whereby it could be ascertained whether a fair minded, informed observer, â€Å"having considered the facts, would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Tribunal was biased. Trade Arbitrations, like the London Maritime Arbitrators Association of the LMAA, the Grain And Feed Trade Association or GAFTA, the Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Association or FOSFA, the London Metal Exchange or the LME, etc, constitute a major characteristic of London arbitration. A sizable amount of the world’s shipping and commodities trading utilize contract forms that specify London as the venue for trade arbitrations. The persons who are members of these arbitral bodies are required to possess widespread experience in the trade and at times they have to be active traders. Accordingly, in Rustal Trading Ltd v Gill Duffus SA one of the consultants of Rustal was being censured for his commercial character. The facts were that previously, one of the arbitrators had been embroiled in trade arbitration against him. While setting aside the challenge to this arbitrator, Moore-Bick J held that it could fairly be assumed that one of the reasons why the parties have agreed to trade arbitration is that they wish to have their dispute decided by people who are themselves active traders and so have direct knowledge of how the trade works. However, if the arbitrators themselves are to be active traders there is every likelihood that at least one member of the tribunal will at some time have had commercial dealings with one or both parties to the dispute. That is something which the parties must be taken to have had in mind . Conclusion The past two to three decades have been witness to the fact that disputes in international business have been resolved by international commercial arbitration. The success of this system is reflected in the resolution of important disputes that had their origin in the nationalization of oil concessions in the 1970s and 1980s, mammoth international construction projects such as the subterranean tunnel under the English Channel and crises brought about by incidents like â€Å"the French sinking of the Rainbow Warrior on its green peace mission. † Moreover, its success has been proved by the tremendous growth â€Å"in the number of arbitration centers, arbitrators and arbitrations . † The world of business has been subjected to tremendous growth with the result that it has become imperative to have in place a reliable and competent business disputes resolution mechanism. In general, businesses are partial to settling their differences in a manner that does not create animosity with the resultant hampering of their business relationship. Thus, arbitration, which entails rapid, pragmatic and efficient dispute resolution, is uniquely suited to such an endeavour. The process of arbitration differs from the usual judicial process as it is carried out by neutral arbitrators who are chosen by the disputing parties. Arbitration involves either one or three arbitrators and the particulars of the arbitration, like organization, arrangement, location and extent are incorporated in their contract. The arbitration clause, which contains these particulars, is in general agreed upon at the time of formulating the initial contract. The process of arbitration consists of a voluntary method of settling disagreements by obtaining a concluding and obligatory verdict from an unbiased third party regarding business disputes between parties. The value of this method is immeasurable in international business transactions which involve business parties who are on several occasions ignorant of the foreign legal systems . This essay examined the role of arbitrators in international trade disputes. The requirement that arbitrators should be impartial and independent had been analyzed by resorting to the decisions in relevant cases, scholarly journals and the United Kingdom’s Government’s Websites, which revealed that in the majority of the cases these arbitrators were functioning in an impartial and independent manner. The challenges faced by arbitrators and the court’s decisions have been discussed at length. International arbitrations are beset with a host of problems that are unique to such arbitrations; this situation arises due to the fact that opinion regarding what is deemed to be acceptable commercial practice differs from country to country. Due to the proclivity of the domestic courts to adopt a more or less laissez faire attitude, international arbitrations are to a large extent self-regulatory. In general, international arbitrations entail commercial disputes in construction, international sale of goods and commodities, and shipping . From the foregoing analysis it can be concluded that in the majority of the cases international arbitrators are impartial and independent. ? Bibliography 1. Arbitrator’s Manual. Available at http://www. nasd. com/ArbitrationMediation/ResourcesforArbitratorsandMediators/GeneralInformationandReference/ArbitratorsManual/EntireDocument/index. htm 2. A. S. M Shipping v. T. T. M. (2005). EWHC 2238. 3. Bank Mellat v Helleniki Technik (1984) QB 291. 4. Bank Mellat v GAA (1988) 2 LI 44. 5. Bazerman, Max H. , Farber, Henry S. Arbitrator Decision Making: When Are Final Offers Important? Industrial Labor Relations Review. Ithaca: Oct 1985. Vol. 39, Iss. 1; pg. 76. 6. Bremer Handles GmbH v EtsSoules e Cie (1985) 2 IR119. 7. David L Dickinson. A Comparison of Conventional, Final-Offer, and Combined† Arbitration for Dispute Resolution, Industrial Labor Relations Review. Ithaca: Jan 2004. Vol. 57, Iss. 2; pg. 288 8. Dezalay, Yves and Garth, Bryant. G. Dealing in virtue: International Commercial Arbitration and the Constitution of a transnational†¦1996, University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 0226144224. 9. Hammond v Bradford City Council (1970) 1 WLR 937. 10. Hornle, Julia. Online Dispute Resolution in Business to Consumer E – Commerce Transactions. Available at http://www2. warwick. ac. uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2002_2/hornle/ 11. http://fdcc. digitalbay. net/documents/Lanzone-SU04. htm 12. http://www. onlinedmc. co. uk/a_s_m_shipping_v__t_t_m_i. htm 13. IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration, available at http://www.sccinstitute. com/_upload/iba_guidelines_22_may_2004. pdf 14. Icori v KFTCIC Paris Court of Appeal 28 June 1991. 15. International Arbitration. Available at http://www. osec. doc. gov/ogc/occic/arb-98. html 16. Judicial Review: A Proposed Pre – action Protocol. A Lord Chancellor’s Department Consultation Paper. 2001. Department for Constitutional Affairs. Crown Copyright. Available at http://www. dca. gov. uk/consult/judrev/judrevanna. htm#anna1 17. LCIA to publish challenge decisions, 2006, available at http://www. lcia.org/PRINT/NEWS_print. html 18. Lerma, Jose Manuel Iborra. Worldwide Forum on the Arbitration of Intellectual Property Disputes: Geneva, 1994. World Intellectual Property Organization, p. 157-158. ISBN 9280504983. 19. Porter v. Magill (2002) AC 357. 20. Rustal Trading Ltd v Gill Duffus SA (2001). 1 Lloyds Law Reports 14. 21. SA Coppee Lavalin v Ken Ren (1994) 2 WLR 631. 22. Susan T Mackenzie. Compulsory Arbitration: The Grand Experiment in Employment, Industrial Labor Relations Review. Ithaca: Jul 1999. Vol. 52, Iss. 4; p. 648.

The Status Of Women In Pakistan

The Status Of Women In Pakistan 1.1 Demographic Transition and Status of Women in Pakistan Womens empowerment has more than one component: their right to make a decision; their access to opportunities and resources; authority to be in charge of their own lives, both inside and outside the home. Female empowerment has many dimensions. It includes access to knowledge, possession of social and economic resources and more autonomy in political and economic decision-making processes. All these components and dimensions of female empowerment are interrelated and an alteration in one component will not bring a huge transformation unless all change. If females have access to the productivity of men, then both genders can work simultaneously towards the betterment of the country, and this will lead to a sustainable way out of poverty. Therefore, women should get equal work opportunities. But women have greater challenges, as they do not get the same economic opportunities as men do. They do not get access to the decent working condition and lag behind men in decision making. In Pakistan, women do not has proper identities, as she is owned by her male peers. Their integrity and health are often beyond their own control. They are taken as invisible, underserved and undernourished. The culture of Pakistan is greatly patriarchal, there are many old and conservative traditions of women having a subservient and subordinate role. Decisions for female individuals are made by men in her family, especially in under-developed and distant regions. In Pakistan, specific religious beliefs are deeply rooted in citizens beliefs, on which many traditions and social perspective surfaces. Gender empowerment means that females ought to gain equality under the law and it must be implemented and enforced. Womens empowerment essentially contains legal fairness, equal access to education and practical exercise, females management at the national level, positive action for jobs with one and the same pay, and a gender-sensitive justice system. 1.2 Factors Effecting Women Empowerment In Pakistan Women consist of more than 50 percent of population in Pakistan and to deprive this half population of empowerment is to deprive our economy of growth. Women empowerment will not only result in the empowerment of women but also the economic well-being of the country. The development of the country also should result in equitable distribution of development benefits especially to the women sector. Economically empower women have more autonomy and resultantly this can transform their children and family lives. As she is a pivot about which entire family unit revolve, therefore an economically enriched woman has a constructive impact on the future generation. Countries who dont take benefit of its full population and ignores half of it, it is actually misallocating its resources, which will only lead to the reducing their development potential. All countries should focus on its weakness and learn from more successful countries. It should also set up such policies which take advantage of the whole population, as in both female and male. As successful countries are the one who recognize the potential in the women force as well for development. Throughout the world, there is not a single country which can boast of gender equality and full women empowerment. Women still out there face discrimination and are lagging behind in one way or the other. Gender equality in two critical sections is very important like economic and political empowerment of women. There is improvement in health and education with the advent of technology and as globally economies are developing but yet there is a long way to go as women are still very behind men especially in decision making and income earning. With the past trend it is quiet visible women are actively participating in to take charge of their own lives and this is in fact effecting the communities and society as a whole. But there is a big problem as women are not consistent class, they vary by race culture, society, brought up and opportunity, thus these factors also plays an important part in the disparity of women as these factors affect the behavior of society members. The objective of this research is to find out what political and economic determinants effect the women empowerment especially in Pakistan. The main goal is to find out what past variables have been selected and to learn from them and find new determinants. 1.3 Incidence and The Extent Women Empowerment In Pakistan As Pakistan is a growing and developing country and for the past few years its condition is not much improving, this in act is further affecting the condition of women. As more and more people are effected and thus poverty is increasing. Thus women have to strive hard to contribute to the family income, so that their family is at least above poverty line In Pakistan, apparently through the perspective of Islam this country says it gives equal right to both men and women but there is another side to the picture. Women constitute a small portion in decision making and they contribute very less o the development of the country as there labor force participation with respect to men is very less. The status of women in this country represents the traditions and the social customs, which led women to this condition. Women are always underprivileged then man in Pakistan, they get less education, food, decision making and health. As it is consider men are the lords of women, and women are deprived from their basic rights. Women destiny is controlled by men. This is not the case in Pakistan only but also in many countries men are considered superior than women. To achieve development, we have to convert our weakness to strengths. It is also known that increase women participation in the labor force will benefit the growth and resources can be distributed more easily to disadvantaged people. Thus women should get decent work, social protection and voice at work. As most of the time women are subjugated to lower wages than men and their wages have barely increased over time and they are offered low skilled, low paid atypical jobs, mainly performed from home. One of the greatest achievements in Pakistan, during the last decade has been the increasing proportion of women in the labor force, enabling women all over the country to use their potential in the labor market and to achieve economic independence. But yet we still have a long way to go. From Global perspective higher percentage of female are working in the developed countries than ever before, yet at the identical time these women continuing raise children to bear new burdens. But these women face tradeoffs as it will be difficult to find good demanding jobs with children to look after too as well. That is why there is not equal opportunity for men and women. Not only the family but also the society, government and the whole nation will benefit from the empowerment of women. Versatile aspects contribute to the passive functions played by women in the Pakistan Society. Great emphasis has been laid on removing gender inequality and improving women empowerment as Millennium Developmental Goal, resultantly many efforts have been initiated by the Government and NGOs in Pakistan on this issue According to (Pakistan employment trends for women) , international Labor Organization (ILO), has the objective of the promotion of opportunities for women and men to obtain productive employment is also the overall objective of the four fundamental ILO Conventions stressing gender equality cover: (1) equal remuneration (2) non-discrimination in employment and occupation, (3) workers with family responsibilities and (4) maternity protection. The Millennium Development Goals that emerged from the UN Millennium Declaration of September 2000 are specific measurable targets, including the one for reducing the extreme poverty that still grips more than 1 billion of the worlds people by 2015. Essential to this promise are the MDGs interrelated to educational results: (1) Guarantee that all youngsters complete primary education by 2015. (2) Remove gender inequalities in primary and secondary education. By 2006, most countries have already fallen well behind the necessary targets to meet these goals (Millennium Development Goal, 2006). As stated in millennium development goal 3 the promotion of gender equality and empowerment is fundamental to achieving the remaining MDGs .Likewise, there is evidence that addressing gender issues benefits individuals and families, workers and employers, society and national economies. Improving womens wages and earnings has been identified as a key element in tackling poverty and achieving the MDGs. Yet there are Country specific activities to promote gender equality and decent work as in Pakistans constitution ensures all fundamental human rights and guarantees equal employment opportunities for men and women. Existing labor legislations do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, but women are not allowed to work in a few areas for health and safety reasons, but the society as a whole plays a big part. the traditions of Pakistan forces women to sit at home and look after the children only , whether there husband give them money or not ,. Society or community does not approve females going out and raising voices for their rights. They also disapprove females working outside their homes. It is consider the work of women juts to look after their families. So to change this whole perceptive media is playing a big part but the government also needs to be active. As recently the Government initiated a number of activities to promote gender equality at the heart of decent work and to achieve MDG target calling for full and productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people. Those activities range from gender Sensitive revisions of constitutional and legal provisions to the establishment of new policy frameworks that help to accomplish the target. Therefore, the elevation of privileges of women and men in the domain of work and to achieve gender equality are reflected in a number of national development frameworks and policy documents including the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) for 2005-10, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and documents exclusively relating to labor markets such as the 2002 Labor Policy and the 2006 Labor Protection Policy. Pakistans Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) spells out the main strategy and plan of action to promote the creation of decent work with gender equality as a cross cutting theme. Overview of existing national policies and development frameworks that stress gender equality and decent work in the country. (Haq) 1.4 Managerial and Academic concerns My research will highlight the key determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan. As this issue is not only prevalent in Pakistan but is a global issue. as It is very important to conduct a research on determinants of women empowerment because it will stress on women troubles and bring them in to attention and it can facilitates and direct the policy makers to make such an intervention in their area, that could enrich these females not only economically but also politically and financially so that they can make a difference in their children lives and their individual living environment .Consequently providing her the individual safety and self-respect that is her essential right. this research is will also help independent institutions like NGOs to reach out to economically and politically deprived women as The negligence of women in development process will be big loss for Pakistan as it will result in loss in human potential and ultimately effect national development. Academically, this research is very significant for the undergraduates as it will help them pinpoint the economic and political determinants which effect the women empowerment in Pakistan. Student will find this research more realistic and precise. As now more individuals are getting conscious of this issue, so more instructors and undergraduates are doing research on women empowerment. They will find this investigation more helpful. 1.6 Keywords and Definitions Empowerment Refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities (Ouellette) Womens empowerment refers to the ability of women to transform economic and social development when empowered to fully participate in the decisions that affect their lives through leadership training, coaching, consulting, and the provision of enabling tools for women to lead within their communities, regions, and countries (Wise earth) Economic and political Determinants An identifiable element in economic and political that affects that limits or defines a decision or condition. 1.7 Study Objectives This study is an attempt to find the determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan as women being the core element of development and in Pakistan it consists of more than half of the population. To study the impact of the Economic participation on women empowerment. To study the impact of the health on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Power over economic resources on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Microfinance on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Political empowerment on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Education attainment on women empowerment. To study the impact of the traditions on women empowerment. End notes With the advent of technology and progress in development, yet in this era women still lack behind men in power because even though a lot has been done for the empowerment of women but there is still a long way to go. Especially in Pakistan, the norms and tradition practiced are such that which suppresses the rights of female. Since independences of Pakistan, women have not gained freedom from these discriminating norms. Even though there has been a progress but this progress is very slow but to empower women not only our government but also society as a whole has to work very hard. LITERATURE REVIEW: Measuring women empowerment Empowerment is a multi-dimensional procedure that aids women to achieve power and control over their individual lives. Empowerment gives due right to women. Yet measurement of women empowerment is difficult and it is challenging to judge country level performance as there is difficulty in gathering diverse data. Based on the findings of, Womens Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, five important dimensions have been selected for the examination of women empowerment. Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility. Political empowerment means women have contribution in the decision making and can influence policy making. Educational attainment is very important as women can get the same opportunities as men do and it can be a big step for development purpose. Health and well-being is associated with how much females have access to suffici ent nutrition, healthcare and reproductive facilities. It is very difficult to measure each dimension in each country and to implement policy as each country has many other factors effecting its women empowerment. The GEM quantitatively measures the liberation of women on a country level. This indicator comprises of the share of inequality in control over earned economic resources, involvement in governmental decision-making and economic decision-making. This variable measure how much a power woman holds. Drawing upon Womens Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, a report on Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, takes a step forward and elaborates further more on that there are three main domains. These three domains are interconnected, and alteration in every one of three is significant in accomplishing Goal 3. Women: Current Reality In a report by Augusto Lopez-Claros, it is mentioned that the past three decades have witnessed a progressively aggregate awareness of the necessity to invest in women through measures to increase political justice, social, financial and wider access to important social rights but it is argued that changes in women state is a very slow process, up till now a lot of work has been done but yet still the picture is depressing. It is not only the issue in male dominated society but also in developed country as well. A spotlight on deprived female is acceptable for numerous causes. Unfortunate female have the furthermost requirements. It is regularly stated that female outnumber male among the underprivileged. One more important report, Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, further elaborated that poor women have greatest need; investment in them will produce greatest benefit. Further, investment in the adolescent girls is very crucial as they experience more disadvantage than boys. Plus with progress in education and health, yet poverty among women has increased even in the richest countries where womens labor force participation has grown, but the terms and conditions of their employment have not improved. According to Linda Mayoux, Women also help in poverty reduction, if they are given liberty to save with no interference and or they are offered with loan, these women can cater to the need of their house hold eventually reducing poverty. Microfinance has been fruitful in reaching poor women through inventive methods to address gender-specific restraints. According to a report Womens Control over Economic resources and access to financial Resources, including microfinance, 2009, it is obvious that microfinance has a constructive effect on income, but this income expansion has definite limits. As females are subjugated to unfair customs and practices which limits their activities. Females face constraints in gain access to financial services. From all these studies it can be assumed that in spite of numerous accomplishments in giving power to women still women empowerment are effected by many factors .women should be given equal opportunities not only in education, health, and political, economic but also socially as well. Society as a whole should be targeted where new changes, changes in lifestyle and thinking should be accepted. To empower women in Pakistan all these determinants should be taken into consideration. Increasing socialism, religious fundamentalism, and traditionalism are main limiting reasons for womens safety and liberty. other than that self-regulating groups like NGOs and other self-governing research and academic organization, have been very energetic in formulating policy documents, raising public responsiveness and encouraging for gender-sensitive strategies and activities at all stages in order to progress womens empowerment in Pakistan. Womens Economic Activity Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility. With the passage of time and despite considerable work done on women economic enrichment yet this is still time-consuming as due to many norms and practices women continue to be missing from many important decision-making opportunities which result in the determining the distribution of economic and financial resources and opportunity, that makes women more underprovided. Depriving women from economic resources makes a nation less productive resulting in negative economic consequences. Several social practices seem as ordinary from culture and religious perspective move women out of the main stream. Paid employment for women continues to expand slowly and remains meager in many countries including Pakistan. As the global financial crisis does not create problems for men but also for women. With men finding difficulty in recruitment as fewer jobs available due to recession thus, less jobs available for females as well. As females previously were offered less employment the men now with recent event they are less proffered and they are at huge disadvantage then men. They are getting more menial jobs and are given less wage jobs. To a great extent of work of females remains imperceptible, as most of the work done by them goes unaccounted and invisible The segment of women in salaried employment separate to the agricultural segment has amplified only slightly over the years, this shows that women are not getting work in productive jobs which can lead to development. According to (Oxaal, 1997) , with the shortage of jobs, a woman does not have any opportunity except for to accept these kinds of job. With that those women who are not allowed to leave their house for income are also at disadvantage , as their men after recession are losing jobs , even than they are not allowed by their females to also take the burden of earning income thus , females due to poverty get undernourished and malnutrition makes them unhealthy , which resultantly effect their families. Poverty, unemployment and lack of economic prosperity further strengthen this aggressiveness in rural areas the large amount of time women spend on housework and caring for family members means that they had little time to spend on employment and personal care. Since beginning women face a lot of constraint and these restraints replicate womens difficulty in education; lack of power and confidence and negotiating authority; as from their household they are misjudge which effects in low self-respect plus with comparatively high participation in part-time or transitory professions; leads to less employment for women and discrimination against them. Despite womens increased participation in the labor market, there has been no significant increase in the sharing of unpaid work, which affects womens employment choices. Access to Education The living conditions of women, their poverty and huge family household prevent them from gaining education. Since the beginning girls are required to work with their mothers to look after the whole family and do household chores this, therefore limits their time and energy to get involved in education. Issue of illiteracy is the main priority for women. As only educated women can access to economic and political sphere. According to (Medel-Anonuevo, 1993) , providing education to women will develop self-esteem and self-confidence; they will have knowledge of their health and well-being plus they will have the aptitude to make their own choices and negotiate; further this will increase the ladies attentiveness towards their civil rights. In addition will be able to provide skills for income generation and will participate in community/society more effectively and this will prepare them to be good women leaders. As according to the report Taking actions, educated females are more operative at refining their own well-being and family. They are better prepared to get the most advantage from prevailing facilities and chances and to generate alternative chances. In underprivileged countries, girls from their childhood are given domestic work; this handicaps them in terms of education. Gender inequality in rural location is even more noticeable at the phase of tertiary education. Girls from poor and rural Families face higher obstructions to education. Boys are always preferred over girls in education in each level from primary to tertiary. But directed public policy and governance actions can help overcome gender disparities. According to The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2009 policies like removing school fees and providing incentives for girls to attend school can alleviate financial pressures on households. Building schools close to distant communities and recruiting local female teachers can also constricted the gender gap in rural areas. A lot of work must be done to finish inequality and discrimination based on gender especially in schools .hard work must be done to enroll all children in to school, especially girls. And to make sure that they complete their studies up till tertiary level as this can lead to good productive jobs and high economic growth for the whole country. Barriers in the Political Domain Institutions: Since the independence of Pakistan, Pakistani governments has passed many laws for the rights of women but the change in women condition is still very slow with the passage of time. There is a huge gap between the policy making and practical work. An analysis by (JAHAN, 1996) stated that after freedom, leading Muslim women in Pakistan continued to support womens political liberation through lawful reforms. According to (Haq, Khadija Haq on Womens Political and Economic Empowerment in South Asia), government is starting to take steps to surge womens political contribution through the founding of quota systems at countrywide and local levels. Introducing quota systems is nonetheless only single step on the road to female political empowerment. We are still facing inherent male-controlled traditions and approaches that limit chances for womens participation in public life. Environment for womens political empowerment Less number of women, who attain decision-making places in a political sector dominated by men, will be unproductive in manipulating decisions as large majority is needed. Women are less represented in civil service, government and other public establishments and still massive gaps continue in education and job opportunities. At the identical period, women face legal restrictions that halt them from gaining equal access to property and inheritance. We can achieve gender equality by promoting women in politics. According to (Moser, 2007), throughout the world women are still disproportionately represented .They remain a very small minority at the center of political power. One significant approach to assisting womens empowerment is the elevation of the participation of females in politics it comprises of encouraging women in administration and national as well as supporting womens involvement in NGOs and womens movements. In government, women concentration in decision-making positions should be in social, law and justice ministries Women in Pakistan face a lot of stereotypes like women are considered as unsuitable for leadership positions; and all men contemplate that if women have political influence she must be all knowing. Ever since beginning women are disqualified from leadership roles, they are deprived of chances for leadership skills preparation. Domestic errands make it difficult for females to go for training or further studies as they solely do not have the essential hours for study. Thus they lack the talent and ability of political contribution. Most women are linked to a male political leader: as wife of an assassinated leader or daughter of an older, if not late, politician. While most women ultimately emanate into their own as leaders, it does not alter the fact that women, compared with men, have partial access to the support of political parties and males. People have different expectations of male and female leaders. As females are responsible for their family needs with their political career simultaneously. But men have only their careers to concentrate on. When women are elected, they are expected to be all-rounder and all-knowing and in their initial stage of political career, they are expected to make a strong constructive influence in altering the situation of women or talking critical issues such as poverty, health care and education within a small time from their election. According to report ISSUES IN WOMENS POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION,Unjustified and inequitable beliefs results in insufficiency of females to consider entering into politics. This diminishes the group of prospect women leaders who can be confronted, motivated, prepared, and developed for politics. Womens plea for representation is not to substitute mens power but to create places for both women and men to grow their potentials and foster a collaboration that can take on the tasks of the new millennium. Culture barriers Taking the argument in a new direction by a report on Guidelines on Womens Empowerment, states that social issue also plays major role in empowerment. In Pakistan, the girl is still differentiated from the boys from the birth, through her childhood, and into her womanhood. In the tribal fragments of Pakistan, native men are grasping more power through religion and tradition. Girls are considered socially weaker in a Pakistani culture that discriminates against them. In rural areas they observes violence, male violence against their mothers and against them thus from start this becomes a part of their life. Brothers also then participate in this violence against the girls in the family to show their manhood to peers and family male members. Male children become more violent when they grow up. Extreme poverty is a major factor that will impede the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child .The state of extreme poverty is so severe that it leaves its victims inert to awareness, legal punishment or even religious obligations. The economic empowerment of girls and mothers is critical to the achieveme nt of equality. Females in Pakistan live in a domain, which is controlled by severe religious, family and tribal traditions. According to Zaheer Udin Babur, Pakistan, They are exposed to discrimination and viciousness on a daily basis .Islamic views are not properly interpreted , they are molded according to the views of men as Islamic views wrong interpretation results in females oppression physically, mentally and emotionally. Females in Pakistan are facing numerous methods of violence, discrimination and difference in nearly every part of life. Viciousness against womenfolk in many grounds is often not considered as a violation of civil rights but rather as a standard feature of lives of Pakistani people. They live in an atmosphere of fear, and their lives are guaranteed in exchange for obedience to social norms and traditions. Because of this fear and sense of being inferior, imposed by the traditional thoughts of a male dominated society, women are suffering immensely especially in their homes. The most abusive forms of violence being faced by women take place in their homes. A thesis by (Faridi, 2009) states that women are under the control of men as the decision about education, health, occupation, marriage and physical mobility are all made by her men folk from the selection of their dress to the selection of life partner is made by either her father or brother. Women especially in Pakistan are the property of their males and to give them empowerment they should be given their due right. Moreover, Segregation and veil as perceived by men folk ma The status of women in Pakistan The status of women in Pakistan Pakistani Society is highly patriarchal which is attributed to the age-old traditions of a subordinate role of women. Women constitute approximately half of the population in Pakistan. Gender relations in the country are based on two basic perceptions. First being the impression that woman are subordinate to men, and secondly that a mans honor depends upon the women of his family. Thus it is women duty to uphold the family honor. The disparities between men and women prevails in health, education, employment, income opportunities, control over assets and participation in the political process that make women less empowered as compared to men. There are many complicated aspects contributing to the submissive role played by the Pakistani women in the society, leading to a conservative society and to a vicious cycle of poverty under-nutrition and low level of education amongst Pakistani women. In order to ensure that women do not humiliate their families, society puts a limit on womens mobility and restricts her activities. For these reasons women live under purdah. Therefore women spend most of their lives within the boundaries of their homes. In many parts of the country other than in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and some other rich cities, it is considered shameless if womens mobility is not restricted. Moreover in Pakistan, working women poses a threat to male self-esteem and identity. Therefore women are mostly engaged in multiple home-based economic activities such as cooking, laundry, agricultural duties etc. and pays them very low wage. Not only are these tasks physically tough and demanding but they have robed girls of the opportunity to study. However, due to recent concern and emphasis on removing gender inequality and improving women empowerment as Millennium Developmental Goal, some efforts at social and official reform have been made to increase practical literacy of women, giving them more access to employment opportunities at all levels in the economy and promoting awareness of womens roles and status. The empowerment of women is one of the main issues in the development process for all the developing countries in the world. According to UNDPs Human Development Report, Gender Equality Measure (GEM) for South Asia shows the lowest value (0.235) among all the regions of the world. Furthermore, as per Gender development Index (GDI), Pakistan has been noted the poorest (0.179) among South Asian Countries where the average index is 0.226 (MHHDC, 2005). According to UNDP report of 2007-08, the HDI for Pakistan is 0.551, which ranks Pakistan on 136 out of 177 countries. Elements of the social, economic and political participation of women The low health status of women in Pakistan is the result of womens lower social, economic, and cultural position. Women do not play any major role is making social and political policies, however they are equally affected by them as the male members of the society are. Womens elimination from decision-making bodies deprives them of the opportunity to raise their concerns or advance their perspective. The male-dominated governance structure creates gender inequalities which lead to the social and economic deprivation of women. Womens exclusion from politics stem from the social and political discourses, political structures and institutions and the socio-cultural and functional constraints that put limits on womens individual and collective agency. Patriarchy as a system of male domination shapes womens relationship in politics. When the gender role ideology intersects with economic, social and political systems of a particular society; women continue to be defined as private across countries which resulted in their exclusion from politics. Male domination of politics, political parties and culture of formal political structures is another factor that hinders womens social, economic and political participation. Often male dominated political parties have a male perspective on issues of national importance that disillusions women as their perspective is often ignored and not reflected in the politics of their parties. Also women are usually not elected at the position of power within party structures because of gender biases of male leadership. The gender status quo is maintained through low resource allocation to womens human development by the state, society and the family. This is reflected in the social indicators which reflect varying degrees of gender disparities in education, health, employment, ownership of productive resources and politics in all countries. Additionally gender is mediated through class, caste and ethnicity that structure access to resources and opportunities. The socio-cultural dependence of women is one of the key detrimental factors to their political participation. Sources and the extent of women deprivation and exploitation In Pakistan, there is a huge diversity in the status of women across different classes and regions. Gender is one of the main ideologies of Pakistani society. An artificial divide between production and reproduction, has given women the reproductive roles as mothers and wives at home and men are given the productive role as breadwinners which eventually leads to a lower investment in women. Thus, low investment in womens human capital, along with the beliefs of purdah, negative social biases, and cultural practices lays the foundation for gender discrimination and inconsistencies in all aspects of life. Moreover early marriages of girls, excessive childbearing, high level of illiteracy and nutritional deficiencies negatively affect womens health. Gender biasness in the health service delivery system ranging from lack of female service providers, ignorance of womens essential and reproductive health needs further aggravates womens health status. Women are officially authorized to own property from their families, however very few women have access and control over resources. Mostly women in Pakistan lack ownership of useful property or assets. Similarly, formal financial institutions do not cater to womens credit needs. Commercial banks pay no attention to women clients due to their defined views on womens creditworthiness because of their dependency on men for physical collateral, high transaction cost of small loans.  [1]  The Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan and First Womens Bank Limited and now Khushali Bank are the only banks who have credit programs that cater to women. Other sources of credit to women include informal sources such as nongovernment organizations, friends, relatives, and moneylenders and microfinance institutions. Women in Pakistan are facing various forms of violence. Domestic violence is fairly widespread across all classes. Due to this fear and sense of being inferior, imposed by the traditional thoughts of a male dominated society, women are suffering immensely and this issue needs our utmost attention. An overview of the microfinance constitutions and microfinance lending Microfinance was started in the 60s and 70s, when organizations such as ACCION International Opportunity and Grameen Bank started to grant small loans (less than 100 dollars) to microentrepreneurs, mostly women, backed by a group guarantee, thus overcoming the collateral that was the main reason for the lack of attention paid by commercial banking to the low-income segments of the population. Microfinance has experienced considerable growth ever since. Mohammad Yunus was the first and the foremost person to introduce the concept of microcredit with the help of Grameen Bank into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, there has been a growth of microfinance institutions in developing countries; Pakistan is no exception. Growth and diversity in its microfinance sector have been encouraged by the microfinance Ordinance 2001, which resulted in the establishment of the First Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. Before the promulgation of the microfinance ordinance, the main providers of microfinance services in Pakistan were NGOs and government-sponsored rural support programs. Gaining access to finance in Pakistan has an important potential for considerable advances in the economy. Credit to the private sector is equal to 29% of gross domestic product (GDP), individuals and SMEs prefer to rely on retained earnings to finance their working capital, investment, housing financing, and other financial needs. Of the total population, 14% have access to formal finance, and about 40% have no financial access to formal or informal financial systems altogether. However, access to financial services remains quite limited in Pakistan. The predominant share of the financial system, the banking sector, is mostly focused on large enterprise lending, with an increasing interest in consumer financing and neglects SMEs, rural areas, microfinance, and the poor. SMEs comprise of almost 90% of all the enterprises in Pakistan, they employ 80% of the non-agricultural labor force and their share in the annual GDP is 40%, approximately. This innate feature of an SME makes it esse ntial that there should be a system through which it support in business including technical up gradation, marketing, and human resource training development. The beginning of microfinance sector in Pakistan has its roots in the rural development project. The Agha Khan Rural Support Programs development model is used all over Pakistan. Along with poverty alleviation, microfinance in Pakistan has been seen as an important instrument for gender empowerment. Microfinance in particular has proven to be an effective tool for poverty easing and creation of employment prospects. The GOP has formulated comprehensive Microfinance Sector Development Programme with the assistance of Asian Development Bank to broaden the microfinance sector. This will be attained through the creation of conductive policy environment, developing appropriate financial infrastructure, promoting and strengthening microfinance institutes, developing linkages with NGOs and community organizations, investing in building social capital, mitigating risks of poor households and institutional development. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) and various rural support programs in the country feel that by providing credit to women, which is used for income generation and consumption, the social and economic status of women in the household and at the community level can be improved. Currently, the network of microfinance providers is 1,343 branches with about Rs 15 billion portfolio. Among microfinance providers, Khushali Bank alone provides coverage in 86 districts. The three microfinance entities, namely, National Rural Support Program (NRSP), Khushali Bank, and Kashf Foundation accounted for approximately 70% of the sectors active clients. However, there are two main challenges faced by the microfinance institutions of Pakistan. The first challenge for microfinance is for service providers to become profitable so that service provision to poor people can grow on a sustainable basis. A study of South Asian MFIs done in 2005 showed that only 42% of microcredit borrowers in Pakistan received services from profitable MFIs which is the lowest percentage in South Asia (Microfinance Information Exchange, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, and the World Bank (2006). Most microfinance providers rely on a combination of donor/noncommercial funding, and cannot claim commercial viability, with the exception of the recently formed Microfinance Banks (MFBs). The second challenge is that microfinance is almost exclusively focused on loans, while other financial services, savings, transfers/remittances, and insurance are often more in demand by poorer households. Gender norms of microfinance institutions and microfinance lending Microfinance programs are known to empower the poor men and women. In these programs, the relationship between the provider and the client is inherently empowering. As a result, microfinance has become a vital element of many donor agencies, poverty alleviation, and community development strategies. Micro-finance programs are not only known for giving both men and women credit and access to savings, they also reach people all over the world and bring them together in organized gropus. They play a significant role to promote gender equality and to empower women. By enabling women to earn income, these programs have the potential to increase the welfare of women and their families and hence empower them. Microfinance in Pakistan has been seen as an important instrument for gender empowerment. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) and various rural support programs in the country feel that by providing credit to women which is used for income generation and consumption, the social and economic status of can be improved. As a result, microfinance has gained immense popularity for poverty alleviation, women empowerment and community development strategies. However, capturing and measuring empowerment and emancipation is a particularly difficult task. Within the group of NGOs identified Kashf Foundation and ASASAH were appropriate for this study. Moreover, it should also be noted that Khushali Bank does not have a gender-specific program in rural areas but works with a third party retail organization, Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), to give loans to poor women in urban slums of Lahore therefore khushali bank clients were strategically left out. Kashf Foundation, a non-profit NGO based MFI, started its operations in Lahore District in 1996. Kashf started with the mission to `provide quality and cost effective microfinance services to low income households, especially women, in order to enhance their economic role and decision making capacity.  [2]  Kashf provides four types of loan products: Firstly, the basic loan product is the general loan; secondly, it has an emergency loan which is confirmed only if the credit committee takes responsibility for repayment; thirdly, there is the home improvement loan for old and reliable clients; and fourthly, Kashf has introduced a business loan for the missing middle market. The most popular one is the general loan, which has to be repaid over a period of 12 months at an interest rate of 20%. Kashfs solidarity group lending model is a Grameen Bank replication with some adaptations. At the first, the branch officers find women in the local area who want to establish a center. The center is sub divided into five groups and each group has a leader. Together, these seven women form the credit committee and are responsible for maintaining credit discipline in the center. ASASAH is a non-governmental and non-profit organization established in 2003 with a mission to provide quality health and social services to underserved communities. One of the core objectives outlined by ASASAH is the empowerment of women. The organization has launched its microcredit program, as part of its commitment to work towards the training of women as agents of socioeconomic development. It sees a huge opportunity to fill the present gap in the microfinance industry by developing an innovative model that brings creates a sustainable and cost effective financial services institution serving the bottom of the pyramid. Keywords and definitions Microfinance: offers a broad range of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed. These services include housing loans, savings, health insurance and remittance transfers to help them grow very small businesses. The local MFI might also offer microfinance plus activities such as entrepreneurial and life skills training, advice on topics such as health and nutrition, sanitation, improving living conditions, and the importance of educating children. Microcredit: refers to the loans and credit needs of the poor people, especially farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs who cannot get access to normal bank loans and enables them to become self-employed. Empowerment: is a process of awareness and capacity-building leading to greater participation, greater decision-making power and control over ones life and other processes. Economic Empowerment: Womens access to savings and credit gives them a greater economic role in decision-making by giving them the power to decide the utilization of credit. When women can make decisions regarding credit and savings, they will optimize their own and the households welfare. Social and Political Empowerment: is a blend of womens increased control over income resulting from access to microfinance with improved womens expertise, mobility, and education status. Womens status: Womens position relative to that of men in a society. Grameen Bank: is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the poor without requiring collateral. Study objectives This study aims to look at and measure the status of women in selected semi urban areas in the outskirts of Lahore city. Furthermore we will determine the factors related to the empowerment of women. Lastly we will assess the role of microfinance lending upon women empowerment in Pakistan. In order to achieve this objective, the study seeks to understand how microfinance opens up economic opportunities for women and their families, increases earnings and reduces their vulnerability, and brings about potential changes in womens social and economic roles that ultimately can lead to greater empowerment of women. The study also seeks to determine different pathways through which such social and economic transformations are more effectively (or less effectively) managed and point out negative consequences that may be faced. Chapter 2 Literature Review To understand the impact of microfinance on women empowerment we look at two sets of literature; womens empowerment and microfinance institutions. In the first set of literature we review how microfinance institutions work and in the second set of literature we review what is understood as empowerment for women and how far microfinance institutions are successful in empowering women. 2.1 Informal credit markets in developing countries Informal credit markets are those which are not regulated or monitored by the banking authorities and these account for much of business credit in developing countries. Despite the development of formal financial markets, and the propagation of micro-credit institutions, informal lenders continue to play a key role in the provision of credit to rural households in most developing countries. This is so because the process of establishing and maintaining a network of rural financial institutions is expensive, and managing their operations is difficult especially in the absence of proper training, monitoring, and incentive structures. The informal sector has commonly been viewed as unregistered sources of credit, such as money lenders, pawnbrokers and traders, along with rationing services and credit associations (ROSCAs), accumulating savings and credit associations (ASCRAs) and deposit takers. Moreover, formal providers are those that are subject to banking laws of the country of oper ation, those which provide retail services to the customers and engage in financial intermediation. According to the World Bank, the conventional provider categories of informal and formal have been complicated by the arrival of microfinance institutions (MFIs) that may be regarded as semi-formal (World Bank, 1997). Capital is an important element in the development of any project. Kurwijila and Due (1991:91) state that the main hurdle to micro-enterprise development is lack of capital. When the poor lack access to the standard sources of credit, they are exploited by loan sharks and other illegal market operators. Following this reason, it is recommended that increasing state efforts are required to eliminate informal finance, while enhancing the availability of state-sanctioned financial intermediaries, especially microfinance programs devoted to poverty alleviation. Savings are an important determinant of wellbeing at both the individual and national levels. For individuals, savings may be motivated by investment opportunities, the desire to smooth consumption keeping unpredictable incomes in mind, or the need to accumulate resources for large purchases. Households in low-income countries have a variety of mechanisms available for saving. These mechanisms range from formal institutions such as banks and credit unions to less formal mechanisms such as holding cash, asset accumulation, and participation in rotating-savings-and-credit-associations (ROSCAs). It is important to highlight the distinction between formal and informal institutions for several reasons. Informal finance mechanisms are quite prevalent in low-income countries. The advantage of informal mechanisms such as ROSCAs is the ability to overcome some of the information and enforcement problems that often lead to the absence of formal markets. Since savings groups are usually localized, agents on both sides of transactions often know each other personally. This helps in overcoming the informational problems such as adverse selection, moral hazard, monitoring, and verification. Further, participants in informal savings committees share a common social bond (for example, they tend to form among friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers) which provides incentives against voluntary default. However, such institution is more vulnerable to local economic shocks affecting all group members. The formal sector is better on these grounds, and provides some additional advantages over the informal sector, both for the individual and the economy. For depositors, government insurance reduces the default risk of banking. A further distinction between the formal and informal sectors is that effective monetary policy typically relies on central bank or government control over the banking system. A large informal financial sector may compromise this ability. Limited access to various sources of credit is seen to harm women more as compared to men. This is due to the specific credit needs of women as their business requires smaller amounts of capital than are customarily lent, and repayment and collateral requirements must be fairly flexible. (Reichmann, 1989:135). Also, it is a legal requirement of many countries, asking women to get their husbands signed approval in order to obtain the loan. Lycette and White (1989:24) cite evidence from Peru that women borrowers usually receive smaller amounts of loans than men from the banks. However, there has been an ongoing debate that women are active in commerce and production activities which require less credit and therefore it is acceptable to provide them with smaller amounts of loan. For these reasons, it is not clear whether discrimination exists, preventing women from obtaining large loans or that women deliberately chooses to borrow less than their males. 2.2 Credit information, credit availability and access Poor women face much inconveniency and problems in acquiring financial services along with the standard barriers that lower income people have to face when dealing with financial institutions. Illiteracy is a key feature that hampers both women and mens capacity to complete application forms necessary to be filled in order to apply for loan. It is also a known fact that female is more illiterate as compared to male in most countries all over the world. Another drawback faced by women is that they lack the collateral which is required by the formal lending institutions to give out the loans. As already mentioned most of these institutions require the male head of household to sign the contract which makes it difficult for the female headed households to apply for the loan at the first place. On the whole, women especially in developing countries are unaware of their rights to apply for financial services. In most developing countries, both men and women lack the confidence to engage in private enterprise and take loans from the banks for business purposes. The structure of the formal credit system is usually very hierarchical and it may appear less user friendly to small women entrepreneurs. Low-income women are mostly less educated and therefore are not used to dealing with formal procedures. Since banks are perceived to be powerful institutions therefore many women may not have the courage to approach them. Despite the above listed difficulties, gaining access to finances can facilitate women to enhance their skills and eventually develop their own independent businesses. Women can boost their skills by accessing technology, raw materials and market information, thereby improving their economic roles. Improving womens economic position contributes to building their confidence, and ultimately improving their social and political role as well. 2.3 Microfinance products and services for deprived and vulnerable As most of the formal sectors banking institutions are unable to reach rural populations, microfinance programs are seen as a potential solution for overcome the gap between the supply and demand for rural finance. These Microfinance institutions are committed to serving customers that have been excluded from the formal banking sector and claim to work with the poorest of the poor. Many MFIs permit people to access useful lump sums through loans. The currently most popular product (that offered by Grameen Bank and copied by many other MFIs) allows borrowers to repay the loan in small and frequent installments. The participation of the poor is thus made possible by the key feature of lending tiny, often weekly, repayments (Matin and Sinha, 1998; Todd, 1996). Such an organization system allows borrower to repay out of existing income thereby allowing the borrower to invest the loan and utilize it the way that best fulfills their needs of the moment. For some borrowers these loans are directly invested in productive enterprises where the returns on additional investment is sometimes enough to make the regular repayments. Microcredit is seen as a way to improve the income an employment opportunities of poor who can be self employed in many ways (Hulme and Mosley, 1996; Yunus, 1983; World Bank, 1994). The main aim is to provide the household with capital and encourage them to involve in income generating activities, thereby increasing their income and consumption. In Bangladesh, there are more than 750 organizations that are working in rural areas to provide credit and non-credit services to the target population, mainly women from landless households (World Bank, 1996). Grameen Bank and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) are the two main programmes. Grameen Bank is known for its innovative group-based lending programme. BRAC is famous for providing informal primary education and innovative health programmes to the poor. It lays emphasis more on human capital development such as literacy, skill-promoting training and awareness programmes. Inspired by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh there has been a rapidly increasing growth of microfinance institutions in Pakistan and as well as in other developing countries. Growth and diversity in its microfinance sector have been encouraged by the microfinance Ordinance 2001, which resulted in the establishment of the First Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. Table 1 below summarizes the nature of different microfinance institutions operating in the Punjab province of Pakistan, the year in which they were operationalized and the concentration of operations in rural or urban settings. It is clear from the table that most of the NGO based institutions have a gender specific solidarity group approach to microcredit, where they are catering mainly to female clients. Most of the microfinance institutions working in Punjab province, except for the rural support programs, are either specialized institutions or have a specialized window for microcredit. Except for ASASAH, most of the institutions have been in business for quite long to warrant an impact evaluation. For this study we are interested in specialized institutions using a group solidarity model with a women specific focus. Thus, the province of Punjab was an obvious choice with well recognized and established NGO-based microfinance institution (MFI). Given the time and resources available for the study, we have limited our attention to the Lahore district of Punjab, which is the hub of urban microfinance activity in Pakistan, accounting for more than half of the total borrowers in the province. 2.4 Community participation and group lending experience in microfinance Grameen Bank is famous for introducing and expanding its relationships with its customers in a unique relationship which is without utilizing legal contracts of requiring collateral, Grameen bank assigns borrowers to solidarity groups of five members. Each group is than responsible for the debts of the other four, and in case any group members defaults on her loan, the others must repay the defaulted loan or lose eligibility for further loans from Grameen Bank. This compulsory interdependence is seen to powerfully encourage trust and mutual aid within the solidarity group (Hung, 1997:15). The group-based lending is very attractive to women in low income societies. Very few women in Pakistan and Bangladesh work in the wage labor market. Therefore their productive inefficiency is associated with the lack of womens labor market participation which motivates them to become self employed by borrowing capital. Group lending schemes have an informal advantage over outside lenders. Often obtaining information about each member of a group by an outside lender is costly and subject to misinterpretation, therefore group members can monitor each other with relative ease as well as train and help the other low-productive members. In Pakistan, social custom restricts direct contact between potential female borrowers and male outside lenders. In the case of a credit program, it is easier for women, when in the company of larger group to interact with the male coordinator. Therefore, informational advantages of group lending are thus greater for the women as compared to men. Moreover, adverse shocks may have an effect on the ability to repay loans and decrease income and consumption. There is evidence that women are more prone to adverse shocks, related to pregnancy, illness associated with child bearing, and care giving to other household members who fall ill, making them riskier for poorly informe d outside lenders (Rashid and Townsend 1993). 2.5 Microfinance experience and gender empowerment Some aspects of poverty are owed to the inequality between women and men, therefore it is important to understand and interpret the meaning of the term gender. Women and men have different responsibilities in a given culture or location. Gender refers to the social roles of women and men, and is not to be confused with the biologically determined sexes of male and female. Gender is hence a relational concept that analyses womens social roles in relation to the roles of men and vice versa. Gender roles are subject to perceptions and expectations which arise from factors like class, ethnicity, age and religion. Research done by UNDP, U